Encyclopedia:
Pentland Hills,
Talk:Pentland Hills
Pentland Hills is a range of hills to the south west of
Edinburgh,
Scotland. The range is around 20 miles in length, and runs south west from Edinburgh towards
Biggar and the upper
Clyde Valley.
Some of the peaks include:
* Scald Law (579 m)
* Carnethy Hill (573 m)
* West Cairn Hill (562 m)
* East Cairn Hill (561 m)
* Byrehope Mount (536 m)
* Allermuir Hill (493 m)
The hills span a number of council regions: from
City of Edinburgh and
Midlothian in the north, south-west through
West Lothian to
Scottish Borders and
South Lanarkshire.
Pentland Hills Regional Park was designated in 1984, it covers an area of 90 km² at the northern end of the hills. The Park, together with the rest of the hills, are used for a variety of recreations including
hillwalking,
mountain biking,
horse riding, and skiing at the artificial ski slope at Hillend.
Today most of the land is upland pasture, along with a few forestry plantations. The
Ministry of Defence have a rifle range at Castlelaw. Much of Edinburgh's water supply is from
reservoirs in the hills, including Threipmuir, Harlaw, Clubbiedean, Torduff, Glencorse and Loganlea. A number of rivers begin in the hills, including the
Water of Leith and the
North Esk.
In the southern part of the hills is
Little Sparta, the garden of the late artist and poet
Ian Hamilton Finlay. Scottish
electronic music duo
Boards of Canada are known to reside in the Pentland Hills, a few miles from
The hills were the scene of an incident in 1666 following the
Restoration of
King Charles II when an outbreak of armed rebellion amongst
Covenanters led to a small force of badly armed conventiclers being defeated at the "battle of Rullion Green", after which the whole tragic episode was (incorrectly) named the Pentland Rising.
External links
*
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/phrp/ Pentland Hills Regional Park*
http://www.pentlandfriends.plus.com/ Friends of the PentlandsCategory:Hills in EdinburghCategory:MidlothianCategory:West LothianCategory:Mountains and hills of the Scottish BordersCategory:South Lanarkshire