Norman's Law (285m), Fife, Scotland
There's something particularly rewarding about finding a walk which only takes a couple of hours or so, yet enables you to reach an impressive hilltop. There are several of these in Northern Fife, including the Lomond Hills. Norman's Law is lower, less than 1000 ft high, but it makes a rewarding hillwalk.
Maggie and I had a few hours clear one Sunday in May, and the weather was bright and sunny. We seized the opportunity and headed over the Tay Bridge to Fife. A couple of weeks earlier we'd climbed Lucklaw Hill above Balmullo. I'd checked the handy little Hallewell walks booklet and we decided this time to aim for Norman's Law, just a few miles further west.
Like several other medium-sized hills in this area of eastern Scotland it was once a hillfort, with the remnants of the old earthen ramparts still visible. A couple of thousand years ago these must have been both places of refuge and defence, and also a rapid communications network to pass on warnings of enemy threats. Maybe they were used in the Dark Ages to warn of Viking boats sailing into the Firth of Tay.
The neat village of Luthrie is signposted from the A92 and lies just half a mile to the north. We parked beside the village hall and sat on a bench beside the little park to enjoy a cup of tea before setting out on the walk.
Then we walked down past the park, across the village road and onto a farm road past Lower Luthrie Farm. A small waymarking sign on a lamp post indicates the turning. The farm road stretched out to the west with pastureland on either side, becoming an avenue between lines of trees. After about 500 metres we reached a junction and turned right up an unsurfaced roadway which started climbing towards a cottage where it bent left, continuing gradually uphill with woodland on the right cloaking the slope of Emily Hill. The view began to open up on the left across the valley.
The spring colours were superb - not just the bluebells. Trees were covered with cherry blossom and there were banks of gorse shining gold in the sunshine.
We reached another junction just after passing a lone tower standing in the field on the left - maybe a doocot which would once have been a source of pigeon eggs and meat. Another farm cottage stood at the junction, and we worked out that we had to turn up to the right here to reach a gateway and then going through that onto the hillside. The track was rougher now and muddy in places, but it was easy enough to walk up. There were a couple of woody knolls and a lower lying area to the right.
We couldn't see the main hilltop yet, but then we climbed up to the top of a rise with a big old beech tree beside the path. From here we could see Norman's Law ahead, a bit to the right. It had been hidden behind a lower ridge, and it looked quite impressive. There was still a bit of climbing to be done!
First we had to find which way to go. The path wasn't clear, with a young forest plantation behind a fence, just beyond some uneven heathland. We should have gone to the right of this (we realised on the way back), through the gap with the stony ridge to the right, but instead we thought we should go down to the left side of the plantation. There was a stone dyke at the bottom and a small burn to cross, and then a climb up across rough sheep pasture until we reached a gate through the fence which skirted the slope of the hill.
From there it was a fairly steady climb up the hillside, and we became quite warm in the sunshine. The ground was uneven in places, grassy with some gorse bushes. Then we reached the final steeper bit, crossing a few rocks and the ancient fortifications, and climbed onto the summit with its cairn, trig point and view indicator. The view was splendid, over the Tay Estuary towards Dundee and Angus. We only had a light snack with us, but it would have been a perfect place to have lunch.
Nevertheless, we spent a little while taking it in the view before setting off down again.
The Hallewell guide offers an alternative route off the west side of the hilltop, turning right along the dyke which runs along the northern side of the hill, then through a gap and a small gate, down a field and vehicle track, to the public road. If you turn right here it leads back to Luthrie, although the route sounds a bit difficult to follow.
We had already climbed up by using an "alternative route" up the southern flank and had to find the recommended route down. From the top it was clear enough: an attractive track leading east down the ridge of the hill. It was quite tricky in places to negotiate, so our route hadn't been a bad choice.
There were a few other people now coming up the hill, in twos and threes.
The track brought us down to level ground crossed by a fence. We went through a gate and then veered right, through the gap with the stony ridge to the left. I decided to try a bit more scrambling and climbed up onto the ridge, over various nobbly bits, but it was easy enough. The descent down the far end was a bit trickier, so if you're unsure you're best to stick to the lower track as Maggie did. We met up again on the area of marshy ground, crossing this towards the big old beech tree. The track wasn't at all clear here, so it wasn't surprising we had missed it on the way up.
From the beech tree we retraced our steps down the track, still in warm sunshine.
It had been a lovely spring walk. I stopped for a few more photos, capturing the carpet of bluebells beneath the trees on the side of Emily Hill, and the new leaves on the branches overhead. Back at the village car park we still had some hot water in the flask and enjoyed another hot drink before driving back to Dundee.
Contributed by Andrew Llanwarne
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