The sun came out as twelve of us set off for this evening’s walk in the Bathgate hills. It was very welcome after the heavy rain we’d had for most of the day & promised us some good views from the top of the hills. A lovely evening to welcome our new members, Sharon & Graeme & Kevin on his first walk with the group too.
Our walk started with a visit to the Scottish Korean War Memorial which stands as a poignant reminder of the cost of the 3-year conflict in the 1950s which claimed the lives of more than 1000 British Servicemen. After pausing to admire the traditional style Korean pagoda listing the servicemen’s names & learning the significance of the surrounding landscape of the two mounds in the shape of Ying & Yang from the Korean flag & the 110 Korean firs, each one planted to represent every 10 men who perished, we continued uphill to Witchcraig.
Stopping at the top of the incline amongst heather in bloom, we all turned to admire the views north to Cockleroy hill, the Forth estuary & Ochills beyond & west down the Forth Valley to the Campsies & beyond.
We continued around the top of the hill to reach the medieval Refuge Stone & learnt how it was one of the boundary stones marking a one-mile circle around Torphichen Preceptory. The area within the circle had once offered a legal sanctuary or refuge to every criminal or debtor who entered it & remained there.
Not far from the Refuge Stone stands Witchcraig Wall which was built in 2003 to provide shelter for walkers. Within the wall built predominantly of Perthshire sandstones are 43 rocks from Scotland’s Central belt representing the landscape visible from this vantage point. Taking a few minutes, we tried to locate them all, however with another hill to climb on our walk tonight we thought it best to continue on & it left a good excuse for us to return here again another day.
Descending the hill we then walked through the woods at Beecraigs to reach the bottom of Cockleroy hill, the highest point in the Bathgate hills at 278m. It wasn’t long before we reached the summit of the hill with its trig pillar & toposcope, where we were treated to stunning 360° views & spent a little time just taking in the beauty of it all.
The walkers always try to catch me out with a question I can’t answer, so thank you Anne for sharing your knowledge of Lochcote Reservoir & how previously Lochcote loch lay to the north of the present reservoir. The name of the nearby ruined castle neither of us could remember, was Kipps Castle. This was the former home of the physician Sir Robert Sibbald who was the first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University & physician to King James VIII. He had moved his family to Linlithgow to avoid the plague in 1645.
With the sun starting its descent through the clouds we took a few last photos & made our way back down the hill, retracing our steps through Beecraigs woods to return to the start point & make our way home. Photo credits – Ina G & Natalie C
Our next evening walk is on Thursday 29th August. Before then, we have some daytime walks organised so check out the Walk Programme on our website & contact the walk leader if you wish to go along.
Natalie C
