Walk 43 – Tarryholme Pond, Irvine – 1.7 miles

A tranquil area of Irvine you may not have visited before! Lovely for summer picnics or a short evening stroll. Takes in both Annick Water and River Irvine, as well as 2 ponds. Route can be extended long River Irvine in either direction.

Buggy-friendly walk

Dog-friendly walk

Download the route to your mobile phone HERE (Viewranger app required)

Parking available just off A71 before crossing the bridge over River Irvine

Route: Turn left out of the parking area and across Annick Water via footbridge. Cross the road and turn left then left again at the roundabout. Ignore a track off to your left with a gate at it, immediately after this there is another surfaced footpath which you take, leading you towards Tarryholme Pond. Do a circuit of the pond and use one of the footpaths on your left to cross over onto St Andrews Way. The path continues at the other side of the road, skirting round another pond/marshy area. About halfway round you will come to a path leading out into a field – ignore this (I tried but it is not buggy friendly!) Instead, continue a little further and take the footpath uphill on your left into the housing estate. Follow Glenbervie Wynd along until you come to a lane on your left. This will take you down to a wide footbridge across Annick Water. There are 4-5 steps at the other side to get down from the bridge but I found them ok for bumping a buggy down. Turn left and follow the path along River Irvine and back to the car park.

Tarryholme1 — My little man enjoyed looking at the reeds and ducks and loved the interesting wooden features which have been built on stilts over the water such as this one!

WALK REPORT: 26th April 2016

At almost 3 years old, Thomas doesn’t so much enjoy the idea of going out for a buggy walk anymore, I think he is a little ‘over it’. Hence the lack of buggy friendly walks appearing of late. However he did actually really enjoy this one; it had plenty of quirky features to hold his interest and was short enough at 2 miles that he didn’t have time to get bored.

The best way I can describe this walk is peaceful. I imagine, being so close to the housing estate, that it will be a busy place in the evenings or on school holidays. But today – a crisp sunny Tuesday morning – there was hardly a soul around. The road surface is perfect for the buggy and there are also plenty of ‘off road’ grassy areas you can venture into to explore.

Before setting off I had roughly mapped out the route we would take using Viewranger and the map showed the path continuing after the second pond into a field and along the river (rather than through the housing estate). However it wasn’t as expected: the beautifully smooth tarmac path turns into a narrow bumpy grassy track almost impossible to push a buggy over. I say almost because I did manage, however we ended up having to turn back because the path completely disappears. I am sure it is passable if you only have your two feet to worry about but I didn’t want to risk taking the buggy any further.

I will definitely come back here to explore more!