Clatto Hill from Baintown - 08/02/2020

It's hard to express the excitement I feel over simply exploring new places. I imagine it must be the same sort of adrenalin rush that others get from going shopping or going to theme parks, only this is free, save for the petrol to get to your starting point.

Today was a new destination for me. I was finally going to get up Clatto Hill and I'd worked out what I hoped would be a lovely walk to do so. It started at Baintown, a place I'd never heard of until today, and, to be honest I still hadn't heard of it until I realised that's where I was parking. I actually parked at the Bonnybank Inn and walked into Baintown and down a footpath to cross a barely discernible burn.

Back Burn. NO3503

Still on a lichen adrenalin rush from the weekend before, my lichen antennae were out today and I snapped a photo of a fruiting Xanthoria - parietina?

Xanthoria parietina.

I headed uphill quite steeply now. turning right onto the Fife Pilgrim Way at White Cottage and heading towards Whally Den.

Approaching Whallyden with Largo Law in the distance. NO3504

Today's walk began with some attractive ruins, at least I find ruins attractive, a legacy of the years I walked on Islay where the landscape was filled with abandoned ruins and I imagined I was calling for a cup of tea there and what stores these walls would tell if they could speak. I get a little romantic like that, thinking of the laughter and tears, the blood and sweat the stone has absorbed and how that bestows life into these ruins, so that they seem to breathe. Call me a romantic, but that's how I think when I walk these ways.

Ruin at Wester Kilmux NO3605 (from NO3504)

Broadleys ruin. NO3504

Seeing I was about to enter some dense conifer plantation that stretched as far as the eye I could see, I decided to make the most of the sunshine and enjoy my first break out in the open. The forestry actually extended much further at one point and stumps of trees provided excellent perch for me. A lady passed me (with her dog of course) and asked if I was doing the Fife Pilgrim Way. "Was I on my way to Ceres?" I hoped it wasn't too much of a lie to answer in the affirmative. It was simpler to do so. I've learned my lesson from too many well-meaning people in the past, simply passing the time of day and I start going into great detail about where I'm heading and they start trying to help when I don't really need their help and it just gets embarrassing. "Lovely day for it," she smiled as she walked past me.

Approaching Kilmux Wood. NO3505

So far on my Scottish rambles I have not been thwarted in my plans as many times as I was down south, despite the plethora of so called footpaths down there. I was pleased today that aside from a few fallen branches and the ubiquitous mud there were no major obstacles. I ave to confess though, that I tend to forget such minor difficulties when thinking about the walk afterwards. It tends to be when I'm with other people that I'm much more aware of things like barbed wire fences and mud.

Kilmux Wood becomes Devon Wood and then I was heading north into Edensmuir Forest and Clatto Hill. Although I was following the Fife Pilgrim Way here on its way down to Ceres, I had deviated from my route in order to bag the trigpoint on Clatto Hill. On my very first Fife walk I had nearly visited this trigpoint but deemed it to be too far off the beaten path and so had put it on the back burner until today, so you can imagine (perhaps) my excitement at the prospect of finally reaching it.

Other than the trigpoint and the prospect of Ceres, there is little to commend a walk up Clatto Hill. I resisted the temptation to strike out across tree felled land in a bid to find a shortcut to the summit. I've learned that lesson as well. I waited for an obvious way to open before me and then strode off, only pausing once at some irresistible lichen.

Cladonia chlorophea (I think)

Cladonia floerkaena (I think)

Cladonia floerkaena (I think)

Cladonia polydactyla (I'm pretty sure)

Clatto Hill trigpoint. NO3506

I reckoned I'd added at least a mile to my walk with this gratuitous slog to the trigpoint, so I rushed back down to where I'd deviated from my path and continued to Devon Cottage. There is a plethora of tracks marked on my map in Devon Wood and yet I could not find the one I wanted. It simply wasn't there. I forgot about this bit of the walk when I said I'd not encountered many obstacles; this definitely was and I would only take the hardiest of souls on such a trail blaze as this. I started off with fixed determination to find the path to Torloisk and Devon Common, but my determination diminished with every grazing branch and ankle-twisting hole, till I stormed back to the boring road at Devon Cottage.

The reason I'd been so keen to find Devon Common was that this was the site of a conventicle at which the Covenanter Donald Cargill had preached in June 1681. It was one of his last sermons; he was captured at Covington Mill a month later and subsequently executed for his Presbyterian beliefs and refusal to accept Episcopalianism. I'd noticed, however, when I'd drawn my route out originally,  that there were two Devon Commons marked on the map so headed now for the westernmost one, taking a photo of NO3405 before I left it.

Devon Cottage. NO3405

Although I could see Devon Common Farm ages before I arrived there, I needed to enter a different gridsquare in order to get a proper Geograph photo of it. Sometimes I forget that I can still take photos of other things; that every photograph I take doesn't have to be a Geograph one. Silly, I know.

The trouble with Devon Common (2), other than not knowing which Devon Common was the Donald Cargill one, was that I was only going to be in the gridsquare momentarily to get the photo and I hoped a) that no dogs would come barking furiously and jumping up at me upon my approach b) that nothing or no-one else would come barking/roaring/bellowing/ whispering up to me at my approach and inhibit or prevent me from taking the requisite photograph. These are all things that have happened in the past. I don't like taking photographs of houses really - for obvious reasons. Hopefully I was surreptitious enough today.

Devon Common from  the north, looking south. NO3405

The award for the most boring photograph of the day. barn at Devon Common. NO3305

Devon Common from the south-west. NO3304

Congratulating myself on having negotiated my way through the farmyard, I emerged on the very path I wanted to be on and walked to the road end at Milldeans, where there is an attractive sawmill.

Milldeans Sawmill. NO3304

I passed the time of a day with a cyclist heading in the opposite direction to me before turning off to Skellyhead. I was disappointed not to see a footpath sign here, but walked on regardless; after all, as I've said above, I'm seldom thwarted by a lack of paths. I wish I hadn't said that because I'd forgotten about this major hurdle.

I approached 'Skellyhead under the close scrutiny of a couple exercising what looked like a sled team of huskies in their garden. They followed my movements as I adopted an air of confidence I did not feel. With their eyes burning into my neck I decided I'd just go and ask them where the path was. I started with an apology for interrupting them and told them there was a path marked on my map which did not appear to be there anymore. I'm not sure how many of my words were heard because the huskies were in uproar.

I finally ascertained that there used to be a path at Cottargreen, but it had long gone, but I could still walk round the edge of the field to join the road to Kennoway. I refrained from telling them my exact route because (naturally) I wasn't going the straightforward way; I had gridsquares to bag after all!

This was a bit of a blow,but \i trudged on, looking forward to reaching North Mains Ruins, which I couldn't see because of a monster of a new build house right on the spot where it was. It couldn't be! It was. North Mains Ruin was a ruin no more; all traces were gone, along with the path marked on the map. I really thought I'd had it this time and this was by far the worst part of the walk and a contender for the worst part of any Scottish walk hitherto.

I snapped a quick photo of Donald Rose Reservoir, fearing being accosted at any moment as I wasn't sure whether I was trespassing or not as I traversed first one wall and then another and gingerly went round the edge of a field to join a path which would lead me to the minor road into Kennoway.

Donald Rose Reservoir from North Mains Farm. NO3303

Wind turbine near Langside. NO3303

Towards the coast. I could see the oil rigs which I can see from my flat. NO3303.

There were more new builds along this track and I walked confidently past them to the road and my last gridsquare of the day. NO3403 and I'm not including the blurry photo of the gatepost because it's just too embarrassing.

For the last several miles I'd been looking for somewhere to eat my lunch. Everywhere was either too overlooked or unsuitable for other reasons. In the end I walked back to the car and drove to Falkland along the back roads, pulling over to eat my lunch in a lay-by. You see, my walks are not always perfect!

Number of new gridsquares: 9
Number of miles walked: 8.2
Number of benchmarks seen: 1
Number of trigpoints: 1
Number of huskies: 6
Walk worth repeating it: No, but I have drawn another route to attempt the other Devon Common and go on to Ceres. Two cars needed.