It was that sort of day – brilliant sunshine from start to finish but still a nip in the air leading me to overdress as usual.

I set out on the Ten around noon with thoughts of heading by Sam-y-ling Tibetan Monastry to St Mary’s Loch but the thought of spending a few miles on busy trunk routes over to Lockerbie before things would get interesting didn’t appeal.

A circuit in Dumfries & Galloway got the nod and my first stop was by the church in St John’s Town of Dalry —

A park bench in the sun down the tree lined approach lane was no hardship and I soon removed the winter lining from my jacket —

as I took in the view across the valley where the flood banks were being rebuilt after serious flooding earlier this year—

A fine run over the hills on the Ayr road took me to Dalmellington where I hung a left onto the hill road to the picturesque little village of Straiton to find the fiesty local population are still fighting a tough battle against the ‘powers that be’ and the current penchant for Wind Farms on every bit of surrounding hillside that will catch a breeze.

No worries – the Buck cafe is still holding out and I was more than ready for tea and a scone at the pavement table in the sun when I reached there —

Suitably primed I caught the thirty mile hill road down to GlenTrool —

where I picked up the main Girvan road to Newton Stewart for a splash of gas —

A lovely way to spend a few hours on a special spring afternoon 🙂