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Start by the Blain Burn, on the A861 north of Acharacle, at
NM 677 694 OS Explorer 390
Leave the car by the old bridge at Blain.
Look over the bridge on the upstream side to see the harts-tongue
ferns. Pass the gate and go up the path through the
woods. Note that many of the oak trees have multiple trunks
- this is because they were cut at ground level, or coppiced,
long ago.
Cross the stile and carry on until the track forks.
Take the left fork and note the cultivation ridges on either
side of the road. About 40 metres past the ridges there is
a small flat area to the left with a stone-lined bowl, this
is a corn kiln for drying corn before it can be ground.
Carry on to the top of the hill. The lochans are artificial,
created behind stone dams.
Continue past the spruce plantation and turn right at the
hawthorn tree. Climb to the top of the hill, noting more cultivated
ground on your left.
The deserted village of Briaig is on the north side of the
hill about half way down; the best houses are the lowest on
the hill. The big building with triangular windows was a store
for crops. There are more corn kilns among the lower houses,
with spaces under them for fires.
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