EK NEWS ARTICLE: ERIC KENT    The latest Duncanrig Ramblers walk was located in Fife in the Lomond Hills. These hills dominate the skyline for miles around in Fife and beyond. The Lomond Hills separate the Kinross basin in the west from Fife in the east. The two highest peaks, which are of volcanic origin, are West Lomond (522m / 1713 feet) and East Lomond (448m / 1471 feet). The western scarp slope of Bishop Hill overlooks Loch Leven and rises to 461m (1512 feet) and is capped by a volcanic sill of quartz dolerite overlying layers of sandstone and limestone of Carboniferous age. The limestone has been quarried, most notably at Clatteringwell Quarry close to the top of Bishop Hill. When the quarry was being established in 1852 there was an extensive search for gold as the overlying the limestone there is a bed of Ochre, in which round masses of iron pyrites occur, and these were eagerly carried off initially, but mistakenly as lumps of the precious metal by the quarry people. The main walk was a circular one taking in West Lomond and Bishop Hill with a distance of 10.4 miles.  The low walker’s followed the same route for part of the way but missed out the summit of West Lomond and they returned round by the Harperleas Reservoir which allowed them to miss out the climb up Bishops Hill.  Both walks commenced at the car park at Holl Reservoir in poor weather, fine rain, humid and a low barometer reading which allowed the cloud to settle extremely low over the hills mist down very low. The combination of the weather and the protective weather clothing made the walking hard especially on the uphill climbs and this weather remained with us for the duration of the walk. The walks climbed up through the forest past Balgothrie farm, round by Ballo Reservoir where we were fortunate to see a heron at the water’s edge and the geese migrating overhead down to Loch Leven from the Arctic. The five reservoirs in the Lomond’s were originally built between 1865 and 1914 to supply fresh water to the expanding towns of Fife. The walks continued upwards again and then on to Craigmead ranger centre .After a short break we continued on to West Lomond passing along the side of an old drove road and close to the large Maiden Castle Iron Age hill fort which lies on the north side of the path. The climb up to the top of West Lomond was stiff but short and disappointing due to the low cloud blocking the views from this vantage point. After a surprisingly steep descent down the Glen Vale side of the Hill where we stopped for lunch and shortly after that we halted again to have a blether with some members of the Falkirk and Stirling Walking Club who were also on the area doing various group walks. After completing the descent down to the upper reaches of Glen Vale we continued down wards past the rock outcrop named as John Knox’s Pulpit where it is reputed that the Covenanters held Conventicle’s. The descent continued down this very picturesque glen to the edge of the escarpment which rises up to the summit of Bishop Hill. There at the edge of the escarpment we were able to see Loch Leven very clearly for a short time before were started the ascent up to Bishop Hill via a narrow path on the edge of this escarpment. The climb was tough and the walkers were glad to complete this ascent at this late stage of the walk. We were able to view the spectacular rock outcrop Carlin Maggie near the top of Bishops Hill. Local legend has it that Carlin Maggie was a witch. Apparently there was a fight over the leadership of a witch’s coven in the area and poor Maggie lost! Historically the significance of the name Carlin is unclear, other than its association with old hags, witches, and the legends of the Cailleach. Shortly after that we had a short break to recover from the climb and then continued on past the edge of the industrial remains of the Clatteringwell Quarry and started the long walk down and back to the bus in deteriorating weather conditions. During the walk the following wildlife was spotted and included the Geese and Heron mentioned earlier. More Geese were spotted flying below us as we ascended Bishop Hill, Swans were seen in the reservoirs and a Marsh Harrier was spotted chasing a small bird. Finally some Goldfinches and a large Toad were also spotted. Plants noted were Tormentil, Harebells and Common Heather a number of fungi species were also spotted during the walk. The social hour was enjoyed by all at the royal burgh of Falkland with its historic hunting palace.