Ascent of Minch Moor

The day I decided to walk up Minch Moor the weather was a lot different than the previous day when I tootled along the Tweed in lovely sunshine. This time it was dull, grey and cold with spits of rain blowing in the wind, nevertheless I soldiered on.
To those of you who are Munro-baggers the ascent of Minch Moor would be a stroll in the park but for a mere mortal such as myself it was a fair hike up a hill. Standing at 567 metres (that's 1860 feet in old money) the summit of Minch Moor is not even a Corbett (hills between 2,500 and 3,000ft) never mind a Munro (hills above 3,000 feet).
Anyway I parked up at Traquair village hall and made my way along the track that forms part of the Southern Upland Way. Being a bit cold with the threat of rain I was suitably dressed in my fleece and anorak, however after fifteen minutes of walking uphill I had to stop and shed some clothes as I was so hot.
When I stopped I had a look back down the valley towards Innerleithen and even at this height the view was pleasant (although I did get strange looks from the cows in the field):


View of Innerleithen

I continued on my walk until I came to a stand of coniferous woodland where I was pleased to see a small flock of Goldcrests flitting about the branches. I heard them before I saw them as they have a very distinctive, high pitch call that some people have difficulty hearing.
Any sighting of them was fleeting and there was no way of getting a photo of them, especially since I only had a small compact camera with me. These compacts are great for fitting in your pocket but when you are trying to photograph wildlife the time taken from pressing the button to taking the picture is just too slow and what ever was there has gone.
A little further along the track I came across a rustic wooden bothy where I stopped to have a bite to eat (hungry work this mountaineering):


Love this Bothy

As I sat munching my pieces and supping my coffee I enjoyed the lovely view from the veranda of the River Tweed winding through the valley below...........bliss!


Tweed Valley from Bothy

Suitable refreshed, fed and watered I continued my journey uphill towards Minch Moor. The next stop was a spot called the Point of Resolution. What's that I hear you ask?.......well I'll let you read the signpost rather than have me repeat it:

The aforementioned 'Point of Resolution' sculpture and the heather circles (as viewed through the eye of the sculpture) are shown below:


Resolution Point Sculpture

Through the Round Window

That was enough art for one day so I forged onwards and upwards. After this point the scenery was decidedly moorish, with heather heathland and not much else. I half expected to see Heathcliff and Cathy romping about in the heather........but no!
In fact I saw no-one apart from a couple of mental mountain bikers trying to kill themselves (and anybody in their way) as they hurtled down the hill-side.
Whilst traversing the moor I stopped to observe the age-old custom of appeasing the fairies at Cheese Well..........no I have not lost my marbles!! The story goes that you have to leave a donation of food (commonly cheese) at this freshwater spring to appease the wee folk and they will grant you a trouble-free journey.
As I had no cheese with me I left a corner of my Alpen cereal bar, which I thought was relevant as I was heading to the summit.
Near the end of the moorland stretch I reached a fork in the path where the Southern Upland Way carries onwards to Portpatrick (some hundred miles away on the west coast) but I was taking the right hand fork and heading to the summit of Minch Moor (a few hundred metres away). You can see I had to think hard which route to choose:


Portpatrick or Minch Moor??

One last push up the hillside and I reached the summit of Minch Moor, which was surprisingly in black and white??


The Cairn at the Summit of Minch Moor

You got some terrific views from up here, which photographs don't do justice, however here is one showing the Eildon Hills (or Trimontium as the Romans called their nearby outpost) which are a good few miles away near Melrose:




View from Minch Moor with Eildon Hills in Background

It was cold and windy at the top of the hill and although it hadn't rained yet it did look very dodgy so I decided not to hang around and made my way back downhill.
On my descent I chose a slightly different route and followed the track alongside the Camp Shiel Burn (which was a bit soggy under-foot) which led surprisingly to Camp Shiel. Here I found a beautiful cottage which was only accessible by a rough farm track, but what really fascinated me was some of the old out-buildings which surrounded this cottage.
There were stone buildings and wooden sheds with corrugated tin roofs:


Camp Shiel Out-buildings

There was a creepy summer-house that looked like an old railway carriage:


Camp Shiels Summer-House?

Was that a ghost inside or just the reflection of a poor photographer??
I beat a hasty retreat and walked along the farm track which followed the Fingland Burn. This was a great little burn, fast flowing, gravel-based, the sort you would expect to see a Dipper on (my favourite bird) but I didn't see any.
I did see a tree growing up through the burn, which was strange, maybe the burn had changed course over the years and the tree was there first!!


Tree in Burn

I had to cross a couple of bridges and go through a few gates along this track. It didn't look like a track that was well walked, in fact the sheep gave me a look like I shouldn't be there:


You shouldn't be here!!

I wasn't about to argue with them, especially the one with the horns.
I passed by another cottage which wasn't as nice as the Camp Shiels one and definitely looked like it needed a bit of TLC:


Damhead Cottage

At the end of the track there was a farm and once I passed that I was on the home straight back to Traquair.
Just before I reached Traquair and the end of my journey I noticed some other sheep in a field which didn't seem to have the same aggressive attitude as the previous ones. In fact they were being very helpful by suggesting some lottery numbers for me to use:


Sheep Bingo

Overall I had a briliant walk and the rain stayed off.........result!!.

Take Care

Teddy Edward