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.

Gartshore Bing

15 May 2020

Participants: Just me

Where: Gartshore Bing, 101m/331', P 35m, Tump, OS 64, NS 685 734

Most of my walks with Ben during Covid-19 lock down have been along country tracks and up a very small former bing near Twechar, St Flannan's Hill. I have also explored side roads  and paths in a nature reserve near home and through the latter devised a way to get to Gartshore Bing which is only half the distance than if I followed the main roads. So when a day with excellent visibility came along I was ready to give it another visit. Unfortunately, as my route involved clambering over a couple of fences, I couldn't take Ben, although I now think that I might have found an alternative that avoids fences.

From the north on a different walk.....

The approach from Waterside.....

The track up.....

The view to Glasgow with the hills of Arran on the distant horizon.....

The view over Kirkintilloch to the Campsie Fells.....

The view north-east to Kilsyth and the Campsie Fells.....

The view east along central Scotland.....

And the view south to distant Tinto.....

I am lucky in that I stay on the edge of the countryside and there are some walks from home; it must be hell living in a flat in a city. However it was good to be on a "hill" again and I hope not too long before restrictions are at least eased so we can travel to some other hills.

Barr Wood Hill (Stirling)

19 March 2020

Participants: Just me

Where: Barr Wood Hill, 154m/505', P 34m, Tump, OS 57, NS 790 868

In line with Government advice, all my hill walking will be within a short distance of home for the foreseeable future. Exercise is important, there is only myself and Ben in the car, and social distancing is easy on the Tumps. I am already finding myself doing hills that I never imagined that I would ever do!

Barr Wood Hill is just south of Stirling and is normally home to a major scout camp. However, no scouts will be there for a while now so I was able to wander about without hindrance. I parked at the end of a minor road to the south and walked up the track to the scout car park.....

There were a number of paths heading across and up the hill and it was simply a case of following these until I spotted the high point, or more accurately a couple of them. I visited both just to be sure. There had been tree thinning going on so there were some views, including a good one to the north to the still snow covered Stuc a'Chroin and Ben Vorlich.....

A very pleasant wander.

Newburgh Wood (Comrie)

15 March 2020

Participants: Neil and Ben

Where: Newburgh Wood, 214m/702', P 57m, Tump, OS 57, NN 799 204

The weather cleared up about 1.00 so Ben and I jumped in the car and headed towards Comrie to have a dander up the Tump, Newburgh Wood. There was space for a few cars at the end of the track opposite the house at Glentarf. This is another hill where the trees are being felled and the track has been extended almost to the highest point. It has also of course opened up the views. A pleasant short stroll.

The approach.....

The view to Crieff from the track.....

Ben at the summit.....

Looking south to Ben Clach.....

Looking north to Ben Chonzie.....

Looking west to Ben Halton.....

Cairnoch Hill (Carron Valley)

13 March 2020

Participants: Just me

Where: Cairnoch Hill, 413m/1,355', P 123m, Hump, OS 57, NS 698 857

With Corona-19 sweeping the country and amid everything shutting down, I decided to get away from it all for a few hours and get another hill walk in. I had looked across the Carron Valley reservoir at Cairnoch Hill on many occasions but it had a bit of a reputation as a forestry struggle so hadn't bothered tackling it. However, extensive felling had taken place recently and I had read a report on FB that said that the introduction of new forest roads had meant that there was now an easy route from the north.

I started at the track to the ruins of Sir John de Grahams castle. Sir John, a loyal supporter and friend of Sir William Wallace is though to have lived here. He died at the battle of Falkirk in 1298. Wallace escaped the battlefield and may have come to the castle following his defeat. The building is thought to have been a substantial timber framed hall defended by a moat; it is certainly impressive. I doubt if it is much visited.....

The forestry track curved along the north side of the hill at a gentle angle before heading upwards and running along the south side. The detailed instructions are first left shortly after leaving the castle, right at the next junction passing a quarry high up, onward for a bit to turn left up a new track which ends at a small quarry, leave the track here and climb directly up the rough hillside  and the trig is a few hundred metres further on. The summit area was clear of trees apart from a few recent plantings. There were excellent views of the Carron valley and the reservoir from the upper part of the track.....

Approaching the trig.....

The view north with a snow covered Ben Ledi in the distance.....

The view to Meikle Bin.....