Lauder - Hog Hill and surrounding valleys

This walk takes you onto the edge of the Lammermuir Hills which form the northern edge of the Southern Uplands before they drop into the East Lothian coastal plain. Although relatively low in comparison to some Scottish mountains they still offer a remote landscape that is deeply carved with burn gullies whilst the tops are a patchwork of browns, purples and greens. These hills were formed initially as a desert approximately 390 million years ago, then thanks to continental drift and plate tectonics gradually moved north and upwards. The great Ice Ages scoured the landscape and then melt waters help carve many of the valleys that we see today.

Man has left his mark on the landscape for many thousand years with burial mounds and cairns, stone circles and standing stones being some of the older markers of their passing. Then came the trading routes and later forts and larger settlements, some of which became the towns and villages that we see today, others to disappear into nothing but a few stony mounds dotted around fields. Immediately to the south of Hog Hill is Addinston Iron Age Fort, the ramparts of this are still 4.5 m high in many places.

The first part the walk through the valley of the Kelphope Burn is part of an old trade route where wool was sent north to be traded with grain from the verdant fields of Lothian. Close to the summit of Hog Hill are remains of enclosures and a homestead that were next to another trade route, possibly older than the Kelphope Burn route, both routes join close to an Iron age fort on Tollis Hill. These form part of a series of such fortifications along the Lammermuir ridge, reflecting the importance of the area thousands of years ago.

The views from the top of Hog Hill may not be as spectacular as some higher peaks, but there are still extensive views to the south over Lauder towards Galashiels and Melrose. It was the Abbeys of these towns and others along the Borders that had great influence on the hills. They were granted ownership of the land and used it to raise sheep and in places pigs. There is one belief that the name Lammermuir is derived from this practice.

There is still a great deal of sheep reared on the slopes of these hills, the other main use is as grouse moors. This latter usage accounts from the strips of heather that can be found, areas need to be burnt each year to allow regeneration this creates succulent new shoots that the grouse eat.

This walk was created for The Camping and Caravanning Club