Blawhorn Moss

Not being one to pore over detailed maps before heading out I assumed that the three turbines at Drumduff were part of the larger development at Burnhead, just North of here. The small windfarm is situated on the site of a former opencast coal mine. It has all been tidied up pretty well but the landscape still betrays its past, and is quite spellbinding in an industrial way. On the whole I'm all in favour of windfarms, though if several were proposed in my immediate vicinity I would probably be as hypocritical as most people! Here it seems to add to the surroundings. I always think it helps if they exist amongst what would be interesting enough surroundings anyway; it's when they are located in relatively featureless areas that they are at their bleakest. It is getting increasingly difficult to find accurate information for free online about a particular windfarm - a lot of independent data sites now require a subscription. From what I can gather though, the height of the turbines to blade tip is around 120 metres and their combined power generation comes in at somewhere between 6 and 8.55MW. The electricity reaches the grid via a big substation at Avonbridge three or four miles away. As usual with windfarms the ownership is a bit complicated. A company called Green Power, based in Alloa, owns a company called Green Breeze Energy which owns and manages this windfarm only. The bank Santander seems to be involved behind the scenes, though, making up the majority of the board at present.

This farm was in use - or at the very least a farm was in use at this spot - for either about 200 years, or 400 years plus. The confusion arises because maps from around 1800 up until the first OS map surveyed in the 1850s refer to this place as Easter Burnhead (the layout of the buildings is pretty much the same now as on that first OS map), no doubt to differentiate it from the nearby Wester Burnhead which these maps also show. All subsequent maps, and most pertinently those before 1800, only show a Burnhead though. So it is certainly possible that Wester Burnhead was the original Burnhead, and impossible to prove one way or the other due to the small scale of the early mapping. The original Burnhead pre-dates the oldest available online map of the area, which was drawn up around 1590. Apart from descriptions of both Wester and Easter Burnhead in the OS naming books which were compiled alongside their initial maps - a kind of gazetteer for every local area - I have found absolutely nothing about Burnhead online. Nor are there any pictures. While I understand the reasons why ruins like this are hardly ever afforded protected status, as opposed to, say, an unimpressive jumble of stones next to a small grassy mound believed to date from the early mediaeval period - principally there are numerous still-standing versions of the former about, along with a great deal of contemporary writing - I do think a few of these should be designated in every local area as they do greatly enhance the wonder of exploring the countryside.

This picture was taken from the pavement on the North side of the A89. The sole reason for taking it was that the dead tree to the left of the copse straight ahead looked like a deer's head with antlers from this viewpoint! The overhead lines running above the horizon are only visible in the parts of the sky that are clouded over, something I have never noticed before in pictures - the short section to the right of the dead tree looks very odd indeed.

Some of the thirteen turbines at wind farm which is located west of Armadale.

Some of the thirteen turbines at wind farm which is located west of Armadale.

Viewed on a bright but chilly late-December afternoon.

A pharmacy and a convenience store in the middle of Blackridge village.

The walkers were enjoying the chilly but bright winter weather.

Formerly the A8, this route is much quieter with most of the traffic now using the M8. A winter view taken in mid-December.

Now a farm, once a fortified house. See Canmore Link

View north.

On the track to Drumbeg.

Looking at old maps this would seem to have been the south-east corner of a boundary or march.

A fast flowing rivulet runs from Blawhorn Moss towards the Blackridge area.

Timber footbridge over rivulet on the edge of Blawhorn Moss.