I'D BETTER GET my prejudices out of the way at the start. I don't much care for guidebooks that give detailed directions but tell you next to nothing about the surroundings of the walk. Such books tell you in great detail how to walk, eg "From Ben Buck follow the faint path in a southerly direction, running parallel to the fence to reach another fence, at which point cross over the stile and turn left uphill for a distance of 400m to arrive at the summit of Ben Cleuch..." (page 48). I find such descriptions sterile compared with a map, and prefer to chart my own course. But Cicerone is a sizeable company with lots of guidebooks in print, so there must be a market out there. If I did want that kind of guidebook, how does this one square up?
First impressions count. It's compact and easily fits in a jacket pocket. It feels nice and is well illustrated with good pictures that really do give a sense of the quality of the hills and glens being described. The route of each walk is shown marked on a small extract of the relevant Ordnance Survey map. This is adequate to give a general idea, but the detail of the route description does not always match up with the line shown on the map (eg the lack of burn crossings on pages 51 and 81). There is a good range of walks - 20 for the Ochils - taking in all the main hills and "classic" routes but with some innovation as well. (This review does not consider the Campsies - nine walks - or the Lomonds - four walks.) So, a good first impression, despite the lack of an index.
The Introduction provides a general view of the localities covered and their flora and fauna. But why do publishers of guidebooks feel they have to include several pages on the practicalities of walking - what to wear, what to carry, what to eat before going on to the hill (yes, honestly)? It's a waste of six pages. A page-and-a-half on first-aid says nothing on heart attacks but spends half a page on the rarer events of hypothermia and heat exhaustion. The page on access is unbalanced. It rightly covers the need for hillwalkers to act responsibly, but while it mentions the access legislation, it doesn't say explicitly that the "tradition" of access is now a legal right. It still seems to regard access as a privilege: "It is respectful to ask permission to use the land if the landowner is met" (page 25).
How does the book read? It has to be said that the author does have a feel for the hills. "The broad moorland hills surrounding the Upper and Lower Glendevon reservoirs offers (sic) a sense of isolation and solitude unrivalled in the Ochils. The wide diversity of bird and plant life at the edges of the upper reservoir gives added appeal to this area of the range. The flat, featureless and often windswept tops, however, can also seem remote and very bleak." (page 89) Interestingly, Baker states that osprey can be seen at the upper reservoir (page 91). Unfortunately the writing is rarely allowed to break free from the restriction of a format that requires detailed description of how to walk from A to B.
There are a few obvious typographical errors - Wee Tory (sic) will never seem the same again! There are serious errors involving wrong compass directions on at least four occasions (pages 42, 44, 51 and 80). Baker refers to the Woodland Trust's work around Glen Devon but makes no mention that areas shown on the maps in the book as open hill are now tree-covered.
Despite his obvious enjoyment of the hills, the author seems detached from both their history and present realities. He mentions the stone shelter near the summit of Innerdownie, but tells us nothing of its history - it was built by the original dykers. He mentions nothing of the extensive history of Menstrie Glen.
In the descriptions of two walks in the Green Knowes area, he refers to communications masts when they are in fact anemometer masts; a common sight in the hills of Scotland and quite different in appearance to communications masts. He describes heading west from Steele's Knowe: "This section of the walk is perhaps the most pleasant, as despite being essentially featureless moorland, the complete absence of any visible roads or buildings for miles around contributes to a real sense of wilderness rarely bettered in the Ochils" (page 95). Ironically this is slap in the middle of the proposed Green Knowes wind power station - yet there is no mention of the threat of wind-turbine proliferation anywhere in the book.
Several times he refers to the sense of remoteness it is possible to find in the Ochils: "...the landscape here [Green Knowes] has a very appealing sense of remoteness and isolation" (page 93), and to the superb views: "...the dramatic views north [from Whitewisp] to the uneven skyline of the Highlands"(page 76), and "The benefit of climbing to the highest peak in the region is the unchallenged panoramic views afforded from its summit, perhaps the best in central Scotland" (page 59). Yet he is seemingly unaware that many of the places he lauds have been targeted by wind-power developers. Did he not know that when writing, or is it Cicerone's editorial policy not to be controversial?
The book is typical of its genre. If you like detailed route descriptions, it's a well-produced, well-written and useful book, though be careful with the compass directions. If you don't, then it's not for you. If you want to know about the landscape you are walking through, buy a book on local history; you won't find anything here beyond the general description given in the Introduction. What Baker does do well is to illustrate the importance of the qualities of the Ochils and why it's worth fighting to protect them: "...uniquely wild, challenging and beautiful walks literally on the doorstep of many towns and cities. Ironically, it is perhaps their proximity to these major areas of population which means that although they are some of the most accessible wild areas in the country, these hills remain a relatively uncrowded oasis for walkers" (page 9).
An oddity in the book comes in Patrick Baker's description of the ascent of Ben Cleuch via the Law - the main trade-route from Tillicoultry. On pp58-59, he describes walking through the Mill Glen to the little downslope leading to the bridge across the Gannel Burn. He rightly notes that this is a slightly awkward place, worthy of care on a wet or icy day. That's fine, but he then writes: "In approximately 25 minutes the summit of the Law is reached".
Hmm. Once a year or so, when the ground is sufficiently dry and my mood feels right, I have a go at beating my fastest time up Ben Cleuch by this route. Come the day, I take the minimum of gear - just a bumbag and a water-bottle - and wear my hill-running shoes rather than boots. But I don't run a single step: the idea is to walk the whole way. I most recently attempted this on 16 August: very dry underfoot, settled weather, muggy low down but the lightest of sweat-removing breezes high up.
Everything went well, and I surprised myself by trimming over two-and-a-half minutes off my best time. The route breaks down into four almost-equal splits: the Gannel Burn bridge, the halfway boulder on the Law, the Law cairn, and Ben Cleuch summit. My split times were: bridge 11 minutes 5 seconds; boulder 23m 56s; Law 35m 28s; Ben Cleuch 48m 24s. A competent hill runner would laugh at that, but in walking terms it was, if not quite eyeballs-out, then certainly on the strenuous side of brisk. And the time for the section from the bridge to the top of the Law was 24m 23s - almost exactly the 25 minutes Baker suggests in his guidebook.
The metric version of William Naismith's rule of thumb comes in handy here: 30 minutes for 300 metres of ascent, and 5km distance per hour. The bridge is at about 180m, the Law is 638m, and there's only one very tiny dip en route, so the whole thing can be counted as 460m, or 46 minutes by Naismith. Distance is a straight-line-ish 1.5km, or 18 minutes. So by Naismith's Rule - which itself has the reputation of being quite brisk - the section should take 64 minutes, excluding any stops.
Maybe Baker's 25 minutes is a simple typo for the more reasonable 55 minutes. Whatever: users of his book shouldn't be alarmed if they find themselves still nowhere near the top after 25 minutes, despite peching mightily.