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I went for a walk in the Knockewart Hills in Ardrossan recently and took some photos. I walked from Munnoch Reservoir, past Knockewart Loch, over North Hill and then down through the old wood that lies on the boundary between Ardrossan and West Kilbride, across a peaty mire, past the wind turbines, through some conifer plantations, across a sheep field and then into West Kilbride village.

The elongated, yellowish oval in the centre of the frame is the largley drained Knockewart Loch. It's botanically very interesting, with lots of bog vegetation, such as cotton grass and cranberry (you can just make out patches of white cotton grass).


Obligatory hill sheep.


The track down North Hill.


Looking over to Arran.


A recently created lochan just over the boundary from Ardrossan.


A coser look at the lochan.


The very old wood that sits on the Ardrossan side of the boundary between Ardossan and West Kilbride appears on the oldest OS maps.


There's water just under the surface - the wood seems to sit on a floating crust of earth - so the trees are often stunted, knarled and half-dead, making for some pretty enchanting tree shapes. This is an old, twisted Oak.


...similarly, this Rowan tree's branches are growing somewhat unconventionally.


Looking up a Sycamre tree.


The wood on the right is in Ardrossan, the open mire is in West Kilbride.


It's an attractive mire with lots of orchids (pictured), Blaeberry and cotton grass.


Knock Jargon from the mire.


The phone mast from the mire.


The wind turbines are horrendous and impressive at the same time.


I don't like dense conifer planatations very much - they are largely devoid of wildlife. However, the landowner made an interesting 'tunnel' through the plantation, providing welcome respite from the heat.


White Heath Bedstraw and yellow Tormentil, two flowers typical of upland dry acid grassland.


The path towards West Kilbride.


A line of Beeches just before the village.

Places I have also walked and nice to see on film. Ian, I note that you started your walk from the Munnock and i'm interested in how you got there?

Wonderful photos Iain - have you ever thought of writing a book on Ayrshire nature trails and what to look out for as you walk. I think you would have a ready market, I for one, would definitely buy it.

Meg

Hi Iain.
I'm having difficulty (as a non-Ardrussanite) orienting myself in your photo of the lochan.
I assume we are looking back towards Ardrossan and the larger stretch of water is a loch/reservoir.
JD,

I was up there last year and thought the small loch had been dug out only a few years ago. There were about 40 Canada geese living in the loch but in Iain's photo they are absent. The photo is looking up the coast and not to-wards Ardrossan. Hunterston power station can be seen in the photo.

In that case, the photo is reversed. Or am I getting senile?
JD.

Meg, thanks, that sounds like a good idea. I'll give it some thought. I'd find it a good excuse to go more places – i.e. be less parochial! I'll try to post more local walks/photos on here to get me into the swing of things.

5siamese7, I got a lift to the reservoir and then headed over to West Kilbride, then got a train back. In line with your experience, there was a family part of Canada Geese on the lochan. A Little Grebe was calling from there too.

JD, I post below an aerial photo which might make things clearer. The red line shows the line of sight (for want of a better way of putting it) of the photo.

Still don't get it. I want the large body of water, which I think is the firth, to be on the left.
JD.

Thanks for this post Iain. Great photos. I was born and brought up in Ardrossan and as boys we hiked over some of the territory you've captured, but never once did I hear it referred to as the Knockewart Hills. If we were going there, it was just "up the country." Everything above the Mill Farm was "up the country" with the exception maybe of The Mill Glen, The BIg Wid, The Wee Wid, and the Primrose Valley.

Lovely pics. As P.T. says, we never used proper names for places or even knew they had one!

PT, Morag, I didn't know the name of these hills until earlier in the year when I read a report on the site’s habitats commissioned by the Council. The most interesting section of the site (Knockewart Loch, the old wood and the adjacent mire) is one of the Council’s official Local Nature Conservation Sites (LNCS) and is labelled ‘Knockewart Hills’. LNCS status affords no protection, it’s simply an indication that it is recognised by the Council as being locally important for biodiversity. (I then confirmed from old OS maps that the area is indeed referred to as the Knockewart Hills!)

John Donnelly wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:23 am Still don't get it. I want the large body of water, which I think is the firth, to be on the left.
JD.

Am I getting senile? Or can somebody set me straight here. If I'm standing on a hill at the border of Ardrossan and W. Kilbride facing up the firth, the firth has got to be on my left.
JD.