Gartcarron Hill East, a new Tump in the Campsies

24 June 2020

Participants: Just me. I am a bit worried that Ben is developing a weakness in his front legs so I will probably leave him at home until his next visit to the vets.

Where: Gartcarron Hill East, 389m/1,032', P 30.6m, Tump, OS 57/64, NS 654 848

Another of the hills that has been resurveyed and this time one very close to home in the Campsie Fells. I had already done Gartcarron Hill but its east top although over the 30m prominence mark, was very different. The main top was in pasture, this one was in a forest, most easily reached from the Meikle Bin car park at xxxx. The warm weather had brought out the crowds and I had to park further down the road as the car parking area was full. However everyone was clearly bound for either the reservoir or Meikle Bin and I saw no one after leaving the main track.  I soon turned off the main track on to a disused one. The walking was very pleasant with broom bushes in places, apart that is from the swarms of flies. Summer has arrived!

The track continued all the way to the summit area. Unfortunately the high point was in the trees, somewhere around here.....

It was back the same way, a very pleasant short day. There was a good view of the two tops from the Crow Road on the way back. 

King's Seat Hill (Clackmannan)

18 June 2020

Participants: Just me

Where: King's Seat Hill (Clackmannan), 58m/192', P. 33m, Tump, OS 58, NS 906 919

This is another of the newly promoted Tumps and one that fully justifies its status. It is crowned by Clackmannan Tower with the high point of the hill close to the north wall. The Tower has lots of Royal connections. It is thought that Royalty might have first used the site in the reign of Malcolm IV in the 11th century. The earliest part of the Tower seems to date from the early 14th century, extensive alterations took place in the 1400's and a mansion house, now demolished, was added in the late 1500's. The occupants were descendants of relatives of Robert the Bruce and they occupied the Tower until the late 1700's. At present, the tower can only be viewed from the outside, which is a pity as there must be an even better view from the top.

I parked at the top of the main street close by the old Tollbooth and Mercat Cross.....

The Tower was only a short distance away. As I expected, the hill was a wonderful viewpoint. The Ochil Hills are a short distance to the north and this viewpoint revealed Ben Cleuch, the highest, which hides away from lower down.....

There was also a great view of Dumyat through the trees from just west of the Tower.....

The view south over the Forth to the lowlands was a bit industrial!

Bellahouston Park (Glasgow)- a new Tump

1 June 2020

Participants: Neil and Ben

Where: Bellahouston Park, 50.2m/165', P 30m, Tump, OS 64, NS 549 638.

The tamperers have been busy checking heights across Great Britain and as a result are discovering a whole lot of new Tumps. They are also finding existing Tumps that are in fact below the required prominence and therefore deleting them from the list, Only one of my climbed hills have been "lost" that way, thank goodness. And I now have at the present count 10 new Tumps that I can visit as easy day trips. I did the first of them today- a short drive across Glasgow to Bellahouston Park.

I parked off road on the south side at one of the entrances. This is the view of the high point from the start.....

Bellahouston is one of the largest parks in Glasgow- about 180 acres- and it was certainly very easy to maintain social distancing. The park housed the Empire Exhibition of 1938, the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1982 and numerous pop concerts and other events. We headed firstly (of course) for the high point.....

There was no view from the high point but a short distance to the edge of the trees found a fine view over Mosspark and the south of the city.....

After the summit, we wandered down the north side of the hill to have a look at Charles Rennie Macintosh' House for an Art Lover; from the outside only unfortunately as all public buildings are still closed due to the pandemic.....

Nearby, Ben found a new friend.....

There were also a number of sculptures.....

and some nice trees.....

All in all, it was a very pleasant hour or so. Not a "real" hill but another Tump bagged.