An old ford

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 1 Sep 2017

The view is from just a few metres uphill (north) of the track that is shown in Image The burn itself is marked on the 1:25000 map. It is not clear at first sight, nor from current mapping, why these remains are present, but a track used to cross the burn here: the track was present when the first-edition OS map was surveyed in 1860, and it was still in existence just before the Second World War. Its course can still be picked out easily in satellite imagery, but less so from the ground, and it is clear that it fell into disuse decades ago. In any case, the "lip" over which the burn flows at the centre of this picture seems to be the near side of a ford where the track crossed the burn. No ford is marked here on maps of any era, but the interpretation seems reasonable. For views directly across the old ford in both directions, see Image and Image As those pictures confirm, the course of the old track is no longer obvious when seen from the ground. It is not clear what the bits of concrete in the foreground of the present picture were used for: if they are originally from here, and they were not simply dumped at this spot (as noted above, the view is from just off a well-used track), then perhaps they were employed to make a wider crossing at the site of the ford, presumably for the benefit of forestry workers or others who needed to drive vehicles there. There is Image about 20 metres to the SSE of this point, just to the south of the old track. It merely contains some metal covers, and it is unlikely to be related to the track.

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