Having had the good fortune to acquire a small piece of paradise in the ruins of Achloa it seemed exciting to explore one’s immediate surroundings…..the tree covered expanse of Drummond Hill. 
First a bit of research on the net which produced not a lot except that a Duncan Campbell the local laird in the C17 decided to plant conifers on the hillside thereby making him the instigator of the dreaded fir tree industry.

So initially I drove and then walked the many forestry commission tracks that snake their way around and up and down this proud looking mini mountain. All rather sterile and boring except for the glimpses of a view There is one spot where nature has thrown a mini twister at the hillside that has ripped off the tops of trees exposing a a truly heart stopping panorama of lake and far off mountains which is unbelievably magnificent.  I wondered how much it would cost to get a selective tree cull in order to reveal the stunning surroundings.

I heard of a Iron Age fort on the top of Drummond Hill from my Sea Captain neighbour Paul.  Wow, people actually lived on the top. How could they exist up there? This must be worth a visit. And so the dog and I crept under the fence and headed up the treeless swathe that guides the power lines to the tv transmitter. Piece of cake I thought half an hour and we should be there. No chance. What with rocks and spongy ankle twisting ground it took half an hour to make the first road. Traversing, using the roads we came across stone walls enclosing fairly flat plateaus of land which probably were farmed before the dreaded triffid like trees took over. And then magically we came across a mini lake enclosed by stone walls in what must have been a settlement long ago for the land here, half way up the hill was flat, though you could never spot it from below so dense is the tree blanket. So on we trudged using the road network until on the upper reaches of the hill we came across older trees planted less densely and real grass growing in glades beneath so Duncan Campbell didn’t go in for modern day sterility. His trees or their descendents fitted well into the topography. Finally on a bluff above us we saw the outline of the fort and trudged up to the summit .All around there were many culled trees with their stump rings indicating ages of 70-100 years. The view was truly amazing. One could see, on a clear day, and it was a sunlit white fluffy cloud day, from Schiehallion to Ballinuig.

The fort itself is built around a natural circular rock outcrop and had stone walls which now have fallen and litter the summit. Apparently in later times beacons were lit whenever invaders approached which were seen by others in similar forts and the message relayed  by similar beacons all the way up Glen Lyon.

So three or four hours later we the dog and I rolled under the deer fence into Achloa territory having followed our wee burn from beneath the pond. But why oh why I asked myself is this fascinating monument to the ancients not publicised. There is obviously years of man’s endeavour on this hillside which is a testament to your Scottish forebears. Could be an indicator of why the SAS is 70% Scots for those that lived on this hill were a breed apart and their story should be told.