Guthrie's Path & The Riccarton Hills

Guthrie's path is an old 'drove road' in West Lothian which runs along the southern boundary of Beecraigs Country Park near Linlithgow.
It bears all the hallmarks of a 'drove road' being a wide grassy track, bordered at each side by an earth bank, line of trees or a dry stane dyke which cuts directly through the countryside. Farmers used these 'drove roads' to bring their livestock from the field to the markets (or trysts), and the route of Guthrie's Path is recognisable on maps going as far back as the 1600's.
My walk along this path started at the south-east edge of Beecraigs Country Park, next to a suitably informative signpost:

Guthrie's Path at Beecraigs

At this point I choice to head west along the newly laid path that runs between the original Guthrie's Path and the conifer plantation of Beecraigs.

 

Southern Boundary Path

Adjacent to this new path it is just possible to see the original drove road on the other side of the dry stane dyke; you can see the line of trees which mark the opposite side of this drove road:

Line of Trees marking Original Guthrie Path

Unlike the trees in Beecraigs plantation which are nice and straight and uniform the trees lining the route of Guthrie's Path look old, twisted and gnarly (best viewed in black and white I think):

Twisted Pine along Guthrie's Path

Old Tree-line along Guthrie's Path

 In terms of wildlife it is typical of the edges of an upland pine plantation with a few Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, etc. nothing too spectacular. I only managed to capture a poor photograph of a Robin and a brief video of a Great Tit (so brief I've given you the slo-mo version):

Robin on Branch (if you look closely)

As there was not a lot doing here I decided to walk back to the signpost and go in the opposite direction; heading east from Beecraigs and up the slope towards the Riccarton Hills:



Heading up Guthrie's Path towards Riccarton Hills

Although the Riccarton Hills are not particularly high, walking up Guthrie's Path you can immediately see the habitat changing from forest-edge to grassy upland. It feels a lot wilder, more exposed and the wildlife living in this habitat is also different.
I found the path up to the top of the hill quite intriguing, with lots of charismatic photo opportunities, some scenes looked as though they had not changed in hundreds of years (hence the black and white):

Antique Gate

Twisted Hawthorn

Dry Stane Dyke Up the Riccarton Hills

Dry Stane Dyke down to Longmuir

Cairn at top of Riccarton Hills

Once I had reached the top of the hills (a meagre 833ft or 254m high) the panoramic view was fantastic. Even though it was slightly overcast I could clearly see the Forth Bridges, Edinburgh, Livingston, Grangemouth, the Ochil Hills and Rosyth in Fife. Some of these places featuring in the video below:

The Riccarton Hills along with many other peaks in this landscape were formed during volcanic activity some 350 million years ago. Lava from a line of volcanoes solidified into hard igneous rock formations and subsequent glacial action scoured away the soft sedimentary rock leaving these volcanic plugs, sills and mounds. This includes landscape features such as the Bass Rock, North Berwick Law, Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Binny Craig, Cairnpapple and Cockleroy.



Looking East towards Binny Craig & Arthur's Seat

Looking South towards Livingston



Looking Southwest towards Cairnpapple

Looking West towards Cockleroy

Looking Northwest towards Grangemouth

Looking North towards Fife

Looking Northeast towards The Forth Bridges

 Another feature of glacial action was the erratic boulders once carried within the glaciers which were deposited half way up hillsides when the ice melted. A typical example of this exists near the top of the Riccarton Hills:

Glacial Erratic on Riccarton Hills

With regards to wildlife at the top of these hills it would appear they were having a great time until I came along. Firstly I disturbed a small group of Teal swimming on the pond formed in an indent at the top of the hills. Sorry I wasn't quick enough to get a photograph, but here is the pond:

Pond at Riccarton Hills

 

View from Pond (sorry no Teal)

I then disturbed a Buzzard which was on the ground near some gorse bushes; this time I did get a video of it flying away:

 I love how Buzzards master the thermals near a hillside to effortlessly gain height..........brilliant to watch.
Just before I reached the top of the hill I spotted a few Meadow Pipits darting about and managed to get a good view of one on the grass just above me:



So there you have it............. the Riccarton Hills; with a dollop of history, a plateful of views, a small helping of wildlife and a dash of geomorphology..........what more could one ask for.
I could get a job with the West Lothian Tourist Board.

Take Care

Teddy Edward