Benbeoch, Enoch Hill, and the Source of the Nith

[wjshaw2]

I had planned a long round from the foot of Benbeoch, but swollen streams meant getting from Windy Standard back to the foot of Benbeoch looked pretty much impossible, so the day got cut into two shorter walks, up Benbeoch first and then driving on to Enoch Hill, missing out Windy Standard completely.

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I parked near Pennyvenie farm and knocked on the door of the farm to ask about access to Benbeoch. A very friendly farmer said that there was no option but to cross the opencast mines and former mines - even the most recent maps round here are out of date as to their extent.

So on the farmer's advice, I went through the gate opposite the farm (curiously marked as Glenview on the 1:25000). The gate is next to a very faded sign saying that the land belongs to Britsh Coal and we should keep out. So I went in and then diagonally across the sheep field, past some Canada geese, and on to a gate at the NE end of the field which leads onto the large mining access track. I followed this uphill towards the top, took a left at the first junction, a right after it had crossed an unnamed stream, and then over an infilled bit of opencast to a wall alongside which ran a small path. Through the gate, over the slightly fallen wall, up the short, steep bank and then the top. You could probably do this hill, up and down, in about an hour from the road if you were in a hurry.

Benbeoch from the mining track

A unionist hill

Opencast mine works eating the hill

Dalmellington and the northern Galloway Hills in the clouds

This is clearly one spot that will be forever Britain - Benbeoch says no. The area around the hilltop is an island amongst a sea of opencast mining and forestry. And it's a good top too. Descending to the SE brought me to the top of Benbeoch Craig, a beautiful and quite out of character crag for these parts. It's columnar, almost Giant's Causewayesque and has at its foot a boulder field named Fox Park. Having wandered around practicing finding belay anchors for a while, I descended just to the N of the crag and thought I'd examine Fox Park a little closer - why would they want to have built this massive wall around it?

Fox Park boulder field from the top of Benbeoch Craig

Benbeoch Craig

Wall around Fox Park

Well, it turns out that some of the gaps between the boulders go quite a long way down, 5m, maybe more in places. You could easily lose your livestock down them (or your dog) - hence the wall, so I wouldn't recommend a stroll across here in the snow when you can't see the holes. I also wouldn't recommend trusting the vegetation that sometimes loosely covers the holes - tread on the rocks themselves.

Entering the boulder field

Natural wall

Enoch Hill beyond the woods and rocks

For SML purposes, I spent a bit of time considering how I would get a group of scared teenagers across such terrain (by avoiding it completely). I then returned more directly to the first track junction and back across the field and past the Canada geese again, this time trying hard to get a decent picture.

Canada geese

A good wee stroll that. And then on to Enoch Hill.

P.S. Late addition - apparently the coal mining company that ran this site has gone bust, so there are no access problems on Benbeoch at the moment - although still some big holes to fall into.

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I drove up to the end of the forestry back towards New Cumnock, parking soon after Polmathburn Bridge. It's a straightforward walk across tussocks for about 4km SSE to the top of Enoch Hill. The ground was especially sodden and the tussocks were of the reasonably well spaced type - you could walk easily enough without standing on them. It was just that the ground between the tussocks was a bog. If you chose to avoid the bog, you found out that the tussocks themselves were, in fact, a bit fake - they were just moss, very soft tussocks that sucked your foot in as effectively as the bog. But they were actually easier to walk on than the new tracked vehicle path that's been made nearly all the way up. The path just made the ground more wet, so it was easier to walk off it, between the tussocks.

My favourite - tussocks!

'Gate' on tracked vehicle track

Apart from having to cross the gate that actually turned out to be a fence, it's a fairly featureless walk, but, I think, leads up to a lovely viewpoint. Enoch Hill gives views, even on a hazy and cloudy day like today, from the Campsies to Arran to the northern Galloway Hills. It's not a Marilyn, but it's a long way from anything higher (I think it's a subsidiary top of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn) so really stands out. It is, however, quite likely to become a wind farm, hence the new track - see https://www.eonenergy.com/About-eon/our ... enoch-hill. There are already several of these around here, but how else can you make money from this ground? Sheep, mining, forestry, or wind... I think Cairnsmore of Carsphairn will be swimming in a sea of turbines within the next 10/15 years. This land is not covered by the Wild Land map, only the Galloway Hills off to the South.

Lovely light over Benbeoch and a Girvan direction Marilyn, I think

Cairnsmore of Carsphairn appearing from its shroud

Clear of clouds, but gradually surrounded by wind farms

Fence post sculpture..?

The colours of spring on Enoch Hill from McCowans Knowe

A last view of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn

I had a bit of time left so decided to go through the nearby forestry in search of the Source of the Nith. Felling on the West side of McCowans Knowe gave easy access to a forestry track which led to the rides you can follow towards the marked source. There's still a shieling or two in evidence along the rides. The rides themselves were very boggy with deeper tussocks than on the open hill. It got so wet at one point I was basically wading through a pond. The actual source is hidden underneath the woods - only accessible by crawling. This was as near as I got.

This may look solid, but actually it's a foot deep loch

The Source of the Nith

The Nith emerges from the woods and sets off (in the wrong direction) for the Solway

From there it was just following tracks and rides back to the open hill - there was one moment of worry when the path was blocked by fallen trees which gave me flashbacks to tussles with Crock a few weeks back, but a short diversion into the woods got me round them without any great difficulty, no chainsaw required. The tussocks on the way down the hill were starting to feel bigger than on the way up, but I took a small diversion to the trig point on Peat Hill to catch the last of the light, before descending to the car.

Fading light towards Corsencon Hill and Kirkland Hill, the end of last year's pilgrimage

Enoch Hill - come and see it before it goes.

[Sgurr]

Another Marilyn that has suddenly become easier. In the days when they actually MINED Benbeoch, walkers were thoroughly discouraged from going there. So much so, that we devoted a New Years Day (when we assumed there would be less enthusiastic security) to climbing it, and discovered another 2 couples had the same idea. It's like discovering that you no longer have to crawl up drainage ditches to climb Crock.

[malky_c]

Benbeoch looks a lot more interesting than I've ever given it credit for. Must have something to do with older accounts of the ascent being focused around not being caught...

Squiz - might be worth taking a look at your list of most awkward Marilyns - there may be some others that become easier if you wait. New bridge over to Caiteseal maybe? Or perhaps a ladder up Stac Lee to reach a new phone mast

[Sgurr]

Squiz - might be worth taking a look at your list of most awkward Marilyns - there may be some others that become easier if you wait. New bridge over to Caiteseal maybe? Or perhaps a ladder up Stac Lee to reach a new phone mast

After not managing up Beinn Lunndaidh the other day because I couldn't stand up the last 100 or so yards even to get up Bein Bhraggie for the wind, I think I may even need to wait to do the least awkward ones.

[wjshaw2]

My favourite access problem was the half kilometre of head high nettles in a maze of unmapped rides as the only access to the top of Grange Fell near Lockerbie. Mind you the felling on White Top of Culreoch and Woodhead Hill, the windblown obstacles on Crock (you no longer need to crawling under anything, but I crawled over it instead), the electric fences of Goseland Hill, the bulls on See Morris Hill and Bishop Forest Hill, and many more points of added interest still keep today's Marilyn baggers on their toes.

[gmr82]

Another one of your interesting Sub reports, thanks wjshaw2. Goseland Hill with electric fences..........is that a recent addition or now long gone? Remember scoping this ages back but dont remember the threat of being electrocuted

[wjshaw2]

Goseland Hill with electric fences..........is that a recent addition or now long gone? Remember scoping this ages back but dont remember the threat of being electrocuted

Um, I didn't write that one up (before my WalkHighlands days) - my notes say this: "Goseland Hill (435m) and Hartree Hill from the NW side. Thunder storm on the way up. Lots of electric fences to jump on the way down. Skylarks going mental." That's from June 2012.

I just remember it as one of those hills where there were no gates where anyone might actually want to use them. There's probably an easier way.

Thanks for the comment.

[AlisonFox66]

Just back from Benbeoch today and thought it a lovely wee hill. Far better than expected , surprisingly craggy. I was expecting a desolate mess. Instead I got a delightful ascent. I had planned it as something gentle as I had donated blood Thursday afternoon. ..... er no.... that last few metres of ascent was quite tough but very rewarding