14.5km/9 miles/6-7 hours Ascent 436m/1430ft
AYRSHIRE, the land of Covenanters, Robert Burns and lead and coal mining, isn’t usually top of mind as a hillwalking destination. There’s often a post-industrial feel in the valleys, overlooked by a skyline of bleak, boggy moorlands and bare, humpbacked hills. It’s a landscape that feels quite reminiscent of the Welsh valleys or the Forest of Pendle, similarly touched by old industry and haunted by shadowy remains of pre-Christian cultures. Wind turbines now cluster on
