Footsteps Through Fife: January 2020

Oh these wonderful days of being free to wander at will. Days now restricted, so cherished all the more. Today's walk was going to be a combination of two hills and would be in the company of my brother, Tim.

We parked at a small lay-by by the village of Glenduckie; the weather was overcast, but dry, so we knew we would not get exceedingly good Mr Kipling type views from the mighty summits, but that just means returning, and it is a walk worth returning to.

The tiny hamlet of Glenduckie nestles below Glenduckie Hill.

Glenduckie and Glenduckie Hill - NO2818

We followed the path to the west of the hill fort and gradually ascended to the summit, all 200 or so metres of it. There is a bench here and, on this occasion, two empty glasses and a candle. Why people think it is acceptable to leave litter like this is baffling to me. Do they think toasting a departed loved one sanctions such behaviour? I'm not sure.

Glenduckie Hill Summit - NO2819

From here we followed the path through woodland and losing our way slightly. We should more or less have circumnavigated the massif, but ended up traversing its summit plateau. It made no difference to my square count anyway. We came down to almost where we'd started from in Glenduckie, but then headed eastwards towards Glascairn.

A barn made a good subject for this gridsquare's photograph, although the footpath was lined with cheery snowdrops and Lesser Celandine. How welcome these bright little flowers are after the dull winter.

Barn near Glascairn. NO2919

Footpath at Glascairn - NO2919

Snowdrops and Lesser Celandine at Glascairn. NO2919

The hamlet of Glascairn consists of two or three cottages.

Glascairn Cottages. NO2919

Glenduckie Hill from Glascairn. NO2919

We continued eastwards into the next gridsquare, which I decided to leave until our descent back through the same gridsquare. At some point we scared a Woodcock from its slumber and it flew up soundlessly from just under our feet, giving us a bit of a scare.

And so we meandered onto the summit of Norman's Law at its mighty height of 285 metres. It is a marilyn, "a hill of any height with a drop of 150 metres (nearly 500 ft) or more on all sides". This means it is relatively high in comparison with its surroundings. There were certainly excellent views all round from the summit, north to the Tay and south to the distinctive landmark of Hopetoun Monument (although we didn't know what it was at the time) There is a toposcope here with directions and mileage to distinctive landmarks viewed from here. I always like studying these things and trying to make out the various lumps and bumps visible.

Norman's Law summit - NO 3020

Again we followed our noses searching for the path on the east side of the hill which would lead us southwards to Denmuirhill. It felt good to be making our own tracks again, to be wandering at will, rather than having to stick to the restrictive footpaths south of the border. It made for harder walking though - all good exercise of course!

At Denmuirhill we came across a strange structure - a stone wall with a line of iron pulleys. We later discovered this was an erstwhile WWI rifle range.

Pulleys and remains of WWI rifle range at Denmuirhill. NO3019

Norman's Law from the south. NO3019.

We walked to the west of Whirly Kipps hill and pondered on its unusual and rather attractive name. Apparently whirly means 'puny' or shrunken and 'kips' means projecting points of a hill, so it is not a very complimentary name. There is another hill of the same name to the north of Norman's Law. A ruin reminded us once more of times past; perhaps this was something to do with the rifle range. I can't think it was a dwelling place contemporary with the rifle range as that would be just too dangerous!