Largo Law, Mount Hill and Norman's Law

12 July 2010.

Participants - Just me
Where - Largo Law, 290m/952', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 59, NO 427049; Mount Hill, 221m/726', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 59, NO 331165; Norman's Law, 285m/936'. Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 59, NO 305202

July has arrived and right on cue, so has the rain. Conditions have not been good for hill walking and today's forecast, although better, was mixed, to say the least. So I looked for somewhere that had low hills, had a reasonable chance of staying dry and decided that the east of Fife, where there are a number of Marilyns, was my best hope.

Another factor was that I had not climbed Largo Law, although I had done the other two hills before. I had been put off tackling Largo Law, seen here from the west, because it had a poor reputation for access but recent reports that I had read suggested that these had mainly been resolved.

I parked in the church car park in Upper Largo. It seems to be available for general use. The hill path started at the cemetery and passed through Chesterstone farm, where today there was no sign of man nor beast. There were however plenty of signs to make sure that visitors do not stray off the one recommended access route; presumably if you try to climb the hill using any other path or route you risk incurring the wrath of an angry farmer or worse a pack of angry farm dogs! So much for the responsible access laws. Anyway, I complied. The only downside to the recommended route is that it takes the steepest way up the south slopes and is making a bit of a scar on the hillside. 

It is a twin topped hill; this is a view of the main top from the south top.....

Around the summit is the remains of an Iron Age settlement, not surprising as the hill commands the countryside for miles around. This is the view looking up the Forth over Lundin Links and Leven.....

From Largo, I drove up through Cupar to the foot of Mount Hill and found a parking space on the verge of a minor road near to Mount Farm. Mount Hill is easily recognised by the large chimney like structure on top of it; here is a view from south of Cupar.....

Close up, I thought that it was quite an ugly structure......

 It is called the Hopetoun Monument and a plaque above the door advises that it was built by the people of Cupar in 1824 in memory of Sir John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun. Hope was a succesful commander in the British army in the Peninsular War against the French (1808-14). There is another similar Hopetoun Monument across the Forth on Byers Hill above Haddington. Unfortunately, the door was firmly bolted so I could not get to see what it was like inside It doesn't look as if it gets many visitors.....

From there, it was a short drive via the village of Brunton to the start of the climb up Norman's Law. Of the three hills, this is the one that most looks like a proper hill. This is a view taken from near Luthrie on a previous visit.....

I decided to climb it from the north. There was parking for a few cars at the start of a track that skirted the east side of the hill to reach the east ridge. There were cows in one of the fields but they didn't show any interest. The ridge was grassy with a few rock outcrops. The summit was crowned by a stone cairn cum shelter and a trig and there was also a view indicator that points out the various hills that can be seen. Again, it was a good viewpoint, this is looking across the Tay to Dundee.....

and this is looking up the Tay towards Perth.....

One hour was adequate for each of the three hills. I had made a good choice, the rain stayed off and the sun even came out at times. When I arrived back home in the west, it was raining!