Moffat Hills

[edit] Moffat Hills The Moffat hills [1] is a range of hills in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. They form a distinctly triangular shape with a west facing side, a north facing side, and a south east facing side. It is 17 kilometers from east to west across this triangle and some 16 kilometers north to south. The town of Moffat lies just south of the Moffat Hills and along with Tweedsmuir is the only centre of population around the Moffat Hills.

Map of the Moffat Hills - Southern Uplands of Scotland - with surrounding hill ranges, roads and river systems[edit] Roads, Hills and Water Systems to the West The west facing side of the Moffat Hills is bounded by the River Annan and River Tweed - the source of both these rivers (which are little more than 1 kilometer apart at source) lie on this boundary. The Annan runs south into the Solway Firth but the Tweed heads north and then east to run through the border countryto the North Sea at Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Westward beyond the valley of the River Annan (Annandale) lies the main west coast corridor running northwards into Scotland, carrying the west coast railway line and the M74 motorway. The next range of hills to the west is the Lowther and Durisdeer hills, wherein lies the source of the River Clyde. The A701 road from Moffat to Edinburgh rises rapidly from Moffat and and is soon high above Annandale. At Annanhead where the source of the River Annan is, the A701 reaches the height of 395 meters and looks down into the Devil's Beef Tub. This is the watershed between the Annan and Tweed systems and it lies in the administrative region called Dumfries and Galloway. The source of the Tweed is in Borders Region. The regional boundary runs erratically eastward from Annanhead, then goes north around Loch Skene before heading south east to Birkhill Cottage in Moffatdale where the pioneering geologist Charles Lapworth stayed from 1872 to 1877 [2].

[edit] Roads, Hills and Water Systems to the North

Grey Mare's Tail in the Moffat Hills from the Bodesbeck Ridge in the Ettrick hills - Southern Uplands of ScotlandThe north facing side of the Moffat Hills is bounded by an unmarked road (no road number on the Ordnance Survey map) which runs from Tweedsmuir village to St Mary's Loch, (passing along the banks of the Talla Reservoir and the Megget Reservoir and rising to 450 meters by the Megget Stone [3]). The hills to the north here are called the Manor or Tweedsmuir hills and the hills to the north west of the Moffat Hills are called the Culters (pronounced Cooters). There is a third reservoir within the Moffat Hills area called the Fruid where two Bronze Age round houses have been excavated in recent times and on the road from Tweedsmuir to the Fruid there are standing stones.

[edit] Roads, Hills and Water Systems to the South East The south east facing side of the Moffat hills runs down the shore of St Mary's Loch and Loch of the Lowes (there is another Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire). Where these two lochs almost join you can see a monument to James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd and visit Tibbie Shiels Inn and then follow the Moffat Water down Moffatdale past the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. The A708 Moffat to Selkirk road runs along this route twisting and turning through some spectacular scenery with sheep wandering freely on the unfenced road. There is a project in progress to restore a wild woodland environment, as it would have been six thousand years ago, to the treeless Carrifran Glen [4]. The hill range to the south east of Moffatdale is called the Ettrick Hills and the Ettrick Water has it's source in the middle of these hills before it runs north eastward to join the Yarrow Water at Philiphaugh [5] (where the Yarrow loses it's name to the Ettrick). The head waters of the Yarrow are just east of Birkhill and the water from there runs through both Loch of the Lowes and St Mary's Loch. Once the Yarrow and the Ettrick Waters join they in turn lose their identity when they meet the River Tweed between Selkirk and Galashiels.

[edit] Freedom of Access

Detail from above photograph of Grey Mare's Tail, showing Loch Skene with outflow into the Tail Burn which feeds the Grey Mare's Tail Moffat Hills, Southern Uplands of ScotlandFreedom of Access [6], the right to roam where you choose, was written into the Scottish Constitution by the new Parliament in Edinburgh in 2002, prior to that it had been an unwritten right by custom. In the Southern Uplands of Scotland there are plenty of wild places in which to exercise this right. The Moffat Hills range is up there with the very best of these.

[edit] Geology, Natural History and Hillwalking The Moffat Hills particularly around Loch Skene [7] offer classic geological features of international interest. Loch Skene has also been used successfully to try to preserve the endangered species of fish called the Vendace [8] which has a history in Britain going back to glacial times. It is this heavily glaciated [9]

shapely landscape which offers such visual interest to the walker. Besides the Grey Mare's Tail, Loch Skene and the Devil's Beef Tub, there are 3 hills over 800 meters in these hills - White Coomb (821m), Hartfell (808m) and Lochcraig Head (801m) and it is very easy to plan interesting routes which take in these hills.

[edit] Some suggested hill walking routes From Capplegill over Saddle Yoke to Hartfell and back by Swatte Fell From the mouth of Carrifran Glen, over Carrifran Gans to White Coomb and back by Saddle Yoke From the bottom of the Grey Mare's Tail up to Loch Skene, over Lochcraig Head and back by White Coomb. From Annanhead to Hartfell and back (starting from a height of 395 meters). From the Megget Stone to Lochcraig Head and back (starting from a height of 450 meters). [edit] References ^ Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 330 ^ Charles Lapworth ^ Ancient Stones A Guide to Standing Stones & Stone Circles in the South of Scotland ^ Carrifran Wildwood The Borders Forest Trust ^ UK Battlefields Resource Centre ^ Scottish Outdoor Access Code - Access Legislation ^ "Loch Skene" by J.E. Gordon - Extracted from the Geological Conservation Review ^ ARKive - Images of Life on Earth ^ Scottish Geology [edit] Further Reading Andrew K.M. and Thrippleton A.A. (1972) The Southern Uplands. The Scottish Mountaineering Trust sbn 901516 57 0 Hall, Allan (Third Edition 2005) The Border Country - A Walker's Guide. Cumbria: Cicerone ISBN 1 85284 459 0 Jackson, Peter (1995) The Scottish Borders - 25 Walks. Edinburgh HMSO ISBN 0 11 495218 3 Marsh, Terry (1988) On Foot in Southern Scotland. Devon: A David and Charles Book ISBN 0 7153 0161 8 Williams, David (1989) A Guide to the Southern Upland Way. London: A Constable Guide ISBN 0 09 467910 X [edit] External Links Dumfries and Galloway Tourist Board - Moffat Hills Mountain Days Donalds in the Moffat Hills Moffat Mountain Rescue Walking routes in the Moffat Hills "Visit Moffat" - Walking Page Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Scothill"