Walks around Balmullo: CJW

In December 2007 my friend & I began walking around Balmullo, mainly up the hill. Now, in our 2nd season of walks, I am going to try and put a route description of where we walked on a particular day for you to enjoy!
N.B - you walk this at your own risk!

Back of Lucklaw
Start at the Phone Box (Loanhead)and turn right and follow until you reach a woodland forestry barrier. NOTE: you will pass the guide centre on your right - if you do your on the right track!
Continue forward along the path that takes you deep into the woodland - and eventually you will pop out at the other end, at a gate.
At this point, look to your left and you will see another gate - cross the EDGE of the field and walk through it.
Basically, at this point, follow the path up the back of the hill and you will reach a "rural footpath crossroads" - continue forward and then bear left when the path forks and you will reach the top of Lucklaw Hill.
Face the mast and take the path to your right, where you will reach another gate. At this point bear right onto a path that takes you along some woods (note ALONG not DOWN)and - yep you've guessed it - you will reach another gate which you should pass through into a field. If you're in a field that has a walled area in the heart of it - your in the right field. Finally, climb over a final gate and down the road onto an unclassified road, turn right and you will walk back onto School Road, Balmullo
N.B - the final field should be watched en-route to your starting point as there may be livestock in the field so use the downhill path of the woodland til you reach the forestry barrier where you can return the way you came.

Pictures of this route will be added during May 2009 :-)

I'm Back

I couldn't find my password but I have reset it and ready to restart for Summer 2009
Over the coming months not only will i put pictures on, but information about walks around Balmullo as well as some information about my walking programme with my friend.

End of August

The poll closed today. I can now reveal that the winner is... SUNSET NAVY, shown to the right.

In other news, my friend and I will be restarting our walks on a planned date of Saturday 25 October, and we have 22 weeks of walks planned. This means that there will be more pictures coming to this website soon. We also plan to do a bit of camping, and hopefully we will catch the sunset when we do. But more info on that soon!

I do have some more pictures from my holiday to America earlier this year, but I will try and upload them later in September.

I am planning to update this site again during the weekend of the 13th September.

Feel free to leave comments. From Cameron :-)

Walks around Balmullo

I recently got back from holiday, where I had been to Boston and Martha's Vineyard in the USA. The poll is still open for 13 more days! So get voting! More pictures coming soon. However, here are suggestions for walks around Balmullo that I have walked recently:

LUCKLAWHILL
my personal favourite takes me under 1hr - 1hr 15mins to complete on a good day. Start by walking up Quarry Road until you reach a gate on your right, just before the quarry. Go through the gate and go up through the field ( not recommended in Summer due to cows in the field) until you reach the path at the top. Your on the right path if you see stairs and a second path merging further up. Keep going and you will see the summit to your right, with the quarry on the left. You can either return the way you came or follow the path to the rear of the transmitter, which takes you away from the quarry and into some trees. Keep following down the forest, and after a steep drop turn left onto a road. Follow the road until you see a crossroads/postbox on your right, turn right and follow until you enter Balmullo at the bottom of Quarry Road.

LOGIE/CRAIGSANQHAR
this walk is all road-walk and is good for cycling too. Start by walking up Quarry Road and keep following until the road bears right. Bear right and follow until you reach a crossroads. Bear left and follow the road for about 1 mile or until you reach Logie. You can return OR follow the road for another 1 mile or until you reach some cottages, with a road that turns off down the side of them. Look forward and you will see a farm, which is Craigsanqhar Farm, and further down is the drive to Craigsanqhar Hotel. Also, there should be a sign reading Logie, 1 pointing the way you have just come from, and the way you should return back to Balmullo.

WILLIES WOOD
A basic loop. From Burnside Hall, follow the path along the side of the new houses, until you reach a gate. Go through, and follow the path until you reach a 2nd gate. During this stage the path becomes field and not stone. Follow through the 2nd gate until you reach a 3rd, follow through the field until you reach the 4th. Once through this gate, you should see a pond to your right. Another path does start on your left: follow this. It takes you through some "new trees" or "recently planted trees". At the top of this stage, bear left and follow the path until you end up in a farmyard. Follow the stone path down towards the village, or until you are in a different farmyard. Turn left to enter the village onto Pitcairn Drive.

I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS INTERESTING, AND YOU WILL THINK OF TAKING A WANDER TO ONE OF THESE ROUTES SOON.

Poll

Please do the poll - it's open until 7pm on 31st August.

The Pictures above are a couple from 2007, I will be putting more from last year online soon. The top picture is called A Winters Morning taken on 22 Dec and the bottom picture is called Highland Hill taken during August when I went to Fort William on holiday.

Jan - Apr 2008: My Personal Favourite

My Personal Favourite is Sunset Navy, taken 13 Feb 2008, shows the Lomond Hills during sunset, taken from a nearby passing train

Jan - Apr 2008: Favourites 4

My fourth favourite is Through the Path, taken 16 Feb 2008, showing one of the pathways up Balmullo Hill