Dumgoyne

Is it a hill or is it a mountain? At 1,402ft, the sense of giddiness experienced on the summit may be more to do with the distillery in the glen below than the rarefied atmosphere.

Ten years after the act of 1823 made it viable to distil whisky legally, due to a reduction in duty, the Glengoyne distillery was established. Making good use of the Glengoyne Burn running down from the hill above, this centre of whisky production is said to give back to the surrounding hillside 2% of its product in evaporation each year. Known as the Angels' Share, this is equivalent to 100,000 bottles. As you reach the summit there is a magic in the air that makes you want to sing a few bars of 'I Belong to Glasgow'. But be careful, a heavenly chorus of giddy angels, wafting its way up from the glen, may accompany you.

Dumgoyne is 15 miles north of Glasgow, to the rear of the Glengoyne distillery, on the A81 Aberfoyle road, near the village of Killearn. Park your car beside the bonded warehouses, cross the main road and go left about 100yds. Take the private road up past the houses. This road, winding through delightful mixed forestry, soon joins the old drove road heading over to Killearn from Blanefield.

Where the roads meet, go through a metal gate and cross the open pasture, planted with hawthorn trees. After crossing a burn at the far end of the field, an obvious track leads to the summit through the crags and rocky outcrops that are a distinctive feature of the area. A hill with more attitude than altitude, Dumgoyne was a volcanic vent plug, with traces of the hard lava forming its core still evident on the summit.