2.7 miles 1h 42m 230m ascent
Bad weather was forecast with very low cloud so I headed for Pibble Hill, a wee 383m Marilyn near the Clints of Dromore. Most descriptions of walks up this hill come from the Corse of Slakes to the south, but I decided to try it from the north, I’m not sure why.
The road that runs parallel to the old Wigtonshire railway has a parking place marked on the OS map about half a mile west of the old Gatehouse station, but keep your eyes peeled, I drove right past it and had to practice my multi-point turning on the single track road.
There is space for a couple of cars and a sign asking that care is taken not to obstruct the access to the Clints of Dromore Estate.
Forgotten logs
Across the road is a forestry track guarded by a closed gate. A rusting padlock and chain were affixed but not in such a way that the gate was locked and the fence by the gate has fallen down. The forest track beyond the gate looks as if it hasn’t been used in a while. Heather was growing across it and small conifers were sprouting at its edges here and there. A moss covered pile of logs stood by the track just to emphasise that we were on the track the forestry forgot.
The track crosses a small unnamed burn, at a bridge watched over by a raised viewing seat. I was tempted to climb up to find out what could be seen but even a cursory glance raised doubts about its structural integrity, and a small sign did advise that use was only appropriate for those with authorisation. I had no hard hat and no formal training in climbing rickety wooden structures so I doubted authorisation would have been granted. Beside the seat was a lichen covered tree. I smiled and breathed in deeply since this is a sign of good air quality/lack of pollution.
At the seat/bridge/lichenified tree I left the track and turned up the forest break made by the unnamed burn, making my way up through boggy tussocks. There did not appear to be any obvious track at first but close to the trees the tussocks were squashed by passing animals and though the ground was waterlogged the going was easier.
The dogs didn’t seem to care about the tussocks, running through them easily and unlike me never seeming to have their legs fall into holes.
The forest ends at a well constructed stone wall. And the burn ends as well. Getting the dogs over the wall was my next task. Eddie disappeared along the wall then reappeared on top of it and jumped back, but Sweep who can’t even jump into the car anymore wasn’t going to manage on his own.
Luckily there was a break in the wall not far away. Unluckily it was barred by a rusting gate which had been attached to the wall by several pieces of rope threaded into the wall and fastened by knots, which I can only presume, had been tied by Gordias himself. The knots were beyond me and I hadn’t brought a sword.
Anyway, while I marvelled at the intricacy of the knots, Eddie jumped the gate and Sweep squeezed between the bars. So I climbed over, the knots mocking me as I walked away.
Once out of the forest we were on a heather and tussock covered hillside. I had intended heading directly up the hill but there were sheep that way so we walked up along the edge of the forest to skirt around them. This involved a couple of short steep sections to ensure my knees were aware that they were in use.
Lochan on Pibble Hill
Unfortunately, the cloud base fell and we soon climbed into mist making it difficult to find the best route. Pibble Hill’s top is made of numerous wee prominences and it was difficult to know which would be the summit. So we wandered about climbing up to what seemed to be a higher ground but finding no cairn on any.
We then came upon the wee Lochan which I knew was about 300m from the summit, so realised we still had quite a way to go. As we went on each prominence would appear to have a small cairn but when we got there it was just vegetation. Eventually the ground started to fall away and I realised we must have passed the summit, so I headed north with the aim of finding the wall marked on the OS map and using the wall junction to guide me to the summit.
So on I walked and soon spotted the wall. But when I got to it, it was not a wall but more vegetation masquerading as man-made artefact. Then as I stood mentally recreating Edvard Munch’s Scream, I saw higher ground and headed up to it.
Pibble Hill summit
A small cairn marked the summit. I had hoped to get a picture of me at the summit using the timer on the camera but it was so windy that was out of the question so I made do with a standard frowning selfie.
Pibble apparently takes its name from an old word meaning meeting, congregation or place of assembly. I presume this is being used in the sense that animals were collected in shielings thereabouts. I suppose the dogs and I assembled there today, even if Sweep did keep barking until we got moving again. He doesn’t like to stop, except when he wants to.
At this point the walk could have really gone pear shaped. After a bit of faffing around with my bag, and standing looking into the mist imagining the extensive views I might otherwise have had, I shrugged on my rucksack, called the dogs and was about to set off, when for some reason I decided to use the compass to check I was heading in the right direction. I wasn’t.
We then headed back the way we had come. I did find some ATV tracks to follow to the lochan, but they disappeared after that. I must have missed them on the way along to the summit. The return journey was mostly uneventful except for stepping into a couple of hidden holes, one baptising my right foot. The gate sealed with the Gordian knots proved less troublesome from this direction since I was able to lift up the bottom to allow the dogs through.
A short walk, another D&G Marilyn, and further experience in the mist.
[osmap gpx=”http://www.screel.co.uk/walks/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/RK_gpx-_2015-03-07_1011.gpx”]
