Twelve walkers set off from Flotterstone for a circular walk in the Pentland Hills. We headed up to Castlelaw Hill Fort & enjoyed going underground to explore inside the Earth House. It was interesting to learn how through excavations carried out in the 1930s & 1950s we know that this Earth House was used to store grain which was traded with the Romans.

Firing was taking place at the MOD firing range nearby, so we were careful to keep outside the cordon. Having learnt that this was a former WW2 training range & how the restricted access & lack of development has protected wild plants & animals we then continued our route around the side of Castlelaw. Stopping for a drink break we were treated to lovely views over Glencorse reservoir & the main Pentland Ridge. The reservoir was designed by Thomas Telford & 300 men were employed to build the reservoir which took 5 years to complete.

We then walked on to reach Fala Knowe & again enjoyed views looking back across to the Pentland ridge before ascending Capelaw Hill. By this point the wind had picked up, so it was a bit breezy on the ridge, so we took a slight diversion off the route & found a place to sit for lunch overlooking Edinburgh, the coast & Fife spotting many familiar landmarks.

A few light showers passed over us, but we were grateful they were light & brief. We had to walk into the wind to return to our route before descending the hill to reach Phantom’s Cleuch. This was named by the Pentland Rangers in memory of man was seen by them regularly in the hills doing minor path repairs & clearing cross drains etc. The Rangers tried to approach him several times to thank him for his efforts but he would not engage in conversation, obviously preferring to remain anonymous.

We then climbed up over Harbour Hill where in 1910 George Reith commented wryly of the view from there, “We try not to see the ugly chimneys and black smoke of the shale districts; we try also not to smell the latter: unsuccessfully, if the wind be in the northwest.’ Fortunately, things have improved since then but today the grey cloud & showers coming in reduced our views. However, we could see Threpmuir & Harlaw reservoirs & once down off the hill we were sheltered from the wind as we made our way down Maiden’s Cleuch to reach Glencorse Reservoir.
We followed the road to the former water keeper’s cottage & returned to the start point passing beside the filter beds on our way & learning about some of the wildlife that lives in this area.

We spotted a mystery object on a tree near the filter beds (see photo) – Can you solve the mystery of what it is & what it’s use could be? If so, please leave a note in the comments.

It was great to be out in the hills amongst great company & introduce Geoff to this beautiful walking area so close to home.

Natalie C