Munros and Other Walks

A walk about the city centre on a rainy February weekend. The images below were taken on a Praktica MTL5. They were shot on Kodak Vision 250D.

Loch Ard and its walking routes are part of the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park , near Aberfoyle. It covers over fifty thousand acres of woodland and lochs, with lots of different paths and tracks. It is easy to imagine that no two walks would be exactly the same. Trees line the route Tree storm damage There is not one typical route at Loch Ard, rather several interlinking paths which make for an enjoyable walk in the woods and with some scenic views of the loch. This path is firm underfoot, which makes for ideal walking, cycling or even trail running. You never know, you may also see people on horseback.  Typical path As it is a “choose your own adventure” style walk, I took the path west from the car park, or the path that leads off to the right. This path undulates and slowly rises up to a small loch called the Lochain a’Ghleannain. Some wonderful shots can be taken of this loch nestled amongst the trees. Lochain a’Ghleannain From there I continued west then north west, tracking clo...

  Lowther Hill Radar Station Wanlockhead has the distinction of being the highest highest village in Scotland at 466m and located here are the Lowther hills. Lowther and Green Lowther hills can be spotted easily due to the radar station and aerials that are situated at the tops of these hills.  Wanlockhead Route  The Route  We  parked at the Visitor centre car park. From there we walked past the toilets, up the slope next to the playpark. We continued this across the road and up onto the open slopes, heading south east.  We were following part of the route for the Southern Upland Way, the markers were quite obvious.  Wanlockhead Village Route Markers for the SUW The track crosses over the road that leads up to the radar station and it would be possible to walk entirely on the road. The height of Lowther Hill is 725m so the accent from the village is only just under 300m.  Looking Back Down the Track Getting Closer  Road to the Station  V...

  Here we are back at Dalzell Estate, due to Covid restrictions as it was deemed necessary not to travel to far from our home. In this case we decided to travel the short distance and have a closer look at the loch and nature reserve. The last time we had a walk around the Japanese garden and the woods in general, by passing the large stately home that is almost impossible to miss. This time we headed in the opposite direction.  The Route Our route took us west from the car park and out onto open countryside and then south beside some trees. After a 1km or so it joins onto the Wetland route which, next to the loch. We continued along this path a little too long and after the first hide we should have turned left, switching back along the outer end of the loch. We had to double back on ourselves, but we had only gone 100m or so in the wrong direction.  Path Bird Hide On the far side where the path is trapped between the river Clyde and the loch, the vegetation is high here...

Walking With Kids At last, after a weekend where it barely stopped raining there was a break in the weather, and a chance to get out. Dechmont hill is our closest climb and measures just under 200m, which gives the kids a chance to get to the top. We parked on the road that runs parallel behind Gilbertfield road. The walk started on the track that leads to Dechmont farm and the shooting range. They are now turning this area into housing, so be careful of builders lorries etc. We took a left turn at the road which leads to the farm, and then a right at the Dechmont Range House, now abandoned. The track ends at a small compound, but takes you past the ruins of Gilbertfield Castle. Gilbertfield Castle The compound contains a couple of old houses which acts as a control station for the shooting range. There is no access through it, instead take a left turn before the end of the track and make your way through the grass. There is a path through here but can be obscured by the tall grass sur...

It's seems strange but I went out for my government allocated exercise time and ended up accidentally walking up a hill. Just to be clear, this is within waking distance of my house and the entire walk took about 50 mins. The walk to the top of Spittal hill is easy going and is part of a cycle route that leads to East Kilbride. The route took us out of the Drumsagard housing estate along the Newton farm road. Farm Road Part View of a Field At the top of the road we took a right  and followed the track which is well used by dog walkers. The track is sandwiched between two fields and does feel as if you're out in the wilds. The Track Trig Point  Trig Inspectors  The trig point is three quarters of the way along. It's strange to see this here but was fun to tell the kids they have just walked up a hill. The track leads back to the A724 to Blantyre and a ten minute walk back to Drumsagard. I was surprised at the fact there was a trig poi...