The Borders
From the M74 motorway take the A708 road to Moffat at junction 15, head northeast along the A708 to Selkirk. Half way between Moffat and Selkirk is St Marys loch, this is your place to find aircraft transiting through lowfly area 20 T . Often aircraft are down to 100ft, this area is used exensivley by the frontline units. Your loaction at Bowerhope law is to say the least extrememly steep. A few miles to the west is Paper hill, although this is on the north side of the valley and will be tricky in sunlight until late afternoon. In the first section of this guide we will concentrate on the central part of the Valley from herman Law - Eldinhope. We will discuss the northern and then southern ends of this Valley at a later date.
Bowerhope law
Click on the map below for a large scale detailed map with locations.
Herman law
Location:South west of St Marys Loch by around 4 miles. This location is set in an extremely steep part of the Selkirk to Moffat Valley and is a test on an experienced climbers limits . You have been warned this location is for the fittest only. It is very slippery so care must be taken at all times, once you have reached your height at the top of the small wood you can get your camera out as you cross the field towards your position and you may be lucky to catch an early shot of an aircraft heading from your right to left.
Directions:follow the directions given for Bowerhope law and when you reach gray mares waterfall feature you have around 1 mile to go,the road will then rise slightly. You will come across a small wood on your right followed by a wood of small christmas trees at both sides of the road with a radio mast in among them with a path running up the southern side to the top of the hill, this is your path up the hill. Drive a little further along the road and you will be able to park to the east of the path in a layby about 50 yrds down the road.
Walk back to the western end of the wood and follow the path straight up the steep hill until you are around 100 feet higher than the wood you have just passed. You should then turn left(east) and keeping at the same height follow the hillside contour, you should be high enough to be able to navigate past the small wood in the middle of the hillside. After passing the wood you need to find a suitable position to be comfortable, if you look across to the opposite side of the valley to Paper hill you should be between the wood and the small stream running vertically down the hill side. From here aircraft will be following the valley from the direction of Selkirk to Moffat (north east to south west), like many other location be aware of the possibilities of helicopters travelling in the opposite direction at around fifty feet.
Map Courtesy of Graham FarishPlease note the red line indicstes private property and permission should be asked before using this route. Note the farmer lives 100 yrds from this route and is readily available to be asked.
Alternative route up, you should ask the permission of the farmer who is usually quite friendly.Once over the small bridge steer right and follow the contour of the hill and the fencline to the flat ledge, approx 250ft above the road.
Click the image for large picture with guides
Tornado Gr4 taken near the wooded area on the western part of the valley.
Picture below courtesy of Graham Farish, The location viewpoint. Aircraft fly from right to left
Jaguar Through the valley at 100ft, Graham Farish
Paper hill
Location: Paper hill is located across the valley from Herman Law, this is a very steep hill with very little in the way of flat ground to take the weight off your feet, although there are plenty of sheep scrapes dug in to the hillside to make yourself fairly comfortable.
On Bright sunny days its best to start the day off looking at Herman Law (but in all honesty on sunny days i would not enture on this hill until after lunch), from this position you can get top side,side on and bottom shots as they turn and head down your piece of the valley. In the afternoons you can head off around the corner opposite East Muchra Hill and you can achieve topside shots as they pull sharply to head down past Herman Law.
Below a RAF Hawk caught turning opposite Herman Law at 300mm
There are one or two places on the road where there is room to pull off and park up, be careful though as there are rocks in the grass which may cause damage to your car you are heavily loaded. Make your way up the hill, you should be able to make out some footpaths as you zig zag up the hill. As mentioned earlier some of the traffic in this valley comes through at 100ft so there is a real risk of getting too high or too low if everything comes through at 250ft while you are at 100ft. If you position yourself so you can just see the Loch further up the valley, this will give you ample warning of approaching aircraft and offer you excellent topsides as they pass you. The best location is further round the hill away from the Loch about 100 yards, from here you will get excellent topsides and also slight head on shots as the aircraft enter your location. The only problem here is that you need to be on your toes as you will get no warning whatsoever, except the possibility of hearing them. As the afternoon draws on the light will be more in your favour, be warned in the winter months that the light in the valley can be very poor as the sun often does not get high enough in the sky and leaves much of the valley in shadow. Extreme caution is required at this location as it is one of the steepest you will encounter.
RAF Hawk in the turn around paper hill
Paper hill from Herman Law
Herman law as seen from the location on Paper Hill. Note the car parked up.
Looking up the valley towards the direction of the aircraft. Click on image
Work is also being carried out on Guides for White Law,Bridge end hill, East Muchra hill,Oxcleuach rigg, Bran Law, Eldinhope and many more. These represent a small part of the locations available to this part of the UKLFS. Work is also under development of the locations in Northern Scotland.
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