"There is a range of hills in the middle of Scotland called the Ochills, out of which a rapid running river called the Devon flows, tumbling headlong over linns and through chasms in its progress to the low country." - Alexander Somerville, Autobiography of a Working Man 1848.

Over the last months several groups have grown to facilitate protest activities against the G8. One of the particular local protest forms is to celebrate the right to roam by hillwalking.

Gathering Stone, Sheriff Muir

During the last half year regular hillwalking expeditions have been taken place in the Ochil Hills, south of the summit location Gleneagles, to familiarise the radical ramblers with the area.
Though one of the first walks was accompanied and surveilled by Police, following outings were experienced in more private surroundings, with only few sheeps nearby.
The Silver group makes particular efforts to connect the activities with an introduction to local and current history, visiting important local landmarks, such as the Gathering Stone, marking the "Battle of Sheriffmuir", or the Walace Stones in its path. In the call to action, the hillwalking group declares:

Shut Down the G.ate2Hell

Gather at the Gathering Stone, Stirling

Noon Tuesday July 5th 2005

"Up Hill and Down Dale - Our Protest Shall Prevail!"

Bring the Ancestors:

Arise Hardie and Baird, executed in Stirling for rising up against oppression.

Blair's plan for Africa is just a revival of the "improvements" used in Scotland to increase the profitability of the land before clearing the peasants off to work in factories.

Brown's International Finance Facility is just another mechanism to create more private borrowing to float the economy at the expense of future generations.

Brown and Blair shamelessly use the starving people of Africa as hostages to gain support for their schemes of privatisation and neo-colonialist control which will create new chains for the children and grandchildren of those they pretend to save.

Arise Alexander Sommerville! Your ancestors were driven from the Ochil Hills. Guide us through the night so that we can descend upon the G8 gang of vultures and drive them from Gleneagles."

One of the important issues for the hillwalking group is also safety. Though it was announced that the police will use "quad bikes" traditionally used by sheep farmers in offroad terrain, the group likes to be independent of outside services whilst being as inclusive as possible.

In a mailout the group asks for interested participants of the walks to be well equipped with.

• Strong Walking Boots.
• Rucksack.
• Warm cloths.
• Spare cloths in waterproof bag, such as set thermal underware.
• Waterproofs.
• Sunhat and suncream.
• First Aid.
• Insect repellent.
• A piece of finemesh net curtain will be usefull to keep midges from face.
• Maps: Landranger 58 (and 57) and Explorer 366, (368, 369) and Harvey's map of the Ochils.
• Compass.
• Whistle
• Torch and spare batteries.
• Bottles of water.
• Compact food such as nuts and dried fruit.
• Survival bag

The collective states, that it is looking forward to an enjoyable, healthy and unique protest during the G8 summit,

Gathering Stone, Sheriff Muir

Ochil Hills from West: Glentye Hill, Big Hunt Hill, Blairdenon

Battle of SheriffMuir

Sheriff Muir road near Dumyat

Sheriff Muir pub

one of the Wallace Stones, Sheriff Muir

Stirling Castle

Sunset from Sheriff Muir near Dunblane

Ochil Hills looking north-east from A91 near Forth

Upper Glendevon Reservoir track to Backhill farm

looking from Glen Bee to Craigentagget hill

Dumyat

near Stirling

from Blairdenon Hill to Blackford (Gleneagles out of picture to right)

Second Inchna Burn

Sheep in Ochil Hills, looking south near Third Inchna Burn

Related

http://silver.j12.org

http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/resistg8/maps1/images/hillwalks/