This is becoming an annual event instead of a weekly one! I'm appalled that my last entry was a year ago, appalled and yet not surprised. For the year has been full of writing the bird report, sending off moth records, lichenising (lots more of that), rockpooling, taking dad out, holidays and, unfortunately more than anything else - work!
So, with the weight pouring on and the rain pouring down, I always had an excuse not to go out - until I finally wrestled with my apathy and emerged in Luthrie with Margaret on tow for a gridsquare extravaganza. "There's loads of benchmarks," I enthused as we set off clockwise from NO3319. Waiting for Margaret, I had waved to two white cars at the village hall car park that looked like Margaret's and two bemused occupants who emerged with yoga mats smiled weakly back.
Now we set off with a stride in our step and found the first benchmark on the gatepost of Lower Luthrie Farm - a rivet, which was a bonus.
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Rivet benchmark, Lower Luthrie Farm NO 3319 Road west from Lower Luthrie Farm. NO3319 |
Although this had been an easy benchmark to find, we had not managed to escape the gaze of a girl mucking out the horses. She came to enquire (in a very friendly manner) what it was we were photographing. We explained and pointed out the rivet to her. Needless to say, she had not noticed it before.
Congratulating ourselves on such an easy find, we set off westwards and they say pride comes before a fall - and so it did. I forgot to photograph the next gridsquare. This is forgiveable at a later stage in the walk, but not on only the second one! We also failed to find the next benchmark - a pattern which became very familiar as the day wore on; and one I am very familiar with from my many grid adventures thus far. So I shall have to return. I'd been waxing lyrical about Emily Wood as well (about which I have not been able to find out anything).
Oblivious for the time being to my gross negligence, we carried on to the next T-junction where we resisted going to Carphin Farm (no need, it's not a new gridsquare) and continued on to Wester Kinsleith, where another benchmark eluded us.
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| Path near Wester Kinsleith NO 3119 |
With eyes keenly on phone map to avoid missing the next gridsquare, I announced its arrival. Wallace Wood," and click.
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| Wallace Wood NO3118 |
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| Gate near Whirly Kips - NO 3018 |
Knowing I already had a good photo of NO3019, I resisted the temptation to take another, especially as there was little of interest on our route. I include here the photo I took in 2019 on the aforementioned walk.
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| WW1 rifle range, near Norman's Law (23/02/2019) - NO 3019 |
The next gridsquare is one of my favourites in Fife (yes, you are allowed to have favourite gridsquares before you ask!) NO3020. See how it rolls off the tongue. It has my favourite Fife hill in it - Norman's Law, which I have now ascended 3 times to date. It is much less visited than its two larger, more southerly counterparts - East and West Lomond - and the countryside here has a rolling, lumpy, interesting quality to it - even if they ran out of names for hills and came up with Whirly Kips twice!
Having said all that, I did not take any photographs of the gridsquare and the only ones I have are of the actual summit of Norman's Law. How this is possible, you ask. I'll tell you - because Norman's Law, like many hills and mountains is best viewed from a distance, ie from another gridsquare when you can see the whole massif.
We spent some time in this gridsquare at any rate because there were 4 benchmarks in it - 3 close together and one on the minor road at the north of the square. We found a total of zero, despite some quite extensive searching. I do hope we didn't miss anything obvious. It's doubtful though because the erstwhile wonderful wall has definitely seen better days. It is now in a ruinous state and the benchmarks have either disappeared or been displaced. Try as we might, we could not find a single one. Neither could we find a particular lichen that we had found on a previous trip when lichens had been our focus.
Admitting defeat, we walked on and Margaret wisely suggested we stop for lunch at the former quarry before we hit the road. A wise and welcome decision. someone walked past as we at there with our flasks and piece. He was carrying two full shopping bags and we mused on where he was going and from whence he came.
Fortified and with a little bit of lichen scrutiny to justify our having brought hand lenses, we moved on, turning left when we reached the road, failing to find yet another benchmark (same problem of collapsed wall and further lamentations on the lamentable state of Fife's walls and hidden benchmarks) and finally into NO3021.
Although this was my first new gridsquare for an hour or so, I waited till its westernmost border before taking its photo, partly because we missed another benchmark on the wall (ditto before) and partly because there was just nothing interesting to take. All that was to change at Fliskmillan, however, where an beautiful, lichen-covered old sign caught my eye, dating from days of horse and cart.
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Horse and cart sign, Fliskmillan NO3021 |
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| Benchmark on Fliskmillan House - NO3021 |
Brazenly, I lifted my binoculars to search for the benchmark on Fliskmillan House. There had been too many missed ones to let another slip us by. "I can see it!" I exclaimed and was glad that Margaret's excitement matched my own. I zoomed up to take a quick snap of what I assumed was a rivet on the foundation stone of the house and we quickly moved on. The OS database, however, calls it a cut mark and I'm not going to argue, but I could not see the datum line.
We nipped briefly into NO2921 and ever closer to the Tay, but then turned right and eastwards, having reached the westernmost corner of our route.
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| The westernmost corner and the River Tay. NO2921 |
Moving into NO3021, we had a good look at and around the schoolhouse at Flisk for the benchmark, without success. I always feel quite conspicuous snooping round people's houses and am never brave enough to knock on the door and ask if they've noticed a benchmark anywhere on their property. Not that I'd mind if I was lucky enough to live in a house with a benchmark!
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| Sign at The Old Schoolhouse, Flisk - NO 3021 |
We did get two benchmarks in that square, however, which did quite a bit to raise our spirits. They are always easier to find on houses than on tumbled down walls, but, for obvious reasons, more difficult to photograph - unless you don't mind risking being accosted for trespassing or invasion of privacy.
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| Cottage at Flisk - NO 3021 |
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| Benchmark on cottage at Flisk - NO3021 |
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| Balhelvie Cottage - NO3021 |
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| Balhelvie Cottage benchmark - NO3021 |
Simple pleasures! How many other people are heartened by the sight of a 1960s cut arrow on stonework, I wonder! Relatively few I imagine. Thus heartened, we continued to walk parallel to the Tay eastwards into NO3121 where I snapped another boring photo of the road.
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| Road east of Balhelevie - NO3121 |
It was around now that I began to feel a bit uncomfortable as I checked my map in the mid-afternoon light and realised we had better speed up if we wanted to get back before dark. I didn't realise it then, but my phone battery was fast dying so any thoughts of using it as a torch would have been pretty futile. (Although Margaret, as always, as much better prepared with her head torch).
We ventured into NO3122 and were surprised to see a sign for a churchyard. I had been anticipating visiting Flisk churchyard for the duration of the walk (another of my more unusual fascinations) and confirmed far too adamantly that that was not the one in question. "When we get to OUR one," I promised rather too confidently, "we will stop for the last dregs of our flasks."
"Hmmm, that does look inviting, though," I added, whilst frantically trying to find evidence of a former churchyard on my phone. Tempted though we were to go and investigate, we decided we had better stick to our original plan - well, mine - and find the churchyard at Flisk. What I discovered with sinking heart upon my return home, was that this had been the original plan, that was the churchyard at Flisk and I had marked it in the wrong place on my map. What a confession from an avid map reader! It goes without saying that a return visit is not only desirable, but of high priority!
Depending on the outcome of our return visit to this gridsquare, it may well rise in the gridsquare charts for not only does it contain a ruined church and churchyard, but my favourite benchmark of the day at least and definitely one of my favourites in Fife. It is situated on a disused well.
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| Former well at West Flisk - NO 3122 |
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| Benchmark on well at West Flisk - NO 3122 |
As can probably be seen by astute observers (I wonder how many of those there are reading this), we had to do a little bit of 'gardening' in order to reveal this beauty. I prefer to think of it as allowing the stonework to breathe, not to mention liberating the benchmark so it could be appreciated. Perhaps it would have preferred to be left underneath its warm mossy blanket fast asleep? Either way, I am sure we were the first people to cast eyes on this erstwhile important OS feature for many a year.
"Is that a seat?" I rather fancifully enquired, pointing to the plank of wood covering the well.
"No, it's just a cover to stop things dropping into the well," Margaret said, just in time to stop me going to sit on it and finding out, no doubt, just how deep the well was! We mused on how it would be lovely to record the sound of the well's running water and I think I shall do this when I return to visit the churchyard. Humans may have stopped using the well's resources, but that doesn't mean the well's resources have stopped. We did not 'give nature a home' here - it already had a home and fortunately will continue to do so long after any of us are gone.
Conscious that the light was already fading and believing we still had a churchyard to visit, we did not spend long searching for another benchmark on another tumbled down wall in the next gridsquare. There was a busy farmyard in the gridsquare, which I photographed instead.
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| East Flisk Farm - NO3222 |
I found out later that East Flisk Farm is the home of Siblings Reunited (STAR), a charity, which:
Another interesting fact about East Flisk is that some silver coins of Edward III were turned up a few years before 1845. They were given to a Dr Fleming, and consisted of sixpences, shillings and half-crown pieces. (Info from Camore website)
Last but not least of interesting facts about East Flisk is that there is a dislodged benchmark which took some finding. A give away portion of datum line justified some more 'gardening' which revealed a benchmark at a 90 degree angle on a stone from an erstwhile wall.
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| Dislodged benchmark at East Flisk - NO3222 |
With fading light and growing realisation that we were going to have to do something to curtail our walk, we wandered into NO3322, which I had photographed before on a much sunnier day.
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| Crossroads at Hazelton NO3322 (taken 22/12/20) |
When we turned southwards into NO3321, we found our last benchmark of the day. My phone had given up the ghost, so, even if we had had daylight sufficient to continue our benchmark quest, we did not have the mapped locations to hand.
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| Location of benchmark on Forester's Cottage - NO3321 |
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| Forester's Cottage - NO3321 |
We trudged on, no knowing how many benchmarks we were missing (3) until we reached a T junction, where we decided a deviation from our original route would be wise. I had originally planned to turn right here to go through the village of Brunton and pick up another potential eight benchmarks. By continuing directly southwards, we would curtail our walk by about a mile. Reluctantly, we agreed on the shortcut, having already decided a return visit soon was called for.
Creich Castle's remains made a fitting subject for the last photo of the day. I was looking forward to calculating how many gridsquares I had photographed, how many I'd missed and doing likewise for the benchmarks. It had been a very productive foray back into my closet hobbies of benchmarks and gridsquares! Roll on visit number 2! Watch this space and let's hope it's not another year before I return to blogging!
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| Creich Castle at sunset - NO 3321 |
Number of new gird squares visited: 9
Number of potential new gridsquares: 12
Number of benchmarks/total number of historic benchmarks: 7/21 (and another 8 on the original route)
Highlights: Norman's Law, the well at East Flisk, the dislodged benchmark
Worth returning: on a revised route yes and definitely to visit Flisk churchyard.
