Go on, make my day

Clints of Dromore

4.8 miles 2h 33m. 244m ascent

The Clints of Dromore

The forecast was for a cloud base at 450m so I decided to give the bigger hills a miss. I have grown tired of climbing into mist where I can see little of the countryside, and even sometimes need to use GPS to confirm I’m at a summit. I had planned to follow the old railway line from Big Water of Fleet viaduct to where the viaduct over the Little Water of Fleet once was. Driving up to Dromore however, the Clints of Dromore did look inviting. All I had to do was weigh up the invitation against the descriptions of the Clints as ‘tough going’ and ‘It’s a swamp. Snorkel recommended’.

Driving to Dromore the rain petered out to an occasional spot on the windscreen and a red squirrel darted across the road. My mood was lightened and did I’m sure help tip the balance in my decision. So the Clints of Dromore it was.

Big Water of Fleet Viaduct

I parked at the car park just under the Big Water of Fleet viaduct, where there is a picnic area and an unusual wooden seat surrounded by a dry stone wall. I walked over to take a photo, and as I walked the rain began again. It was only light rain, though, not enough to warrant waterproofs, yet.

 

My first stop was the ruined buildings of Little Cullendoch, only a hundred metres or so from the car park. The ruins contain a strange sculpture that looks like a chained head stabbed in the neck. Somewhat gruesome, but perhaps there is another interpretation.

Stabbed chained sculpture

From here there were great views of the impressive viaduct, but the light was poor and the photos didn’t capture the emotion. I then made my way to the path leading up to the old railway line at the western end of the viaduct. By the time I got there it was definitely waterproofs weather.

I recalled from descriptions I had read that there was a gate at which I should leave the path and climb onto the Clints, but thought it was further along the railway. There was nothing on the map and I spied a gate, albeit sooner than I expected. I was to find later, this was not the right gate. Indeed once I had climbed up the gate it turned out to be a wooden fence repairing a dyke.

My way onto the clints

I thought I could see a path of sorts. Well at least what looked like a way through the undergrowth. So up I went through a combination of chest high water-soaked ferns on the flatter areas and slippy wet heather on the steeper sections. I had a brief moment of sliding down one of the steeper sections of heather and spotted a frog close at hand when I came to rest.

The area was full of birds. I startled half a dozen grouse and various smaller birds darted about. I got a good look at one that I think was a stonechat (but I’m not good with birds). Despite the rain there were butterflies/moths aplenty.

Waterlogged Grass

No paths. Deep wet undergrowth and occasional bogs but the going was not especially tough. Looking ahead I was surprised how high the Clints were. I took several diversions to the edge to see the views and these were quite tiring. By the time I reached the Deep Nick of Dromore the rain had increased to heavy and horizontal with mist. A song kept playing in my mind with the words ‘horizontal rain’ but the lyrics didn’t seem right. Eventually I remembered it should have been purple rain.

At the Deep Nick I had to decide whether to climb down then up again or head back to the treeline and walk around the Nick. I opted for the latter, which was just as well. Once I could see the Nick I realised how steep the sides were.

View south from the Clints

I was tempted to head down between some of the Clints, but thought it safer to stick to the original plan of continuing on until a fence. The ground became even boggier and required care in finding a path.

Heading down by the fence there appeared to be a path. This became increasingly wet and eventually became a stream. A little further down the ferns were back but there did seem to be track through them which contoured around the hill into the valley of the Russon burn.

I then dropped down into grassland and found a faint vehicle track to follow. The ground was boggy in places and where not boggy was bouncy like walking on a trampoline.

Another path to he Clints

The Clints were well seen from here but the weather made photos difficult. The path led to a gate onto the old railway which I followed back to the viaduct and the car. Walking along I passed a stile which was I think where I should have headed up the clints. Perhaps that would have been easier

I’ve seen this described as a 3-4 hour walk so I must have made good time. The area certainly looks pretty and I think I’ll try to come back in better weather sometime.

This entry was posted in Dumfries & Galloway and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.