The Tiny Hill Appreciation Society

Bowden Doors Summit, looking North West The Hill Location : Bowden Doors, Northumberland (On the B6349 between Belford and Wooler) Grid Reference:  NU 07204 32369 Height: 208m Classification: Tump The Walk Distance: 1km Ascent: 28m Terrain: Close cropped grass with light vehicle tracks, probably from a quad bike Parking: On the verge, on the opposite side of the road to the summit. Do not block farm gates. The best hill trips don't always have the most auspicious beginnings. This particular trip was on the second day of a week long holiday, and it was raining hard. We'd been for a mooch round Alnwick, but the town was full of other people mooching around trying to find ways to avoid the rain, and crowds make the hill bagger grouchy. In the interests of avoiding other people we decided the best plan was to try and find a tiny hill on our way back to the holiday cottage. It was mostly for the hill baggers list: it was still raining, and we definitely didn't think we were goin...

  Torr Gabhscabhaig with Loch Gabhscabhaig in the foreground The Hill: Torr Gabhscabhaig Location: Between Tarskavaig and Tokavaig, Sleat, Isle of Skye Grid Reference: NG592108 Height: 92m Classification: Tump The Walk Ascent: 30 metre Distance: 100 metres (round trip) Terrain: Steep climb on rough ground Parking: Space for a maximum of three cars in a wide passing place at the base of the hill. Sleat is one of the least hilly parts of Skye. It doesn't have anything even remotely resembling a mountain. It is therefore somewhat surprising that the road to this tiny tump is one of the few on the island which throughout my childhood bore signage proclaiming it "unsuitable for caravans". It hasn't been upgraded since, and there are many many bends and some ferociously steep hills. This makes it very popular with cyclists (who never have to reverse) but less so with drivers. It's one of my least favourite drives, and always takes about eight times longer to do than I e...

Lady Hill, Scottish Borders Smailholm Tower, photographed from part way up Lady Hill The Hill: Lady Hill Location: By Smailholm Tower, Sandyknowe Farm, Kelso, TD5 7PG Grid Reference: NT 63547 34522 Height: 207m Classification: Tump, Trig Point The Walk Ascent: 30 metre Distance: 1km (round trip) Terrain: Grassy sheep track type paths Parking: Smailholm Tower Carpark or nearby verges Smailholm Tower dominates the landscape for so many miles around that it is a little surprising that it isn't actually on the highest point in the area. The summit of the tump is a little beyond the tower and marked with a trig point. Of course you would be higher up if you visited the tower and climbed to the top, sadly however it was closed when we visited, and at the time of writing remains closed. However, I have it on good authority (the word of an aunt no less) that it is worth a visit, so we will attempt a return trip once it reopens.  Another downside of the tower being closed was that the carp...

Location: Soutra Hill, Scottish Borders Grid Reference: NT 4593 5908 Height: 377m Classification: Tump Like every other person with a chronic illness, my health is variable. On a good day I can manage a whole mile (occasionally even two), other days I can barely manage 20 or 30 metres. It's on the latter type of day that the drive-by tump really comes into it's own. These are hills with roads running to, or near the summit. Sometimes this will be intentional - there might be a tourist route up to a viewpoint - but sometimes it's just circumstantial.  Soutra Hill comes somewhere between the two. It's on the route of a historic road from Edinburgh to the borders, and while the modern A68 skirts to the east and the A7 to the west of the summit, the B6368 to Gilston runs over the top of the hill. The true summit is to the south of Soutra Mains Wood in a large farmers field, about 50 metres from the road.  The hillbagger and I on the true summit of Soutra Hill When we visite...

The Hill - Camp Hill View from the summit, Camp Hill in Queen's Park (photo included with kind permission from the big boy cousin) Location:  Queen's Park, Glasgow Grid Reference: NS57912 62080 Height: 64 metres Classification: Tump The Walk: Many Routes Available Distance: 600m to 1.2km Climb: 20m  to 40m Terrain: choice of smooth tarred paths or rough woodland paths Parking: free on-street parking in side streets around park (availability - hit or miss) Public Transport Various busses stop around the park (check online for up to date info) Queen's Park Train Station is 0.1 mile from the park.  Mount Florida, Crossmyloof and Pollockshields West Train Stations are 0.4 miles from the park.  Maps I normally draw these, but due to the complexity of the park I put this off for literally months after I finished writing this blog post. In this interests of actually getting it published I am abandoning the drawing plan and giving links instead. It is a city park and has exc...