The Crown of Scotland

8.34 miles    3h 50m   534m ascent

Annanhead Hill-Great Hill-Chalk Rig Edge-Whitehope Heights-Whitehope Knowe-Lamb Craig-Crown of Scotland

Thunderstorms were forecast for the west, so I headed for the Moffat Hills, where it was to be raining but quite warm.

I parked above the Beeftub and set off along the Annandale Way. The last time I had walked along was in rain and mist so I didn’t see much other than wet grass a few metres around myself. This time at least I was able to enjoy a better view and see the way ahead. I was particularly surpassed how narrow the path was at Strait Step. A rather precarious path descends from here to Corehead and I followed it a few metres before heading straight up Great Hill.

Annandale Way below Annanhead Hill

I had decided to stray from the Annandale Way a little to take in the top of the Great Hill  and get better views. Unfortunately the views both north and south were soon obscured by rain, though it took another hour to reach me.

The ups and downs of Annanhead Hill, Great Hill, and Chalk Rig were steeper than I remembered, but I have noticed that walks in the mist seem to be remembered as less arduous. It took about an hour to reach the cairn marking the start of the Annandale Way, which sits in the boggy col below Spout Craig. From here it was a short climb up Spout Craig and onto Whitehope Heights, with several false summits on the way.

A deer fence comes up Whitehope Heights from the south, and I found myself between it and the old fence. This was a particularly muddy section and less firm than I had thought, leading to complete boot immersion during a moment of inattention. My attention at the time was focussed on how I might get over the deer fence to the summit on its far side. A little way down the slope there was a gate in the fence, but it turned out to be padlocked shut, which was slightly irritating. At least the gate was easier to climb than the fence would have been.

I had thought, given how warm it was, that if it rained I would just get wet and only change into dry clothes (safely tucked away in my rucksack) if I got cold. But when the rain came, as I stood looking at the deer fence, it brought with it a cold wind, so I needed a jacket if only as a wind-breaker. Slightly more worrying, I could hear rumbles of thunder, but without any visible lightning to give an idea of how far away it might be.

From Whitehope Heights I followed the fence to Whitehope Knowe and had a good view of the deep valley separating it from Hart Fell. Quite a challenge for those heading that way. The deep scar of Strong Cleuch heading up Hart Fell was a useful marker of my position. I continued along the fence towards Garlet Hill and found myself walking in mist across pathless, wet squelchy ground interspersed with sodden peat. My next target, Barncorse Knowe, was no longer visible, and my back-up plan was to leave the fence when it took a 45° right turn and head west.

Clouds over the Culter Hills

As time went by though, I began to worry that I had missed the bend when I had strayed from the fence to avoid boggy areas. Then I spotted a small change in the fence’s direction and crossed it to head west. I was in fact on Lamb Craig and the mist now lifted to reveal a large radio mast. By the time I reached the mast the mist had lifted completely to reveal some impressive cloud formations.

Radio mast on Lamb Craig

The mast had several rocky areas around it, the first places I had an opportunity to put my rucksack down that was not waterlogged. A good place for a brief rest, a drink and some food. I now had a choice of continuing on to Barncorse Knowe or heading directly for the col between it and the Crown of Scotland.

Banana in hand, I was looking up at the mast when it was struck by lightning. The top sparked like a roman candle and the thunder followed very quickly, but not instantly. I presume the “3 seconds=1 km” rule must relate to where the lightning originated in the clouds. My reaction was to grab my bag and put as much distance between me and the mast as I could. This took me down towards the Powskein burn, my flight spurred on by another lightning strike, this time typical forked lightning.

The Powskein Burn is a deep cut, barring a direct route to the Crown of Scotland, so I had to head NW until crossing it, then west to the summit, marked by a small cairn. The views from this small hill are surprisingly extensive, the source of the Tweed, which is either the Powskein or Whitehope burns (not Tweed’s Well), lies beneath you and the hill itself is a historic spot. It is here that in 1306, Robert the Bruce having killed his rival for the throne, the Red Comyn, in Dumfries, was heading to Glasgow and met James Douglas who was carrying a message of support from the Bishop of St Andrews. Douglas here pledged his support to Bruce and was to be his close ally in the years that followed. This is why the hill is named the Crown of Scotland. I had initially been sceptical of a meeting occurring in such a remote place, but a little research suggests that the ancient route north did come this way.

I was tempted to head directly for the ruins of Earlshaugh, but a burn in a deep cutting forces a trek over to Killiecrane Hill. I could see a track winding round this hill and headed for it, only to find that it was actually a water-filled ditch. I presume it started as an animal track and gradually eroded. Further down it joined a faint vehicle track, that though muddy was easier going than the tussocks.

Ford at Earlshaugh

Earlshaugh is a ruined farm and I had hoped to find an easy burn crossing here. The track did lead to a ford. A ford, that is, in the sense that a horse and cart could cross there, but it looked to be about thigh deep. I headed further downstream. The burn was rocky and I suspect would be easy to cross on drier days. Today there were no obvious dry crossing points, so I chose a shallow section and went for it, feeling water entering the tops of my boots. (It was too warm to wear gaiters). There followed a waterlogged section which was a piece of cake since my feet were already squelching in my boots.

Footbridge near Earlshaugh

One more burn crossing remained, and the OS has a footbridge marked. This was two logs and might have been usable if it hadn’t been wet and slippy. I crossed at another flooded ford a little further along. From here there is a more substantial, albeit muddy, track all the way back to the start.

As soon as I found a rock to sit on I put on dry socks, and despite the boots being wet this made a huge difference. There were a couple more small burns to cross but they didn’t present any problems. The track itself though still needed some care, trying to make me slip at times and on one occasion swallowing my whole boot in chalky mud. Once the track entered the woods it became much firmer and thankfully began to descend.

Hill Furniture

This was a more demanding walk than I had expected, not because it was particularly hard, but because I had expected it to be easy. It looks as though it proved too much the jeep. It would have been nice to get better visibility and with the burn crossings and boggy ground in places it would be better done on a dry day.

 

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