It was New Years Day so the first hill for 2020 was the Tump, Brownside Hill in the old county of Banffshire, now incorporated into Aberdeenshire. The walk commenced from the B9121, north-west of Turriff, and entailed walking along farm and forest tracks before entering the fir trees, crossing some brash as the fir trees had been thinned, to reach what appeared to be the highest point.
The second hill of the day was Hill of Newton, also a Tump, located on the opposite side of the B9121 and north-east of Brownside Hill. There didn’t appear to be anywhere suitable to park at the side of the B9121 so I drove round to the minor road to the east of Hill of Newton and parked at a field entrance. The ascent involved walking across a stubble field then one of grass before passing through a small wood over a barbed wire fence and into another grassy field to reach what appeared to be the highest point.
Hill of Alvah, south-west of Banff, was next on the agenda for New Years Day. I started from the minor road to the south of this Tump and crossed a couple of grassy fields to reach its high point which appeared to beside a security fence enclosing a communications tower.
The next hill climbed was Gallow Hill on the westerly outskirts of Banff. I parked on the minor road to the west of this Tump, crossed a couple of stubble fields to locate the trig point amongst piles of garden rubbish which were higher than the trig point but were man made so didn’t count in ascertaining the highest point.
Montcoffer Hill, located south of Banff, was my next Tump. I parked at the side of the minor road east of Mains of Montcoffer Farm and attempted an approach through a quarry but gorse bushes and an electric fence prevented progress. I therefore used minor roads and a vehicle track to gain access to a grassy field and the birch wood where the summit was located. Visited a couple of high points amongst gorse bushes as I couldn’t tell which was highest. From there I headed south, crossed some fences and walked along a track to Montcoffer Farm then the minor road to the starting point.
The final hill of the day was Comfort Law, south of Macduff, approached from the minor road to the east. An attempt was made to gain access through the reservoir but a complicated series of barbed wires prevented this so I walked round the reservoir and approached from the north. A grassy bump within a field was the high point.
- Total time taken – 3.25 hours.
- Total distance – 10.5 kilometres.
- Total height climbed – 275 metres.