Walking in the Pentland Hills. Susan Falconer
to cross fences; leaving gates as you found them; keeping your dog under control; respecting the needs of land managers and other users. There is a long tradition of access by walkers to the Pentlands, and most land managers are tolerant and understanding of responsible recreation.
The Pentlands are used extensively for sheep farming, water catchment, arable crops, military training and game shooting.
Sheep
The lambing and tupping (when the male tupps are mating with the ewes) seasons are particularly sensitive times of year. Lambing usually takes place between March and May, and tupping in November. Dogs must not be taken into fields with lambs (or calves), and must be kept under close control in fields with other animals.
Grouse shooting
Grouse shoots may take place in August and September. The line of the drive is usually obvious, and well managed and signposted by the estate, but do be extra vigilant during these months.
Military training
A sector of the northern Pentlands from Dreghorn through to Castlelaw is used by the army for training. Live firing takes place on the ranges near Castlelaw farm and is clearly marked and signposted. Dry training may take place in the sector at any other time, but again is signposted. Please be aware of this, especially on Walks 5, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30. Responsible walking access is not usually affected by military training, but please obey any signage or instructions for your own safety.
Wildlife
The routes described in this book are mainly on paths and tracks, making for easier walking, and minimising disturbance to wildlife. Walking off the path may disturb ground-nesting birds, such as curlew, skylark and red grouse, so please take care where you are walking, especially during the March to July nesting season. Check for details at www.outdooraccess-scotland.com.
Weather
The Pentlands can be enjoyed in all seasons – crisp winter days when time and light are short, warm days in spring or summer, or bright autumn mornings. In general they are not subject to extremes of weather, and enjoy a benign climate. Most weather systems affecting the range come from the west, bringing fronts of wet and windy conditions, and the tops can be very windy in exposed areas. Snowfall tends to last no more than a few days (cross-country skiing has only been possible on a handful of days in the past few years), but electrical storms can be a hazard on exposed ground, in which case a speedy retreat to lower down is recommended.
Wet weather means that streams and rivers can rapidly become hazardous to cross. Walks 1, 8, 21 and 23 do not involve crossing water, but bridges, spillways and dams will be encountered on all the other walks. Be aware that things can change, however, including the condition of structures, particularly after adverse weather. Be especially vigilant after heavy rain or snow melt, and if in doubt, do not cross.
A useful website that offers a hills-and mountain-orientated weather forecast is www.mwis.org.uk.
Equipment
The range of equipment available to outdoor enthusiasts is quite staggering. I’ve seen people equipped to tackle the north face of the Eiger rather than Turnhouse Hill (Walk 8), as well as those whose footwear and clothing can only be described as inadequate for the weather and terrain they were about to attempt. In general, a good pair of walking boots, appropriate warm, waterproof clothing – or a hat and sunscreen, depending on the weather – plus a rucksack with food, drink, map, compass and guidebook, are all that is needed. (In 1927, Will Grant, author of The Call of the Pentlands, recommended a good thick Harris tweed suit and a pair of strong boots with tackets (hobnails) for walks in winter. Tweed and tackets have been replaced by more modern materials, but the principle is the same.) (Note: mobile phone coverage in the Pentlands is patchy, with many areas of poor or non-existent reception.)
Following a route
Maps
The maps in this guide are taken from the Ordnance Survey Landranger (1:50,000) series. The information box at the start of each walk gives details of the relevant OS Landranger and Explorer (1:25,000) maps for that walk. For all the walks in this guidebook you will need the following:
Landranger 65 (Falkirk and West Lothian)
Landranger 66 (Edinburgh)
Landranger 72 (Upper Clyde Valley)
Explorer 344 (Pentland Hills)
Map references beginning NT and followed by six figures will be found in the walk instructions. These are included to locate the exact start point of each route and to assist with navigation along the way.
Times
An approximate time needed to complete the route is also given in the information box. These times have been calculated using Naismith’s Rule of 4km/hour, plus 1 minute for every 10m of ascent. Some walkers will be faster, others slower, and the times do not allow for lunch breaks or other stoppages.
The information box also includes: Start/Finish, Distance, Ascent and Maps.
Route description
The main route description describes the ground covered, and has been thoroughly tried and tested. The numbered paragraphs correspond to the numbers along the line of the route on the map. (Be aware that things can change, however – trees are felled, footbridges become unsafe, and land management is ongoing – so be prepared for discrepancies between the route description and what you encounter on the ground.)
Geology and landscape
The Pentlands landscape owes its distinctive profile to the hardness of the 400-million-year-old volcanic rock, lava and ash of the Devonian period.
The heart of the Pentlands is formed from the folded sedimentary rocks of the Silurian age (435 million years), mainly marine shales and sandstones. This core is only exposed at three places: North Esk, Green Cleuch (Walk 8) and Loganlea. But it is the rocks of the succeeding Old Red Sandstone period (400 to 350 million years old) that have contributed to the form of the Pentlands we see today. After a period of erosion, coarse conglomerates and sandstones were laid down, and at this time volcanic activity also increased, and lavas and tuffs (volcanic ash) were deposited.
Geology at the Howe (Walk 8)
The rocks are classified according to the minerals they contain. Basalts and andesites are richly charged with iron oxides such as haematite, and are seen in the characteristic dark-red screes and outcrops found beside the lower part of Flotterstone Glen road (Walk 24). Rhyolytes and trachytes tend to be pink or pale orange in colour. Rhyolyte can be seen on the summit of Caerketton Hill (Walk 1) and trachytes are best seen on Torduff Hill (Walk 4). Tuffs, pale in colour and often containing distinct fragments of other rocks, can be found on the summit of Carnethy Hill (Walk 21).
The rocks of the Upper Old Red Sandstone age are found around West and East Cairn Hills (Walks 11 and 15). Earth movements during the Lower Carboniferous period created the Pentland Fault (the A702 follows the line of the fault), which separates the Pentlands from the Midlothian coalfield.
Mendick Hill from the Roman road (Walk 13)
The rounded profiles of the hills, the deposits of boulder clay and striated (scratched) rock surfaces, are evidence that an ice sheet scoured the Pentlands. In the last two million years, warmer spells between ice ages caused the ice to melt, and vast quantities of meltwater cut out channels to lower ground. Green Cleuch (Walk 9) and the area to the west of Carlops (Walk 16) are excellent examples of these meltwater channels.
The hard, volcanic rocks have been used to construct cairns, dwellings, dykes and roads around the hills. The shape of the land, with its valleys and relatively non-porous rock,