Biggar Ramblers had a challenging snowy day for a recent walk up to Hammerhead and Trahenna. The road up to the walkers’ car park at Broughton Place was iced so the group started from the Village Hall car park and enjoyed the snowy beech avenue on the way up. Since RDS had started work on the Broughton Hope forestry project in September, the plan was to follow the usual route up to the ridge and along to Trahenna and Hammerhead, making use of the new fencing and gates. However, in the event, the cloud was so low that there was no point in venturing out onto Trahenna for the additional ascent (549m) and views!

 As the group continued along the ridge to the small quarry just below Hammerhead cairn for a brief coffee stop, the cloud lifted and the views of the valleys on each side of the ridge unfolded dramatically. After taking some hasty photos at the Hammerhead cairn (513m), the group set off to make the sharp descent, taking advantage of the heather at the side of the snowy path for extra grip. On the descent the planting preparations were clearly seen, both in rows extending from the side of the path and on the slopes facing us. One member of the group enjoyed making a rolling snowball on the way down. It increased to such a size that it took two folk to manhandle it to the edge of the burn at the bottom! The group then joined the John Buchan Way to head back to the Village Hall and well-deserved warm cars for the journey home.  The pleasure of this walk does not pale, whether in summer in tee shirts or in thick thermals in winter.