Walk around the north of the Ardeer Peninsula
Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 6:05 pm
Today, I spent some time walking around the Africa House, Black Powder and Garnock West areas at the north of the Ardeer Peninsula.
I always enjoy walking up the man-made hill just inside the entrance to the old ICI grounds.
Although artificial, it supports surprisingly interesting habitats, being covered in a patchwork of Heather, Gorse and wildflowers such as Wild Strawberry and Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
The hill rises 19m above sea level and provides good views of the extensive woodland at the site.
It’s a 200m walk from the hill over to the woodland that surrounds Africa House.
Although the building is infamously in need of ‘refurbishment’, its surroundings (and in many ways the building itself) are very attractive and do represent a pleasant spot.
The wood around Africa House is carpeted in Bluebells, which are just about to burst into bloom.
The wood is open to the public and all are warmly welcomed.
Although it does look a bit like a prison, I find McGowan House an attractive building.
The multipurpose weathercock and lightening rod on top of the building.
The war memorial and sundial on the green in front of the building.
Between this area and the black powder wood is a large area of overgrown concrete footprint. This habitat is what ecologists would call ‘open mosaic habitat’: wildflowers, scattered scrub and patches of bare ground.
The low-growing vegetation here includes a lot of heather and the very low-growing tree, Creeping Willow, which grows to only a few inches in height. Here’s a patch of Creeping Willow growing along an old road. It's just coming into bloom.
Beyond this is a tangle of Gorse and Willow.
Approaching the Black Powder Wood, there were some Yellow Meadow Ant nest mounds (dark green in the photo).
Approaching the wood.
This road skirts what used to be the edge of the wood. The wood has long since expanded south across the road.
The wood is an old pine plantation that has been colonised by countless thousands of native broadleaved trees. It’s now the second biggest wood in North Ayrshire (and the biggest one that isn’t a sterile forestry plantation).
The wood is peppered with small industrial buildings surrounded by sandy blast walls. This blast wall is covered in heather and in August is a magnet for lots of the woodland’s insects.
Over 20 hectares of sand dunes have been destroyed through commercial to sand extraction. This is one of the newest quarries.
The biggest sandhill rises about 30m above sea level. Here’s the view from near the top of it, past the old power station down the peninsula.
The new (c.2009) security fence is much more effective than the old one. I’m guessing that few people have tried to scale it or cut a hole through.
The road network at Garnock west has largely vanished under Gorse and Broom.
Despite being a mile inland, there are still bits of dune formation downwind of where open sand has been created by industrial activities. Here, the security fence is inadvertently trapping windblown sand, helping build a new dune.
There are many ponds and other waterbodies scattered across the site. This overgrown ditch is a nice bit of habitat.
Coming out of the former ICI grounds, one reaches Ardeer Fen beside Todhill. Here’s a view across the fen to the old Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Railway bridge.
I always enjoy walking up the man-made hill just inside the entrance to the old ICI grounds.
Although artificial, it supports surprisingly interesting habitats, being covered in a patchwork of Heather, Gorse and wildflowers such as Wild Strawberry and Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
The hill rises 19m above sea level and provides good views of the extensive woodland at the site.
It’s a 200m walk from the hill over to the woodland that surrounds Africa House.
Although the building is infamously in need of ‘refurbishment’, its surroundings (and in many ways the building itself) are very attractive and do represent a pleasant spot.
The wood around Africa House is carpeted in Bluebells, which are just about to burst into bloom.
The wood is open to the public and all are warmly welcomed.
Although it does look a bit like a prison, I find McGowan House an attractive building.
The multipurpose weathercock and lightening rod on top of the building.
The war memorial and sundial on the green in front of the building.
Between this area and the black powder wood is a large area of overgrown concrete footprint. This habitat is what ecologists would call ‘open mosaic habitat’: wildflowers, scattered scrub and patches of bare ground.
The low-growing vegetation here includes a lot of heather and the very low-growing tree, Creeping Willow, which grows to only a few inches in height. Here’s a patch of Creeping Willow growing along an old road. It's just coming into bloom.
Beyond this is a tangle of Gorse and Willow.
Approaching the Black Powder Wood, there were some Yellow Meadow Ant nest mounds (dark green in the photo).
Approaching the wood.
This road skirts what used to be the edge of the wood. The wood has long since expanded south across the road.
The wood is an old pine plantation that has been colonised by countless thousands of native broadleaved trees. It’s now the second biggest wood in North Ayrshire (and the biggest one that isn’t a sterile forestry plantation).
The wood is peppered with small industrial buildings surrounded by sandy blast walls. This blast wall is covered in heather and in August is a magnet for lots of the woodland’s insects.
Over 20 hectares of sand dunes have been destroyed through commercial to sand extraction. This is one of the newest quarries.
The biggest sandhill rises about 30m above sea level. Here’s the view from near the top of it, past the old power station down the peninsula.
The new (c.2009) security fence is much more effective than the old one. I’m guessing that few people have tried to scale it or cut a hole through.
The road network at Garnock west has largely vanished under Gorse and Broom.
Despite being a mile inland, there are still bits of dune formation downwind of where open sand has been created by industrial activities. Here, the security fence is inadvertently trapping windblown sand, helping build a new dune.
There are many ponds and other waterbodies scattered across the site. This overgrown ditch is a nice bit of habitat.
Coming out of the former ICI grounds, one reaches Ardeer Fen beside Todhill. Here’s a view across the fen to the old Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Railway bridge.