Tumping around Peebles- Cademuir Fort, South Head Hill and White Hill

25 March 2019

 

Participants: Just me

Where: Cademuir Fort, 407m/1,335', P 90m, Tump, OS 73, NT 200 374, South Head Hill, 378m/1,240', P35m, Tump, OS 73, NT 219 417 and White Hill, 440m/1,444', P67m, Tump, OS 72, NT 090 469.

 

It was a much sunnier day than we had been having recently so I decided to go to the Peebles area to climb a couple of hills that had caught my eye. In the event, I climbed 3 hills as I diverted to Dolphinton on the way home to climb White Hill.

 

I had climbed the Marilyn, Cademuir Hill on a couple of occasions, once when it was tree covered and again when most of the forest had been cut down. It has a top, Cademuir Fort, which is almost as high and which is a much superior hill.....

 

 

There were lots of paths to choose from but in any event, the hill is well grazed by sheep and the grass was short cropped. I started from the south east corner and got a good view of Cademuir Hill on the route up.....

 

 

It was a superb viewpoint. Looking towards Peebles.....

 

 

Towards a distant Tinto.....

 

 

And down the Manor valley.....

 

 

I had climbed both White Meldon and Black Meldon (a Hump and a Marilyn respectively) before but had never completed the Meldon Valley hills by climbing South Head Hill, a Tump. So that's where I headed next. This is a view of White Meldon (l) and South Head Hill (r) from the valley..... 

 

 

There were lots of places to park and there was a convenient bridge over the stream. Although there were no paths going up the hill from this direction, it was easy going underneath, first across a grass meadow and then through some burnt heather. There was what I took to be the remains of a cairn at what looked as though it might be the highest point; here it is with White Meldon in the background.....

 

 

A view of the valley with Black Meldon on the left and White Meldon on the right.....

 

 

I had left the house early as the forecast had been for cloud to build later in the day. So I had actually completed my two hills by lunchtime and felt that I was probably OK for another on the way home. White Hill lies to the east and in the shadow of the Marilyn, Black Mount, west of Dolphinton. I parked on a minor road to the east of the hill next to a stile which led to a track through a nice wooded area and on to the hill. There was some rough heather once off the track and I then contoured slightly east to avoid the steepest slopes.

 

 

 

There was a good view to the Pentlands as I got higher.....

 

 

Black Mount lives up to its name, for some reason the heather on it is particularly dark. I wonder if White Hill was so named as it is such a contrast? Approaching the summit with Black Mount beyond.....

 

 

the view to the southwest is partly obscured by the higher neighbour.....

 

 

The view east to the Pentland Hills is much more open.....

 

and there was a fine panorama looking back to the Peebles area.....

and north to the central belt notwithstanding the many windmills.....