Field Visit
Date 23 June 2005
Event ID 694719
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/694719
NT26SW 135 228 642 (centred)
The Castlelaw and Dreghorn Training Area (CDTA) is situated at the NE end of the Pentland Hills, its southern end on the OS 1:10,000 mapsheet NT26SW and northern end on NT26NW (see NT26NW 464). The southern part comprises Castlelaw Hill (488m OD), the southern flank of Woodhouselee Hill, and an area on the lower slope made up of a patchwork of rough pasture, arable fields and small areas of woodland running down to Glencorse Burn and Reservoir. The area has been used for military training since about the First World War, and an RAF vertical aerial photograph taken in 1947 (CPE/Scot/UK281, 5322) shows the Castlelaw Rifle Ranges (NT26SW 65) before they were rebuilt in the early 1980s. An extensive system of practice-trenches can also be seen, mainly on Castle Knowe (NT26SW 117), and extending in small patches of pasture and woodland across the lower slopes of both Castlelaw Hill and Woodhouselee Hill. Other features of military origin include a number of platforms, stances and structures (CDTA05 17, 105, 67), and numerous shell- and mortar-craters. Hundreds of locations are visible where the turf has been removed to create shallow fox-holes or bivouacs. These can be found throughout the training area, but they are most common in woodland on the lower ground, some being dug as recently as within the past year.
(CDTA05 17, 105, 67)
Visited by RCAHMS (AGCH) 23 June 2005
