A West Coast Christmas Tour.

Christmas Eve actually.My birthday.Hip Hip Ho hum.Another year nearer the soil.Would I stay in today and tidy the house,do the dishes or fix the garden gate? (Get real!)
Didn`t fancy a big day though but it looked good again,thick mist and icy outside.My kind of day for a west coast bimble, trying to capture the magic of the festive season.Stayed fairly local at first heading for the Gleniffer Braes,all the favourite areas in my tick list popping into my head as being good for a snap or two.
Saucel hill above the centre of Paisley however looked so good as I passed I stopped off there first for a run up to the trig.I know this hill well as its on two of my favourite bike runs from my house,cycle tracks to Greenock and Irvine pass here.Always good on a summers day walking the bike up here for a view over the home of St Mirrins bairns.

There is also an interesting old town trail on the hill right above the town.Paisley has always suffered in some ways by being too close to Glasgow to really shine out in its own right though I suppose it also has an upside.


Next stop was the" car park in the sky".There are good walks from here.The best being east along balcony trails through Robertson and Glen park with its surprising little necklace of mill ponds then over the Brownside braes to Barrhead and back.Return higher up via the two reservoirs.

Didn't stop here long as the inversion was a bit on the skimpy side and I had another bright idea.

Off to Barcraigs, where else, for a walk round the reservoir in the snow.Was not the only one out as a young fox was looking for its lunch in front of me.

Plenty of bird life out on the water.

Most people don't know about this place but for views its a wee treasure.Few places to park though.
Thick cloud was building up over the Glasgow area when I got back to the car so it was time to head further west.

This was the biggest surprise.Never seen Castle Semple loch look like this before.Plenty of families out on the ice near the edge but only a few brave skaters in the middle. In the old days, before health and safety, they pushed something big and heavy out ....if it and they sank it was not thick enough for a bonspeil yet.Happy days!


Had a good time here as it was the first place that really said" festive season" out loud to me.
Perked up and headed for Castle Hill above Largs, one of the best viewpoints on the west coast and really easy to reach.

Stayed up here quite a time talking to a local walker and watching as the sunset turned from yellow to red as it sank lower.Nice chat with a fellow enthusiast of the outdoors.Told him about a hill walking club in Largs he hadn`t heard of before.Its good to help :)

Took the coast road back as I thought it would have less snow in the dark than the way I`d come,skirting past Wemyss Bay and Greenock.Getting really dark by now.
As a last treat to myself on my birthday drove up Lyle hill above the town.


Years since I`d been up here after dark with the locals.Favourite spot in days of yore for night time activites of one sort and another.Forgot how good it was,Truly stunning with boats big and small out in the Firth of Clyde.



Also where the Free French sailed from during world war two.Fantastic monument.Always liked it.
Its a bit dodgy up here sometimes.Its a shame because its one of the best night time views in Scotland.If this was abroad it would be a major tourist attraction at night.It`s not even lit and is black as pitch for anyone brave enough to leave the car here for any length of time at night.Spent a good while up here but always within sight of me trusty motor.
A grand birthday present to myself.

The BInn Ridge Traverse.Burntisland.

I was out on the 20th December but most of that Sunday was taken up dropping off some stuff at Alex`s house,Christmas shopping in Edinburgh ( just for a change) then a quick late afternoon sprint up an icy Blackford hill and snowy Braid hills.Maybe save those pics and other favourite snaps for a Christmas /New Year Photo gallery.
As I knew Alex was going to be working nights up until Christmas in the best Blue Peter tradition here's one I made earlier and saved just for today.
Although on the map (O.S.66.Edinburgh) this looks a nothing walk on a sunny day its one of the most enjoyable outings you can have in central Scotland.I can`t praise this walk highly enough. It`s got everything which is why I kept it back as a special delivery if required.
For a Friday in early December the weather was perfect.No wind,cloudless blue skies,and t-shirt warm even on the summit!
Parked in the main large free car park next to the toilets in the centre of town.

Burntisland is a funny place.It`s main shopping street has more than its fair share of empty lots and has clearly seen better times but the people are friendly,it has many interesting buildings and churches,and several good walks the best of which is this beauty described now.
From town centre walk back uphill through streets to the obvious low point of the ridge,heading west on A909 until you reach signpost past the last houses which leads up through trees.(Silverbarton on map). Public path to Standing Stanes road is the message given.
Follow this easily up to a tiny lochan then east up the ridge until you reach the summit,great views as you climb higher opening up over much of rural Fife.Although not high by mountain standards the views are exceptional.Sparkling sea and islands.


Rolling fields,farms and wooded ridges and the Fife towns looking like something plucked from the Mediterranean.I`ve never seen Kirkcaldy and Leven look so lovely.Honest!

The summit is surprisingly steep and rocky ,almost gabbro like though the path is still easy but if you go right to the edge and look down you could be on a mini skye peak with a similar feeling of vertigo.

Although admittedly none of the Skye guys have a nice seat to take your lunch.

From here you can see the way ahead leading down the ridge towards Kinghorn and the Pettycur holiday park clinging to the side of the hill.
After descending to where it flattens level take middle path along a lane between green wire fences.

This is lower but still good past a former shale oil community of 700 souls (High and Low Binn End) which had its own school and shop in the late 1800s.Hardly any trace of it exists now just trees and wild flowers and a very discrete chemical works hidden in the woods.When you come out at the minor road another signpost is visible nearby(left) which leads inland past farms(Grangehill) and a few large detached houses down through the golf course on the edge of the Holiday park still with tremendous views out to sea.


Kinghorn`s quiet streets lead down to Pettycur bay itself where at low tide a stretch of golden sand can be followed all the way back to Burntisland.At high tide as it was now its still possible to follow this beach then cut round the base of some cliffs to another beach.


It was an amazing evening,felt like a day in summer,and I followed this ever narrowing sand until I was level with a monument and the end of the holiday park.So far so brilliant.
The only fly in the soup is you have to go back to the nearest path at the cliffs (seen in first beach pic) or boulder jump for 2 kilometers with the waves crashing under your toes.. Having done it years ago in near darkness I don`t recommend the boulders.
At the roadside monument to the last Celtic king of Scotland,Alexander III, who was killed by accident at this very spot (boulder hopping maybe?) I joined the tarmac again and headed for Burntisland. .Back at the car I had my own tasty treat with a fish supper scoffed in the dark on the front seat with handy head torch.A fitting end to a very special day out.

This walk really is a little gem.One of the best kept secrets in Scotland.......until now.

Postscript....
When I was young I used to enjoy going into the mountains in winter with my club but as my working life has always included a fair share of jobs outside in all conditions I`ve grown less fond of this idea.
I`d gladly go into hibernation around now,curl up in a ball and wake up in spring.To live a life time of summers must be an awfully big adventure!Instead I do the next best thing,passing my evenings in a warm sunny room with the music and video images of the American deep south and southern Europe flickering on the walls.
For the past couple of years now my Wendy of choice has been Chan Marshall.I can get lost in the dark imagery of the songs she sings,lying down in a heat drenched swampy hollow,nothing but the night crawlers and water moccasins for company,drinking moonshine from a still and hearing the last of the stricken cows floating down river after the floods.That`s a landscape I can get my mental teeth into.Hibernation fodder for the mind.Praise be to Youtube for Black Snake Moan,the Black Keys ,Chan and the deepest sultry south.My late entry into the delta blues(better late than never!)Kiss my bottom snow!!! I`m a creature of honey and sunlight me.

Islands in the sun.An epic inversion tour.

Alex was working night shifts this week including Saturday.Aw Shame. Building up his Christmas fund no doubt. A solo venture then.Where to go and what to do?
Watched forecast on Saturday night hoping it would inspire me.Inspiration arrived.
Twice now we`d shot right past great inversions to bag a trig.Nothing to stop me now though.
The great Inversion picture hunt was on.
Up in the morning and off in the grey light of dawn,heading for the car park above Lennoxtown.
A spur of the moment detour gave me a real fright on the back roads above the Blairskaith quarry area. Not high enough alas to give me views of Glasgow`s tower blocks soaring out the mist but plenty of unlooked for black ice and interesting, trouser filling steep descents back to the safety of the gritted main roads.Thankfully God`s great grey paw was on my shoulder and I survived to learn my lesson.Keep off the minor roads until later on in the day to give the ice a chance to melt.

Only a few cars in the car park when I arrived (this was taken on the descent).The mist line just below the parking bay.The road up to here was fine but I had some trouble standing up in the ungritted car park and everytime I put my waterbottle and map on the ground to change into boots they slid off down the slope on a magic carpet of ice.Good fun though.
Raced up Cort Ma Law(531m) for the first hill viewpoint of the day.

There were a few other folk on the hill and I said hello and stopped for a quick chat with the lone walkers mainly.Couples and younger folk in groups tend to stick to their own agenda on the hills.
I felt privileged.We, the lucky few, having knowledge of inversions had one up on the rest of humanity down below who, unless they were into hillwalking, would have no idea of this golden chain of islands in the sun floating above them.The Campsies, the northern Munro's ,the Kilpatrick's and the Inverclyde hills were the only ones poking out of a massive sea of fog.It seemed to stretch right round the Firth of Clyde out towards Arran.

I was pleased to see that the long wooded ridge of Blairskaith was just peeping out,scene of my solo cycle ascent in this blog and a cracking day out on two wheels.
Took a dozen pictures then noticed with alarm as my battery darkened a notch.Damn, I`d thought it was fully charged! Would it last the pace.
Off down the hill at a run as a new idea hit me.I would try to climb as many separate island groups as I could before nightfall.A worthy challenge for a glorious day like this.



Up and over to Fintry where I took this then stopped at the high point of the B822 at Kippen Muir where I was blown away by the frost covered landscape. This has always been a favourite viewpoint.

Incidentally Stronend and Carleatheran are two cracking hill days done from Fintry and Gargunock. There was another full inversion filling the valley trench between the Fintry hills and the northern wall of the snow covered distant Munro's.

Had a quick look at the map before I dropped into the fog again and picked the Whangie and Auchineden Hill as it would be an easy climb to bag another island.Driving along the cotton wool trench was the hardest part and I would pass five crashes before the day was out.
Parked at Queens View car park and raced up the path til I got to the famous slit in the hillside.


Met the Clyde valley club up here enjoying the views then raced to the summit of the hill as I just had the perfect ending to my trip.A sudden vision of what sunset would look like from the Largs hills looking over to Arran.It was getting on.2.30pm already.Would I have the time!

Bounded back down to the car and headed for the Erskine bridge and Paisley.This was my downfall as Paisley had a hell of a pea souper going.Busy roads and nervous drivers.As I gradually realised I wouldn't make it in time I swerved off up the B775 to my old childhood backyard ,the Gleniffer Braes,where I wouldn`t need a map if it was dark and mist bound coming back down on minor roads.
Turned off at Lapwing lodge and up the Mid Hartfeild road towards Walls Hill which I knew to be a high point of the area, tyres crunching through the ice filled puddles.
The orange ball of the sun appeared through the mist and I knew I`d called it right coming here.
Followed minor roads like a kid going home to the best spot for views.



A spiders web of minor roads led me to Lochlands hill where I parked in a layby and climbed my third and best little hill range of the day.No wind up here so it wasn`t that cold.


I wasn`t lonely in the gathering darkness and stayed up on the ridges of this area until the last gleam of sun faded and the stars and farm lights came on like a living advent calendar all over the high valley.


Just me and my God,tail twitching and blazing eyes reflecting the orange sun as we watched the sheep move away downhill.
A day snatched from heaven to land here for us.


A starry night saw a creep down to the road in darkness and another icy slide past Belltrees,Howwood and the motorway home.
A unique and spectacular day out.
What a pity Alex missed it!

Leven Seat,Shotts Bing,Binny Craig,Broxburn Bing.

A central uplands grand tour.Map O.S. 65.Falkirk and West Lothian.
We were going to do a couple of nice hills down Peebles way today but neither of us fancied the look of the weather down that direction from the motorway.Blacker than a barrel of tar sitting in an unlit coal mine.
A plan B was called for,luckily for me I had such a plan up my bulky sleeve.(along with plans C ,D, E and F.) It pays to be prepared to be flexible these days.
Now back in the trusty Megane with me established as the dominant pack leader once again we slipped through early morning Carluke and up into the remote high plains country around Forth and Shotts where the sun was shining.
This is a big area of empty land that cover much of this map.Bleak, uncompromising and usually windswept but not without its own Siberian like frontier charm.(On a sunny day at least)
150 to 200 years ago this was the powerhouse of central Scotland as the number of old mines,shale oil bing's and abandoned stone quarries testify.
Trains ran daily to cities across the central belt with the raw materials needed to build and support the growth of Glasgow,Edinburgh and the other big urban developments.Now we hide our rubbish here.Towns like Armadale,Whitburn,Shotts and Forth grew up as well to house the tough workers in this remote landscape.
It`s even more remote and marginal now as a lot of the jobs and old industry are gone and those remaining are no longer so labour intensive.It`s always been a hard place to earn a living here although with cars and motorways people can commute to the service industrial parks and cities more easily.On the other hand this makes it also easy to avoid for the traveller.A pity.It has much to interest the visitor.

An easy trig tick surrounded by a pine forest right beside a landfill sight with great views and 10,000 gulls.A new experience for us.We are fast running out of old quarries though.This one was almost stuffed to the brim.The Pentlands ,Ochils and Fife hills could be seen but we were more interested in a sharp little man made object nearby.
Back at the car we made for this.

We stopped just above Eastfield and followed a good track in to climb the steep incline to the twin summits. Another great view and very different again. Many other little bings visible ,Shotts prison tower sticking up(I think) and the wind farm near Climpy in the distance.


A very different day out.There is good cycling here in this area on a network of quiet minor roads ,great views and a real wild west feel.Accommodation in the area is rather limited however.

May be better to bring your own bedding perhaps.

Wide choice of rooms though.

Next up was the roadside trig near Blairmuckhole then a hiccup and a missed trig due to a road closure at Blackridge,denying us Eastcraigs hill.

A quick detour through Armadale and lovely Torphichen saw us in Beecraigs country.Much softer green lush uplands with patchwork yellow squares of oilseed rape and corn in season.
We ended at Binny Craig and Alex was very impressed with this steep little volcanic plug sitting on a ridge crest like a sharks fin.

He was feeling pretty car sick by this time though due to twisty roads and map navigation duties.
Another summit in sunshine where I munched twin pork pies and a smoked apple wood slice of cheese while Alex looked pale and fashionably thin.
I didn`t tell him about our last port of call leaving the best until the end.When we drove down the road past Faucheldean however he guessed and groaned as our destination filled the windscreen ahead.

The Uluru (Ayers rock) of Scotland.The mighty and impressive Broxburn Bing. Shaleopolis central itself!The paraffin oil boom capital of the late 1800`s.Some of the shafts went down 3000 feet.Imagine that.Must be like a swiss cheese under this region.
I love this bing.Everytime I come here there is always something interesting to see. Today it was trail bikers roaring up the inclines to jump between the red humps in style.

The best views of the day opened up as we climbed to the flat tableland above.


You can spend a good few hours here exploring these bings or cycle through them from Ratho on the Union Canal. This is a very interesting day out as well.A different and enjoyable day of great variety.A trig, a bing, a trig, a bing.Can a day out get any better than that.

The Five Sisters bings at West Calder from Shotts bing.

There are no monuments on hilltops to the great and good in this area only gravestones and piles of hard won dirt.A lasting tribute to the men and thier families who helped build the cities and towns we lucky inhabitants take for granted today.Where else would you find such a mix of beauty and beast side by side.They are still doing it today with windfarms and landfills.We owe them our thanks now and in the future.Next time you zoom past this area on the motorway spare a thought for the true heart of Scotland.

Alex.

We`re not the first hill folk to feel the need to climb these.Dave Hewitt of the Angry Corrie has been out on them and has published a very good article here....

Angry Corrie bing bagging article.

Even the BBC mention bing bagging ... :)

Couple of pics from me...

Bob on top of the bing at Broxburn looking over to the end of the Pentlands.Think it`s called Greendykes Bing.


Heading over the plateau to the Winchburgh end.....