The plan was to climb up to Turner’s Monument on Bennan Hill and I am pleased I chose to go from the south rather than east. I parked at the copse just past the pink farm (Glen Farm) and climbed up through two gates. The ground here was easy going, dry and not too steep.
The sheep on the hill just watched me walk past, occasionally moving a little further out of my way. On the way up I saw a flick of a tail disappearing into the grass and the movement looked very much like a lizard. The tail was too long for a mouse so I can only presume it was a snake. I saw another a few minutes later. PS I’ve subsequently heard that there are lots of adders in the area.
Turner’s monument wasn’t visible until about 50m below it, so I did begin to wonder if I was going the right way. The monument is pretty impressive in size when you think that Johnny Turner had to lug the stones for it all the way up there. The views are impressive, with the Lake District, Galloway hills, Lowther hills and Moffat hills visible.
I decided to head north east over towards the Glenkiln cross, which would have been my alternative way up. There is no clear path, though at times there are paths made by the sheep. The direct route took me into heather and tussocks with hidden holes into which my feet went on occasion (water in them). So I decided to head south to a wall and follow that eastwards. The ground was boggy and even where it appeared dry water could be heard running underfoot. I tried switching sides of the wall but I doubt it made much difference. The wall took me most of the way but then I veered off north to get to the top of a brew overlooking Glenkiln reservoir because I was keen to avoid having to climb back up to the Cross. The weather was great for photos.
The plan had been to drop down to the road and follow it back to the car but there seemed to be a path running across to the path that passes the visitation, so I went that way. As I crossed a small burn a vole ran in front of me and froze long enough for me to get a quick photo. From the Visitation the path climbed back to join the road back to Glen Farm. Here in a field filled with lambs and ewes was a sheep sat with a duck.
And finally, as I walked back to the car another red squirrel ran across the path.
