by 
Climbing West Kip and East Kip
Today I will tell you about a wonderful walk in one of the most beautiful corners of Midlothian – the Pentland Hills or rather, West Keep and East Keep.
Having reached a place called Silverburn, I see a path called Hopelands Road, so I decide to follow it. Silverburn is a small village near Penicuik, in Midlothian, south-east Scotland. It has a small community centre with a garden and was featured in the BBC television program The Beechgrove Garden in June 2008. It has a population of just over 60 people and is approximately 8 miles south of Edinburgh.
Look at the interesting village flavor around!
An archaic settlement, the air is saturated with medieval antiquity and evokes associations with crusading knights and ancient kings. It would seem that here lies a beautiful asphalt road – a symbol of modernity and urbanization, but the low-rise buildings standing on the side of the road eloquently hint at antiquity and originality and become the main emotional backdrop for Silverburn.
When you step off the asphalt road onto the dirt path, the feeling of the resurrected past intensifies: I wonder if all the buildings here are so mmm… vintage? How carefully you need to treat your architectural heritage so that it continues to please the eye even a hundred, two hundred and five hundred years later! However, the squat hedges on the right and left are also “greetings” from the time of King Arthur.
I catch myself thinking that this sleepy area is greatly enlivened by sheep grazing on the low hills. They are as leisurely as the rare passers-by.
I move on having thoroughly admired the landscape, which is rather sparse in vegetation. The path becomes a little rockier and the white sheep are replaced by many flowering bushes – as round as the lambs.
By the way, does anyone know why these sticks are stuck into the fence on the left and right? Some strange picket fence. Share your guesses!
So here is the unexpected end to my short journey – a legally insurmountable obstacle in the form of a gate rises suddenly.
I didn’t know that this path would lead me to a dead end. When I approach the gate, I see a lock hanging on the gate. Well, naturally I go back to the main road with great disappointment.
After looking at the map I discover another path which is located about three hundred metres from Silverburn, in a settlement called Eight Mile Burn. And I walk along this path to the long-awaited West Kip and East Kip.
Walk in the foothills
I turn the corner and immediately, instead of fences, I see columns that are incomprehensible to me. It’s probably the custom here to install a stockade along dirt paths. Boy, I’m fascinated by these Gothic signs, there are a lot of them, but the style is equally old-fashioned: for some reason they remind me of the cartoon “The Bremen Town Musicians”. Do you think the road signs were also installed hundreds of years ago and have been maintained in good condition all this time? Personally, I am inclined to believe that they are not deliberately aged props, but real relics of bygone eras.
The forced march along the dusty road in dry weather does not bring any new impressions. There are no sheep, it is deserted, the vegetation is boring and the hills are lifeless. Don’t you think that the surreal landscape is very similar to the deserted estate from Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”? I do.
Eastside Cottages
Phew, the picture has changed! I’ve been warned that I’m trespassing onto crazy sheep territory. There are, of course, not that many of them here, but there are no signs of madness. Although they are more focused, perhaps. Maybe you’re just not in the mood today?
To the strange white sheep are added horses in very outdated blankets, as if from knightly tournaments. And the silhouettes of residential buildings finally loom nearby.
And so, I’m getting closer and closer to a place called Eastside Cottages. These are unique holiday cottages. Originally, as I know from the description on the Internet, these were hay barns. And now they have been turned into a unique place for tourists. The cottages are located in the rolling hills of Scotland’s Pentland Hills in the centre of Eastside Farm, a working sheep farm. They have been lovingly converted from an original 18th century manor house and are surrounded by rolling hills. Here you will find some of the best places to walk. These cottages can accommodate two to four people.
So friends, a terrible curiosity immediately rises within me: what is there behind the lattice windows and thick walls of wild stone? The same authentic interior in the spirit of medieval Scotland? Or a modern setting with the benefits of civilization like widescreen television, laminate flooring and a jacuzzi?
I am inclined to the first option: this tiled roof with islands of moss, the windows typical of 18th-century buildings and the entire courtyard as a whole look very convincing. The perfectly preserved manor has not lost the charm of bygone times and really breathes with sweet, kind, old Scotland!
Well, after enjoying the views of cottages, you can climb the mountain. Oh, this will not be an easy task.
Climbing East and West Kip
Having completed half the route, you can relax a little and enjoy the magnificent Scottish landscapes.
I’ll share my feelings: you can’t get them in absentia by looking at a beautiful picture. You really need to see this with your own eyes, inhaling the spicy air and listening to the noise of the wind which subsides and then intensifies.
At first it literally takes my breath away. Well, this is when you suddenly take your breath away from a sudden surge of emotions. I’m sure you would experience the same excitement at the beauty, wildness and incredible scale of the spectacle which unfolds here.
If you are at least a little romantic and have not forgotten how to dream, come here and give free rein to your imagination: it will receive such abundant food that you will dream about this piece of Scotland for many more nights.
I confess that there is a stunning grandeur in this almost completely inhuman nature. Even some kind of primitive awe before the obviously miraculous power of the earth, hills and rugged terrain. What great fellows are those who are responsible for the preservation of this primitiveness and do not allow urbanization to take over and depersonalize such an aesthetic piece of the country.
It even seemed to me that I was in a place of real shamanic power, well, really: the goosebump-inducing biocurrents of the hilly expanse were very clear, they electrified the air and made me breathe rapidly and deeply.
In general, my little rebirth and big reboot took place.
And now you can prepare to go down. Yes, I think this task will not be easy.
But I’m already physically and mentally ready! So, a breeze in my hair, a more confident step and wide-open eyes – this is my state. And a slight sadness in my heart that I have to leave here. How lucky are those who can afford to admire such fantastic views every day! And life here must be like an ongoing fairy tale.
Please do not blame me for being too sentimental. The atmosphere of the area and its energy simply take over and transfer consciousness to perception in the heart, not the mind.
With great regret, but eagerly, I peer into everything that comes my way. I hope that visual memory will retain at least something better than a video camera: I really want the pictures from my little trip to remain in my head for as long as possible.
Well, I’m already downstairs. Now back towards the cottages. When I look at this mountain from below, it takes my breath away.
But I did it, and I’m very proud of myself. As the hero said, I don’t remember which film, “we are in admiration.” Yeah, there’s nothing to add.
So, my adventures have come to an end. I am sure that I was at least 10% able to convey the entire indescribable gamut of pleasure that rolls in here like a ten force storm on a dilapidated boat.
