Geograph - photograph every grid square

The area ahead is known as the Squirrel Wood, though that name does not appear on OS maps. The path is signposted as a "Public Footpath to B821 at Braehead". It branches off at this point from the Boards Farm Road, or Gowk Stane Road – Link – now part of the John Muir Way.

See NS5479 : Leaving the Squirrel Wood for a view of the fence and stile from the other side.

For some views from further along the public footpath, see NS5479 : Paths in the Squirrel Wood, taken about halfway through the woods, and NS5479 : The end of a path and NS5479 : The start of a path, which show the point where it ends, at the B821.

Large-scale OS mapping shows that the Squirrel Wood contains several named crags; one of them, the NS5479 : Pillar Craig, was described by J G Smith as follows: "the south side of the strath has also its rocky cliffs and wooded terraces and fine basaltic columns, particularly at the Pillar Craig on the Craigallian estate" ["Parish of Strathblane" (1886), page 3].

Outcrops I had passed just a few minutes earlier on this walk had much the same appearance: NS5479 : Igneous outcrops beside forestry track and NS5478 : Forestry track.

Other examples can be found in the Squirrel Wood itself: by far the most impressive is the already-mentioned NS5479 : Pillar Craig, but it is located some way off the public footpath. Two more modest examples can be seen near the footpath: NS5479 : Craigbrock and NS5479 : Cat Craig.

See also NS5479 : Path through the Squirrel Wood, from a little further ahead.

The writer J G Smith, quoted above, links place-names in this area with events in a battle that took place in 750 (the Battle of Mocetauc / Catohic, often called "the Battle Of Mugdock", though its actual location is uncertain); see NS5479 : Cat Craig for more on that topic.