Braid Burn

For a short walk this afternoon down Blackford Glen Road for a breath of fresh air I wore wellington boots, expecting mud and puddles. These proving unnecessary I took this photo while standing in the Braid Burn looking towards the stone bridge at the start of the path after the Council Depot.. Behind me is the bridge leading to the Howe Dean Path, which runs up to the Braid Hills Drive.

Extra collage, Right, a view of the four deer in the fields to the south; Left top, a friendly robin who posed nicely; Left bottom, Agassiz rock, an important local landmark. At one time it bore a plaque stating "In 1840 Louis Agassiz Swiss Geologist stated that this rock was polished and grooved by ice during the great ice age." The Edinburgh Geological Society reports that As an example of ice action in smoothing, striating and (in this case) undercutting the crag, Agassiz Rock is a good example, clear and interesting... What makes the Blackford Quarry rock face so important and significant is that it marks the first recognition in the world of the reality of former ice sheets where now there is no ice.  Unfortunately the scratches and plaque are both long gone but the exposed rock remains as a reminder of the breakthrough to geological understanding that it represents.

We continued into the Hermitage of Braid, turning round after a few hundred yards after the track up to Midmar, to saunter back.