Culter Hills

The Culter Hills, Coulter Fells or variations thereof, are a range of hills, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. They are neighboured to the east by the Manor Hills and are split roughly in half by the border between South Lanarkshire and the Scottish Borders.

Culter Fell from Chapelgill Hill to the south.
Glenwhappen Rig from Culter Fell. [L-R]: Coomb Hill, Gathersnow Hill and Hillshaw Head.
Looking northwest from Cowgill Rig. [L-R]: Broad Hill, Tinto and Lamington Hill.

The Hills

The hills form a roughly southwest–northeast rectangular shape and cover a considerable area, however the ridges within the range do not follow a common direction. The highest summit, Culter Fell, at 748m, is the highest point in South Lanarkshire and indeed the whole of Lanarkshire. Walks in the area frequently follow a popular round which begins in the Culter Glen, follows an ascent from the north up Culter Fell, down and up to Glenwhappen Rig to Gathersnow Hill followed by a long, flat walk to Hudderstone and back into the glen. This can be shortened to head back at Holm Nick, passing by the Coulter reservoir.[1] Another popular option is to begin from Glenkirk farm to the east, also allowing for a circular route.

In a roughly clockwise direction, the hills in the range over 2000 ft are:

SummitHeight (m)Listing [2]
Culter Fell748Ma,Hu,Tu,Sim,G,D,CoH,CoU,DN,Y[3]
Cardon Hill675Tu,Sim,DT,GT,DN[4]
Chapelgill Hill696Hu,Tu,Sim,D,GT,DN,Y[5]
Coomb Hill640Tu,Sim,DT,GT,DN[6]
Gathersnow Hill688Ma,Hu,Tu,Sim,G,D,DN,Y[7]
Hillshaw Head652Tu,Sim,D,GT,DN[8]
Coomb Dod635Tu,Sim,DT,GT,DN[9]
Hudderstone626Hu,Tu,Sim,D,GT,DN,Y[10]

Other Information

The area is popular with gamekeepers as well as pastoral farming and it is advised to be observant when walking nearby from spring to late summer and heed the warnings of any landowners.

Etymology

The area has a predominantly Scots influence. 'Coulter' is also a toponymic surname, likely derived from the village Coulter to the north. The word may derive from Scottish Gaelic cùl tir (back land) or Scots cootyre (safe place to store cows).[11]

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gollark: I find running really boring. Also most exercise-y stuff.
gollark: "Everyone should climb" sounds like one of those "I like this so surely everyone does" statements.
gollark: I read a very convincing and well-evidenced reddit post a while ago saying that weightlifting was very good for your health and that sort of thing probably last year, and have done absolutely nothing about it.
gollark: I think I've been handling the whole quarantine situation decently, as it's *basically* a really long school holiday for me anyway. Apart from getting basically no exercise, but I kind of do that anyway.

References
  1. "Culter Fell circular, near Biggar". Walkhighlands. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. "Database of British and Irish Hills: user guide". www.hills-database.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. "Culter Fell". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. "Cardon Hill". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. "Beinn a' Chrulaiste". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. "Coomb Hill". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  7. "Gathersnow Hill". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. "Hillshaw Head". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  9. "Coomb Dod". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. "Hudderstone". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulter_(surname)
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