Shewalton Sandpits

I'd set off this morning to visit the Shewalton Sandpits Wildlife Reseve. After two unplanned detours on the way I finally made it there!

As it's name suggests, the Shewalton Sandpits is a wildlife reserve created on the site of some old wasteland which was once part of a sand and gravel works. In 1982 the Scottish Wildlife Trust worked with North Ayrshire Council to regenerate the area as a reserve. The site is split into two parts on either side of the Ayr Road at the south end of Irvine.

After parking up at the providing lay-by on the Shewalton Road I headed into the East part of the reserve in search of Explore Shewalton Sandpits - Riverside. This has a number of paths which can be followed. The cache is located on a circular walk around an old pit which is now a pond. The temperatures over night had been sub zero and as a result the pond was completely frozen over. This is a lovely wee walk and is fairly short so is not too much if you're just looking for a short stroll.

Upon arrival at the given cache coordinates I immediately spotted a likely hiding place and sure enough that was where I found the cache. The container itself was slightly damaged however and had been leaking, but I had some supplies with me and was able to give it a dry and a clean and wrapped the entire thing into another zip-lock bag before returning it to it's hidey hole.

This is a great wee location and combines both woodland walk and a nice stroll around the pond. Even in the height of winter there was wildlife here in abundance including water birds, squirrels, robins and a variety of other birds.

Moving on I crossed over to the second cache in the West part of the reserve to hunt for Explore Shewalton Sandpits - Trocal Pond. This area has a huge pond at the centre with a path the whole way around. As is often the case, the cache has been placed at the farthest away point from the entrance to the reserve. Unsure which would be the best direction to go round the pond I just picked one and started walking. Much of this walk is along the very edge of the reserve at the border with the neighbouring golf course. I managed to collect three lost balls along the way.

The path is narrow in places and is fairly interesting, not your normal forest path. Upon arrival at the coordinates I had a good look around but couldn't see the cache. The location is a small hollow filled with pine trees (planted - they're all in rows!) but despite spotting an obvious cachers cairn I couldn't find the cache. The GPS was skipping around a fair bit, but there are a few points surrounding the location where a clear signal can be found so I was able to triangulate a fairly good idea of where the cache should be, I just couldn't find it. Not sure if the cache is there, whether it's buried under the thick carpet of pine needles or whether I just didn't look in the right place but after about an hour and countless jags and scratches from needles, thorns and gorse bushes (and a phone call from Mrs SC to find out why I was an hour late picking her up) I finally gave up.

I'll definitely be back for another go as this is a really nice walk and you never know I might find more golf balls!