Embedded Files
by Allan Ogg
This is just a bit of basic advice for anyone going walking outdoors in East Renfrewshire but it's probably appropriate for anywhere else in Scotland. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code will tell you what you can and can't do so this is just my tuppence worth on top.
Most of it is common sense given our climate, our "taps-oan/taps-aff" attitude, the occasional mad sheep and nosey coos.
The Area
The Area
Neilston is roughly 140m/460ft above sea level and surrounded by mostly farmland, open moorland or wooded hillsides. It has a history with the textile industry, dating back to the 1700s, which brought in a fair number of people to work in the local mills.
The highest point in the area is Neilston Pad at about 261m/856ft above sea level. There are no Munros, Marilyns, Grahams, Corbetts or Donalds to climb around here but a couple of our hills are steep enough to get you wheezing.
Neilston Pad is what's called a Tump, a not-very attractive name for a small rounded hill that is separated from adjacent tops by a height difference of at least 30 metres on all sides.
Neilston Pad
The Basics
The Basics
This is Scotland, so wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the weather conditions, which can change very quickly Summer or Winter.
I prefer walking boots but a decent pair of trainers will do if you're walking on paved roads or footpaths.
Take a waterproof top with you. If there's changeable weather around, especially coming from the South-West, then rainstorms often sweep down the Levern Valley. They may not last long but your discomfort will.
If you're wearing shorts and walking through bracken or long grass, then see the Pests section below.
Take enough food and fluid with you for your walk. Yes, you can forage raspberries and blackberries in season, even apples and damsons if you know where to look, but I wouldn't recommend drinking from any of the waterways in the area.
Take a well-charged, GPS-enabled smart phone with you, preferably one with a compass or compass app. I also usually take a charged power pack, just in case.
You can use a decent mobile phone to:
track your walk
follow turn-by-turn directions
locate yourself on a map (if lost...it happens)
put names to the surrounding landscape
identify birds, plants and animals (passive or aggressive)
take photographs (even selfies, sadly)
shoot videos (even sadder)
call emergency services
If you don't have a decent smart phone, then at least take a map and compass with you. There are no great wastes around here but, if you're on the braes or moors and the weather comes in, then it's easy to get disoriented. There's a good guide to using a map and compass here.
If you do have a GPS-enabled smart phone, then here are some useful apps to have:
Google Maps - can locate you and give you turn-by-turn directions for walking, cycling, driving and public transport.
Organic Maps - as Google Maps but can also work offline.
what3words - can locate you and provide an easy-to-share three word reference that's supported by the emergency services.
First Aid - a first aid app by the British Red Cross.
Pests
Pests
Midgies - This is the West coast of Scotland, a land known for being ravaged by the Highland Midge (Culicoides impunctatus), a very small biting midge that, while not really dangerous on its own, can be seriously annoying when thousands of their women think you'll do for dinner.
Midgies don't like usually direct sunlight and are at their worst at dawn and dusk. You might find it useful to apply some repellent in midgie season, between May and September, and you can check how bad the infestation might be in the area on The Scottish Midge Forecast. You can also buy some really unflattering protective garments (my partner does her gardening in a sort of net jacket and hat in the Summer). For more info on midgies and how to combat the wee feckers, see here and here.
Clegs - Midgies might have the advantage in numbers but clegs (horse-flies or deer flies) fly silently, use stealth and are simply malicious (females again). Their bite is much more painful and can easily get infected if you scratch them.
Given that some of the routes around here pass fields with livestock and horses in them, they can be a real nuisance in Summer. My usual tactic with them nowadays, if spotted before they bite, is to stop walking, let them land and then immediately smack them. For more info on clegs see here, and here.
Ticks - The local terrain might play host to sheep and deer ticks and, given the possibility of contracting Lyme Disease from a bite, it's well worth taking them seriously. I've never seen any but you never know. Again, it's the females that will bite.
Insect repellent might help but general advice is to keep bare skin to a minimum when walking though long grass or thick foliage. Packing a flamethrower is not generally advised and kind of defeats the object of having a leisurely stroll in the countryside. For more info on ticks and how to deal with them, see here, here, and here.
Women - Just kidding...no, seriously, with all of the above pests, it's the females you'll be attacked by as those need a blood meal to reproduce. So, midgies will try to overpower you with numbers (it's not the "Lynx Effect"), clegs are the stalkers and ticks are the ones you pick up unknowingly.
Livestock
Livestock
There are plenty of fields around here that have sheep, cattle and horses in them and there are highland cattle roaming freely on the Moyne Moor. You might even come across the odd one that's got out onto the road or path. We've often seen sheep wandering along the edge of a field or cows out for a stroll on the road. They'll usually find their way back in by themselves so we tend to ignore them unless they're in distress.
You might also come across livestock while wandering through a field or on the moorland. Sheep usually avoid you, although we were once pestered by a sheep that thought our sandwiches were in fact, hers (that was up near Bridge of Orchy so maybe those sheep are just "harder"). Cows and horses are often inquisitive and will come over for a nose. In one's or two's that's usually safe enough but a herd of cattle can be really dangerous if spooked or if they feel threatened.
Here are some do's and don'ts when encountering livestock:
don't feed the animals
don't try to pat them - horses can be bitey beggars
don't get between a mother and it's calf, lamb or foal
do avoid bulls and definitely don't get between a bull and his ladies
do keep dogs on a lead as farmers are allowed to shoot dogs worrying their animals - more info on that here
don't discard dog-poo bags over hedges - livestock might try to eat them and can choke on the bags
do close gates if you have to open them to pass through
Wildlife
Wildlife
There's a fair amount of wildlife around here and they basically just want to be left to get on with the business of feeding and breeding and most will usually avoid you as you clump and clatter your way through the landscape.
We've got most UK wild mammals like deer, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, stoats and weasels around here. There are lots of birds and plenty of colourful, non-pesty insects like butterflies, bees and moths as well. I'll be adding an article on how to identify the wildlife you might encounter.
Feel free to take photographs but don't disturb the denizens if you can avoid it - there can be severe penalties for what is considered "wildlife crime".
A History of the Parish of Neilston by David Pride has a pretty comprehensive, if a bit old, list of the local wildlife you might chance upon and there's an online, searchable version of the relevant section here:
Leave Only Bootprints
Leave Only Bootprints
While there's plenty of advice around on the benefits of going barefoot in the countryside, I wouldn't recommend it. Apart from the risks of stepping in cowpats, the horses, sheep, rabbits and deer leave their wee presents all over the place as well - the outdoors is nature's toilet.
There's also a very slight risk of treading on an adder, our only venomous reptile. They're known to be present at Whitelee Wind farm and that's not that far away. We've also seen leeches in the ponds so, while the thought of cooling your feet off in the water might sound appealing on a hot day, I'd avoid doing it in still water.
Nettles are also common here but nothing that wearers of decent footwear should be fearful of. Wearing shorts also exposes you to possible discomfort in nettle-thick areas but if you have boots on, then you can at least push them out of your way.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse