When driving home from work, on days when I don’t pick up my daughters, I come down the dual carriageway that runs through Livingston. On a spring or summers afternoon, or indeed any clear one, you get a good expansive view of this side of the Pentlands and the land before it. It’s often remarkable to me how much of it there is, how green it is, and also how difficult it is for me to pinpoint where anything is. Surely I know these woods, fields and hills. And ok, I only really have a few seconds to take it all in as I am concentrating on driving, but it is one of my favourite parts of the journey.
What I must be looking at is the western end of Selm Muir, out across the fields where the clay pigeon road ends and eventually reaches the waterfalls. There is no stopping point really on this road for a proper view, it would be too dangerous, but I often see it with the need to explore it more. It is also striking how high up it is and the road into Livi really does go into the Almond ‘Valley’ most evidently here. Probably the reason why nana’s front door is an absolute sun trap and ours a total wind tunnel. It’s all a question of elevation, and more than a touch of nature where you might not think to look.