From Flotterstone (and passing where the Pentland Way descended from Turnhouse) the route passes by the old filter beds by Glencorse Burn before reaching Glencorse reservoir whose outflow waterfall (only in spate when the reservoir level is high and the outflow gates open) is worth a short detour.
The old filter beds are a haven for wildlife and there may be sightings of the rare resident green woodpecker. More commonly you may see pipistrelle bats and their roosting boxes and roe deer. Further up the valley you may see cormorants stretching their wings, the grey heron fishing and, in May, the green hairstreak butterfly which flutter amongst the gorse and blaeberry (the foodplant for its caterpillars).
Just past the keeper’s cottage at Glencorse Reservoir and some 90 metres on from the old stone bridge over the burn, you might, if the water level is very low – catch a view of the old causeway across to the island and an old bell tower and chapel. Here, 20 metres out from the water’s edge, lie the ruins of the 13th century chapel of St Catherine’s in the Hopes.
The Legend of St Catherine’s in the Hopes
There is an interesting legend behind the creation of this chapel. It seems that one Sir Henry St. Clair (the father of Sir William who later founded Rosslyn Chapel nearby) was awarded a charter of ownership of Pentland Muir by King Robert the Bruce, for his good and faithful services and, in particular, for winning a wager with the king over who had the best hunting hounds when pursuing a rare white deer in the area. St Clair prayed to St Catherine of Alexandria (the same 4th Century early Christian martyr who was condemned to death by “breaking on the wheel” and who, gave her name to the Catherine Wheel) and his prayers were answered through the superiority of his trusty dogs Help and Hold. The chapel was built as an expression of his thanks, on the site where the hind was slain.
The legend is related in The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott. A full account of the story can,
together with a photograph of the ruined chapel, be found in Chapter 15 – A Royal Deer Hunt – in Will Grant’s book Pentland Days and Country Ways, Nelson, Edinburgh 1934
The last sightings of chapel and bell tower were widely reported in 1933 and some even claim to have heard the bell toll!
Glencorse Reservoir
Glencorse Reservoir covering 20 acres was designed by Thomas Telford and built by James Jardine between 1819 and 1824 primarily to supply water to the mills of Auchendinny and Milton Bridge. Jardine employed a workforce of some 300 men. The Reservoir cost £209,000. It has a capacity of 359,373,000 gallons and a maximum depth of 72 feet. The Glencorse dam is 77ft in height and 86,335 cubic yards in volume. In their heyday the three twelve-foot-deep filter beds (with a sand- gravel- fine sand – shells – coarse sand and very fine sand composition) could handle 3.8 million gallons of water per day.
Pentland Ridge << Flotterstone / Glencorse >> Allermuir