brockhillstone

Out on a walk with Joanna this afternoon, and we made a wee detour to visit this huge boulder which is known locally as the site of Covenanters' meetings in the 17th century.

Joanna, who studied geography at school for longer than I did, knew that it was an erratic left behind by the glaciers which covered this area in the last Ice Age. There are also other signs of glaciation in the field - drumlins and moraine heaps.  In 1925, when sand and gravel were being dug from one of these moraine heaps, a Bronze Age axe head was discovered which is now in the Museum of Scotland.

You would expect from the name of this place (Brockhillstone) that there would be badgers living nearby and there probably are - sadly we discovered one lying dead not far from here. It looked to have been shot and dumped by the side of the road :-(

People are mistaken if they think there is no violence in the countryside - in this small area today there was ample evidence of it in the past and present - but today in the circle of 6 oak trees, it was peaceful enough and we enjoyed a lovely walk (4 miles).