Three Hills


Three Hills

Saturday 15th December 2017 

 

A mild blustery day sees us take a 10 kilometre loop around three small tops in the Moorfoot hills north of Clovenfords. We park up close to some farm buildings, oddly embedded in one of the old barns, sits a very old stone Border keep, in an advanced stage of dilapidation. Shortly, the road drops away and a long spacious valley appears stretching into the distance, dark and broody under a grey leaden sky. The ordinance survey map highlights a track pulling up from the valley floor about two kilometres ahead. Before long we round a bend to find a shooting lodge tucked into the hillside, shuttered and gated, the well-built stone structure, is surrounded by a neat gravel path and a smart picket fence. To its right a broad track leads uphill. We begin the long slow ascent to the first top, Great Law, at just over 500 metres. As we gain height we are increasingly buffeted by the cold northerly wind.  As always it takes time to adjust to the terrain and conditions that govern any walk. Huffing and sweating I wonder what motivates us is to drag ourselves up these hills week in week out   as the wind whistles about us and the dullness of the day dominates. The track winds itself across rough grazing ground before it finally gives way to bracken and heather. The latter crowns the hill and is interspersed with a path network designed for easy access to shooting groups. We negotiate these to reach the first summit about an hour into the walk. All around are signs of the lands main use as a shooting reserve. Small hollows scooped from the ground and marked with a scattering of grit we guess to be shooting stances. Across the valley rectangular sections of heather have been burnt back to create new growth for young birds, while all the time grouse, usually in pairs, burst from cover and reel upwards through what is now a howling gale. Gradually the cloud lifts, raising itself enough to reveal a bright ribbon of light between land and sky. The view from the top provides an impressive 360 panorama as light enters the day and colour and shape seep into the landscape. Amazing how a view can the lift the spirits! The low winter sun produces a hazy warm light, while spools of sunlight seem to drop into distant valleys, silhouetting surrounding hills while adding a distant perspective to the day's proceedings. We stomp on, across the open rise of ground towards the oddly named Yardstone Knowe the second of the three hills. As we do so we are exposed to the full blast of the wind as we edge away from the first knolls protection.  The day has now changed as the increasing light opens further views west towards the Ettrick valley. Numerous wind farms dot the countryside, stick like figures marching across the land. The strong wind sees their blades rotate at speed while the low winter sun allows them to glisten and glow against the greens and browns of the land they sit in. We quickly cross this next unimpressive top before turning south to the distant and final summit of Ferniehirst hill. All three tops just edging over 500 metres. The path connecting the final two hills is wide and easily navigated. We crouch for lunch behind a low wall to gain some reprieve from the raucous wind. Before us a breathless vista running miles to a distant sun speckled ridge. The place is wild and barren, what human occupation there is hidden in the clefts and folds of the hills. We are frequently struck by how wilderness like the Border hills can be. The high ground away from roads and people is a place unto itself, lifting us above the arable valleys and the people who occupy them to a place that is separate and remote.  Crossing the final top we quickly drop from the rough ground through stone dykes into sheep filled fields. They scatter before us, their bulging midriffs indicating the next lambing season is not far away. We complete the circuit by dropping onto the valley roadway, below us, on the valley floor the surface of Stantling Craig Reservoir sparkles and ripples under the day’s conditions.

Looking back at Great Law

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