The Whangie

March 5, 2024, 7:00 am , by Richard Lutz

Richard Lutz follows the trail of the devil’s tale.

How could I resist? A piece called The Whangie.

But first, a bit of context. Many decades ago, the journalist James Cameron filed a piece from Tibet. It was a closed down kingdom in those days.

Later when asked what impelled him to travel to this remote nation, he said with a wisp of Scottish wry understatement: “I’d always wanted to write ‘Dateline: Lhasa’ on top of an article.”

And with that in mind, I’ve always wanted to file a piece called The Whanghie.

Here it is, north of Glasgow- a great big slash in the Kilpatrick Hills:

I offer this while admitting I didn’t have a drone camera at the time. Nor can I fly. My congrats to the photographer, airborne or otherwise.

Those of a mundane nature will tell you that this sharp-toothed ravine is carved out by a geological fault.

Well, maybe.

Better minds know the cleft is caused by the devil slicing the hillside (whanging it) with his forked tail in fury after arguing with a witches’ coven. Nearby, take note, is the devil’s pulpit. Lucifer was a busy boy back in the day.

Whatever or whoever carved this chasm, it’s a great little scramble in late winter:

Jagged rocks rise 30 feet. Gaps between the steep slanted walls narrow to less than a yard across. The climb is steep, a bit slippy in wet weather and, as you bump and twist your way through, reminds us all to lose a couple of kilos the next time it’s tried.

Once through, looming to the north, are the ridges of both The Lomond and Trossachs mountains. Ben Lomond, Scotland’s most southerly Munro peak, hides behind the rock outcrop and a wisp of cloud:

Turn around and to the south is Glasgow’s urban bulk. Many say The Whangie offers the best view of where the Scottish Lowlands meets the famed Highlands.

The rounded Kilpatricks themselves contain their own beauty. They are dotted with small remote lochs and reservoirs watering the urban Clydeside metropolis:

It’s also riven with narrow defiles driving mountain streams to lower ground: waterfalls, such as Auchineden Spout, are hidden among the nooks, crevices and ravines:

Now, back to The Whangie and you boys at the back….yes, especially you two…less of the brainless sniggering over the name. Or one black night, one starless inky black night, you may hear the swooping of leather wings as something evil comes your way and the devil tattoos a great sulphurous slash in your back garden. Indeed, a good whang with his forked tail as he leaves behind a mark as old as the cold waters of the Kilpatrick Hills.

*aerial photo credit: Loch Lomond Waterfront