Dundee Hills: Gallow Hill, The Law, Balgay Hill

3 July 2017

Participants: Neil and Ben

 

Where: Gallow Hill, 175m/574', Tump, OS 54, NO 365342; Dundee Law, 174m/571', Tump, OS 54, NO 391313; and Balgay Hill, 146m/479', Tump, OS 54, NO 377308

 

Whenever I go to a city abroad- and that is rarely nowadays- I always head for the highest point so that I can get an idea of the layout of the place. It occurred to me recently that it might be interesting to visit some of Scotland's cities and do the same thing, with the added bonus that most city hills will be on the Tump list.

 

As the city where I was born, Dundee holds a special attraction for me. For most of the last forty plus years, nothing much seemed to happen and it got a bit down at heel. All that has changed with lots of exciting new developments, mainly centred on the waterfront and it is now a place with a vibrant feel to it, a mix of the old and the new with lots of places of interest linked to its industrial heritage. I left it as a very small child, so apart from the Law, I had not visited its hills before.

 

The highest point within the city boundary is not, as you would expect, the Law Hill, but Gallow Hill, which is a metre higher and lies to the north of the city as part of Templeton Woods and Clatto Country Park. There was a car park for the latter so I went there. This was a very easy walk, there was virtually no height to be gained from the car park and I was at the highest point and back inside 20 minutes.

A path through a meadow led to a grotesque bit of architecture- a concrete water tower- at the edge of Templeton Woods.....

The hill summit seemed to be just outside the compound. There was a view of the Sidlaws from the meadow, but nothing much else of note....

 

It was such a short walk that I also did a round of Clatto reservoir before going back to the car- not a great deal of water in it today but plenty warning signs of the dangers of blue-green algae.

Next was the hill that defines Dundee- the Law. An extinct volcano, remains of an Iron Age fort and now topped with a magnificent war memorial and with a landscaped viewing area, it has everything required of a signature point for the city. I could have driven to the top but opted to park at the start of the hill road and walk from there. It wasn't far. I had been there a few times before but the weather today was easily the best and the views magnificent.  The War Memorial with the rail bridge and Fife background.....

 

Ben beside the radio mast with a view north to the Sidlaws with Craigowl prominent.....

 

North to the Sidlaws.....

 

North-west over the city with Cox's stack showing up well. The stack is a chimney 283'high, an A listed building in an Italian style and one of the few remaining relics of the jute industry in the city. It was part of the Camperdown works, one of the largest industrial sites in the country in the 19th and early 20th centuries......

 

Balgay Hill and the upper Tay estuary......

 

The rail bridge across the Tay.....

 

The road bridge and the lower estuary......

 

I sat about for a while just taking in the views and then headed off on the short drive to the final hill of the day- Balgay Hill. No extensive views here, just a pleasant woodland park at the top of which was the Mills Observatory, Britain's first purpose built public observatory. Unfortunately, it is only open on a few days in the year so I couldn't get in to see the displays.....

 

 

So after visiting the highest point of the hill, which could be anywhere immediately round the building, we went for a stroll in the park instead......

 

Rather than head straight home, I drove across the bridge to the visitor area on the Fife side for the view across the Tay to the city.....

 

I hadn't realised just how much there was to do in Dundee. Now that I've done the hills, I need to go back to visit the attractions.