The Taking of Knock Moss 1 to 8

Geograph Blog ::

The Taking of Knock Moss 1 to 8

This picture of Knock Moss was taken in the last grid square at the end of a 7 hour walk to bag a total of 8 grid squares around Knock Moss and bash the NX25 hectad.

A plan (kept secret of course from fellow bashers) to capture NX25 Link started in September 2010 with the bagging of:

Black Cairn in NX4252 Link - A 2km MTB ride and walk uphill from the A747 on the coast at Auchenmalg past Gillespie Farm to the top of Black Cairn at 93 metres.

Then in January 2011, The Shore near Castle Sinniness in NX2052 Link - A bit of a tricky walk along the Stairhaven to Auchenmalg Coastal Path and a climb down a 50m cliff to get to the shoreline ... all because ... the shore couldn't be accessed even at low tide without getting seriously wet.

Which then left eight firsts remaining to complete the hectad. So ... fearful of the advancing Geographers desperate to find some green squares in South West Scotland, the whole trip was done in one day.

The start point was Annabaglish Farm in NX2958 Link.

No 1 - Barsoles in NX2857 Link

No 2 - Annabaglish Moss in NX2856 Link

No 3 - Cairn on the Moor in NX2756 Link

No 4 - Dirnean Fell in NX2457 Link

No 5 - Cairn on Dirnean Fell in NX2557 Link

No 6 - Knock Moss in NX2657 Link

No 7 - Derskelpin Moss in NX2758 Link

No 8 - Knock Moss in NX2757 Link

finishing again at Annabaglish Farm eight hours later

The journey to get from the first to the eighth grid square for firsts took just over six hours, walking a more or less circular route around Knock Moss crossing over moors and hills and snapping several additional grids on the way. Heavy overnight rain made the walking difficult and treacherous at times with small burns in full spate.

My two walking partners and I crossed dozens of flooded burns and creeks, tore clothing on barbed fences and fell into a couple of burns for good measure (although I think it was the same one, Lannygore Burn, twice!). Not so much moor walking as bog trotting. The name Annabaglish, which was one of the forests we walked around, means "the path across the bog" and we now understand why.

It was a long hard slog to get around the eight grid squares but we did it and left the moors in the dark with happy faces, knowing that we had bashed the NX25 hectad Link which has taken five and a half years to Geograph fully.

Credit for this achievement also goes to Brian and Billy, two experienced mountain climbers and hill walkers who accompanied me on this bog trot across the moors, without whom the trip would have been very lonely, I'd probably of got lost and I'd still be out there now!