Lomond Hills - Raw

Raw is the word that describes that early January day in Fife’s Lomond Hills. Not just in terms of the weather. There was also something raw about the landscape laid out before us. 

On the coldest morning of the winter so far, my friend Graham and I ambled through the quaint, narrow streets of the ancient village of Falkland, passing its royal palace and rows of pretty cottages. Beyond the village, we turned up the beautiful gorge of Maspie Den. If it had been cold in the village, then it was absolutely raw here where the cold air had sunk and settled in the den’s narrow confines. The stream through the gorge was frozen at its edges but mostly continued to flow, babbling gently under the many bridges that criss-crossed its course. At the head of the glen, we passed behind the stream’s waterfall and the long icicles overhanging the lip. 

Beyond Maspie Den our path climbed up onto the bealach between the peaks of West and East Lomond, the two most prominent tops in the Lomond Hills.  In climbing up we left the lower freezing air and reached the weak, winter sunshine that bathed the land in rich morning light. Finally, gloves could be removed without instant numbness. We made the long walk out to West Lomond which was gradual at first but finished with a short, steep finale onto the top. 

From West Lomond, I looked over to East Lomond and the long escarpment on which both peaks sit. The view was perfect on such a clear, crisp day. Much like the last walk to Binny Craig, the landscape appeared to me so raw and elemental. I could really see the nature of the land, its character and formation. The Lomond Hills are volcanic in origin. It seemed easy that day to appreciate their turbulent past in the ruggedness of the escarpment which was a massive, rocky, lumpy upswelling rising suddenly and incongruously from the genteel patchwork of the farmland surrounding it. 

Despite the sunshine, it was still too cold to linger on the top, so we set out on the long walk to East Lomond at the other end of the escarpment. Having lived in Fife for a number of years, I’ve walked in the Lomond Hills many times but it was Graham’s first visit. He was quite amazed at how far apart the two peaks were because, like me these days, he is used the distant view of the hills across the Firth of Forth from Portobello. They don’t look too far apart from Porty! But the long walk eventually put us on the top of East Lomond. 

After a flurry of photos, we dropped off the hill’s steep north side to head back down into Falkland and back down into the cold, raw air of the morning. 

Fact File

All the photos on Flickr - click HERE
Start/finish: Falkland, Fife

Public transport: For the January trip used Graham's car because of the short winter days but when I did this walk previously I used the train from Edinburgh to Markinch then cycled to the start at Falkland, about 10 miles along nice, quiet back roads.

My route: From the fountain in the centre of Falkland continued walking west along the main street which eventually left the village then passed through the gates of Falkland Estate. Shortly after, the path up Maspie Den is signed to the left. At the top of the path, passed behind the waterfall and when the den path meets another path, turned left and continued uphill. This path reaches the bealach between East and West Lomond. For West Lomond, after the gate and drystone wall took the wide grassy path to the right which is an obvious route to the top of West Lomond. Returned to the bealach, crossed the wee road that passes between the hills and picked up the obvious track on the other side along the north edge of the trees to East Lomond. From the top of East Lomond took the path that heads steeply northeast down the hill into the forest and eventually pops out in Falkland.