Over The Hill

Five weeks ago, as we stood on Tarmangie Hill as the central point of our walk from Castle Campbell to King’s Seat Hill, we discussed the route of todays walk, the Glen Sherup Horseshoe, with once again, Tarmangie Hill as the central point. Our start point today was the Woodlands Trust Car Park in Glen Devon from where a fine forest track winds its way gently uphill and around the lower slopes of forested knolls with names such as Black Hill, Gleds Nose, Lamb Hill and Peat Hill, before diverting into a firebreak for a short pull to the forest boundary and into the open hillside on Glenquey Hill, where a small wooden bench offers a resting spot with some fine views towards Loch Leven and The Lomond Hills. A bench and fine views, so what else was there to do than sit and take a break, although given that we were 13 in total, the bench was not that large, and so, the forest boundary wall was pressed into service as a resting make-shift bench.

A long grassy ridge rises gently from Glenquey Hill towards Innerdownie, a cairned top at 611m, towards which we headed on a fairly distinct ATV track which runs alongside an old drystane dyke and fence, making navigation a simple matter, leaving time to just enjoy the day and some wonderful views across hillsides and the numerous reservoirs that lie in the glens around the Ochil Hills. The gentle slopes get even gentler as you continue up the grassy ridge beyond Innerdownie towards Whitewisp Hill where, for the first time in our walk we said our “Good day” to other walkers, those who were, in the main, completing the King’s Seat Hill round just as we had done five weeks ago. It would have been nice to stop a little longer on Whitewisp Hill, however, it was beginning to get a little cool in the breeze, and, as lunch was beckoning, it was decided to continue onto Tarmangie Hill which we hoped would offer a better chance of some shelter from the breeze in which to stop for lunch.

As it transpired, it was just as cool on Tarmangie, there was no shelter, and, as we sat around in the heather the drizzle turned heavy enough to warrant the waterproof tops and hoods up. But, nevertheless, it was a leisurely lunch break, on a fine summit with the views still impressive, if not a little misty in places. As the walk title suggests, this was a horeshoe round of Glen Sherup, the central point of which was Tarmangie Hill, and so, pre lunch was up one side of the glen, therefore, post lunch was to be down the other side of the glen. But not quite all downhill, not yet anyway.

Leaving Tarmangie Hill it was a short walk downhill to the bealach at the head of Glen Sherup easily identifiable by one of the largest deer fence gates I have seen, through which you start a long, but very leisurely climb up more grassy hillsides and over the almost undistinguishable tops of Scan Hill and Mailer’s Knowe towards Ben Shee, which stands out ahead of you like a huge dumpling rising from the hillside.

The is a short, steep section on the final pull to the 516m summit of Ben Shee but once there the summit is a magnificent viewpoint, so much so, that I was taking in the views, and completely forgot to take any photos from this fine summit, Pity!

From Ben Shee it really is downhill all the way, initially on a narrow path through the grassy tufts before it joins a broader track through an area of re-generated forest heading down to open fields and a short section of tarmac road leading to the point at which you can cross the Glensherup Reservoir dam and finally back to the Woodlands Trust Car Park.

This was a beautiful, uncomplicated walk in great company. Thanks Bernadette