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From the village square take the Glen Road (opposite the
village hall) marked on the map in yellow, up onto the open moor beyond the
cattle grid. Carry on along the road till the signs for the Wildcat Trail at
Milton are reached. On the left are two plinths showing on one, the skyline of
the Glen, and on the other information on the old Milton township that was a
settlement used in the early 19th century. The road crosses two more cattle
grids reaching a parking area where the upper glen opens out and the first of
the Calder tributaries, Allt a’ Chaorainn (Allt a’ Chaorainn
-- the burn of the rowan tree) passes under the bridge known locally as
Shepherds Bridge or Dalchurn Bridge. Looking to the north along the line of the
burn you can see a conical summit, Sidhean Mor Dail a’ Chaorainn (Sithean Mor Dail
a’ Chaorainn --
the big fairy hill of the meadow of the rowan tree) which is called locally
"Johnny Blair’s Garden". Johnny Blair was a local man who made a
garden with trees, flowers and vegetables on the top of the hill to prove that
crops could grow even on such an unpromising site. Its unusual profile is due to
its use in prehistoric times as a double palisaded enclosure. If you wish to
make your way up to it cross the Shepherds Bridge and, going through the fence,
follow the burn to the base of the hill. It is a steep but easy climb. On the
summit you can make out the line of the wooden fortifications by the depressions
on the ground where the timbers have rotted. During recent archaeological
exploration the remains of burnt wood have been found in the sheep scrapes round
the top of the mound. Return to the village by the same route.
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