Hill of Tillymorgan and Hill of Foudland

28 September 2015

Participants: Just me

Where: Hill of Tillymorgan, 381m/1,249', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 652348 and Hill of Foudland, 467m/1,531', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 603332

 

I made the short drive from Alford to the Glens of Foudland to climb these two Marilyns. It wasn't quite as sunny as the previous day but still very clear and if anything a bit warmer. I decided to climb Hill of Tillymorgan first so drove to the farm at Kirkton of Culsalmond. There was no obvious place to park and no one about to ask so I drove back down the hill to the A920 where there was a convenient lay by. It only added a few hundred yards to the walk. The hill was signposted, a track which went through a number of fields before entering some woodland.....
 

 

The path sort of disappeared after leaving the woodland but the way was obvious- through some old slate quarries which littered the top of the hill. Apparently, quarrying went on into the latter part of the 19th century. It made for a rather industrial looking landscape.....

A barbed wire fence separated the quarrying area from the more grassy top of the hill and the mound containing the trig. It overlooked the Glen's of Foudland wind farm......

but a better view was due north to another of the Aberdeenshire Marilyns, Knock Hill.....

There was also a view south to Bennachie.....

I returned the same way and moved the car a couple of miles back along the road to the wee village of Colpy where I parked. It was then a walk of about a mile along a tarmacked road to the farm of Jericho and then a good track up through some woodland to the start of the track to the masts which were almost at the top of Hill of Foudland. Here are some photos of the approach.....

The masts are a local landmark and are quite impressive close up........

The masts could have been the highest point but apparently not; it is the trig point a further half mile across the moor.....

A less impressive summit this one, the hill in the middle distance is Tap o'Noth.......

There was a good view of the Hill of Tillymorgan on the way down.....

It took me about an hour and a half to climb Hill of Tillymorgan and a shade under 3 hours to climb Hill of Foudland. Then it was back down the road. It had been another interesting trip to Aberdeenshire. 

Craiglich

27 September 2015

Participants: Just me

Where: Craiglich, 476m/1,562', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 37, NJ 533054

 

Aberdeenshire is a great area for sub-2k Marilyns. They are mostly isolated hills so tend to be good viewpoints, especially in the autumn when the surrounding countryside is a mass of colour. I still had a few to bag, the forecast was excellent so I set off for another night at Alford. Craiglich at Tarland was the target for a stop on the way up. It has the advantage of a high starting point, a large lay by on the B9119 3 miles east of the village. The track starts immediately opposite the lay by and goes through a field initially before entering the woods. A bit up the track, there was this wonderful view across the farming land to the Graham, Pressendye.....

After about a mile, another track branched off left up the hillside. It was marked with a cairn. Soon I was out of the trees and crossing the moorland with the trig ahead. There was a massive cairn as well, looks as though it was some sort of man made structure maybe a memorial (?) at one time.....
 

 

It was a very fine viewpoint. From south to north;

 

the view to Mount Keen.....
 

 

to Lochnagar.....

to Pressendye.....

to Coiliochbhar Hill.....
 

 

to Bennachie.....
 

 

and across the farm lands to the east.....
 

 

It was well worth the little effort involved. I spent about half an hour at the trig and was still up and down in around 2 hours.

 

Castle Hill (Bar Hill)

21 September 2015

Participants: Neil and Ben

Where: Castle Hill, 155m/509', Tump, NS 709761

It was a short walk close to home today. Castle Hill is on the route of the John Muir Trail but is better known for being part of the Antonine Wall. It also contains traces of Roman fortifications, including the highest fort on the route of the Wall. You can still see the foundations of both the fort and a bath house, and there is also an impressive ditch. The summit, a little way to the east of the Roman remains, is an Iron Age fort and provides a superlative view of the Kelvin valley. Standing at the top, you can see exactly why this was an important military position.

 

I parked at the north end of Croy village from where a good track headed to the hill.  Historic Scotland had provided some good information boards.....

 

 

Looking up the ditch to the top of the hill.....

 

 

Ben investigating the remains of the fort.....

 

 

the remains of the bath house are better preserved.....
 

 

Ben at the trig with Kilsyth in the background......

The view towards Cumbernauld was not so good, the trees get in the way.....
 

 

but there is an uninterrupted view north to the Campsie Fells.....

 

 

Meall Mor, Glencoe

19 September 2015

Participants: Just me
Where: Meall Mor (Glencoe), 676m/2,218', Graham, Map 41, NN 106559

"The weather will be gorgeous, be careful of the strong sun" gushed the BBC weather forecaster. That, together with an MWIS forecast of 90% cloud free summits, had me heading for Glencoe to climb the Graham, Meall Mor. There was a fair amount of low level mist when I left the car in the NTS visitor centre car park, but that dissipated as I got higher and it looked as though the forecast was going to be correct. The cloud breaking up over Bidean.....

 

 

and over Sgorr nam Fiannaidh of the Aonach Eagach on the opposite side of the glen.....

 

 

The track that I was following is relatively new and is not marked on the map. It has a great surface, and winds up in giant zig-zags to the 1,000' contour at a gentle angle. A good way to climb this hill, which otherwise is one of the steeper variety. Soon, the hill came into sight.....

 

 

I left the track at its highest point. The forest up here had been cut down, but there was a nice grassy path through what remained taking me on to the hillside. By this time, I was starting to wonder about the weather. The cloud was getting thicker. Looking west, it was obviously raining. The slope was steep, but grassy. I reached a new deer fence but there was a gate (unlocked). The cloud on the neighbouring hills lifted and dropped. Of the gorgeous sunny day, there was no trace. The summit area was a bit of a plateau, which was a surprise. The summit was on a narrow rocky outcrop which wasn't all that far away.

 

Another walker appeared, having come up the other side of the hill, which was shorter but much steeper. He provided some scale to the photo of the summit area.....

 

 

 The cairn itself was in a great position, with high hills all around. Here it is with the Aonach Eagach in the background.....

 

 

The cloud relented a bit after the drizzle passed through, although it never cleared completely. Still, it meant that I got some atmospheric photos on the way down.

 

Bidean nam Bian......

 

 

The neighbouring Graham, Sgorr a'Choise.....

 

 

Beinn a' Bheithir.....

 

 

Loch Leven and Ballachulish.....

 

 

The Pap of Glencoe.....

 

 

and, from just above the forest, a view down the length of Glencoe. It shows clearly what a shut in glen it is and today, it was certainly looking dark and gloomy.....

 

 

 

 

The sun came out 10 minutes from home. So the forecasters were right after all!

Bengray

8 September 2015

Participants: Just me

Where: Bengray, 366m/1,202', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 83, NX 630598: Approached over Benfadyeon, a Tump

 

The forecast was excellent, the forecaster hadn't mentioned mist and low cloud but when I set out, the mist was down to the road. So I hung about for an hour, read my paper and then decided to set out in the belief that the sun would dry the atmosphere up. I parked on the minor road from Gatehouse of Fleet to Laurieston opposite Laghead farm; a track was marked as leaving there and going to Loch Whinyeon which was a possible route to my hill. After about 30 or so minutes a memorial bench appeared out of the gloom; this was at a viewpoint just short of the loch. Today's view.....

 

 

It was quite warm so I made use of the seat for half an hour then wandered on to the loch where I had another stop in a small fishing hut. And still the mist didn't lift. So I set off back downhill and half way back to the car the sun appeared through the clouds and it looked as though something was happening. So I turned round and set off uphill again. This time, I left the path and went up Benfadyeon and the cloud lifted with me. From Benfadyeon, I could at last see Bengray and there was no doubt now that the sunshine was arriving.....

 

 

 

I followed a good 4WD track before striking up the steep slopes of the hill. Loch Whinyeon appeared below through the mist.....

 

 

It was really humid and I was struggling. Of course, there had to be a false top but eventually I was there. The highest point appears to be slightly north of the trig. The haze made the views disappointing......

 

But it was a big improvement on earlier; the sun was beating down as I made my way back. Loch Whinyeon again.....

 

and the view back to Bengray from Benfadyeon........

 

 

It wasn't a great distance nor ascent but I ended up more tired after this one that on any other outing this year. This would be a good hill on a crisp winter's day.