O.S. Triangulation Pillar - Mount Blair, Angus.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 45.054 W 003° 21.786
30V E 477795 N 6289716
Ordnance Survey trig pillar, constructed in 1952, on the summit of Mount Blair, a 2,441 feet high mountain between Glen Shee and Glen Isla on the boundaries of Angus and Perth & Kinross.
Waymark Code: WM117JK
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/01/2019
Views: 1
This pillar lies on the summit area of Mount Blair, a Scottish Graham (mountain of between 2,000 and 2,500 feet high). The mountain has a prominent conical shape, and lies between Glen Shee to the west, and Glen Isla to the east. The boundary of the counties of Angus and Perth & Kinross (formerly Perthshire) runs across the summit, marked by a fence, on which the pillar lies on the Angus (east) side of.
On the other side of the fence is a cairn, thought to mark a suicide's grave. After the pillar was constructed, a controversial mobile phone mast was erected around the turn of century to the south, and a view indicator was erected to the north in 2003, making for an extremely cluttered summit. As expected on what is largely an isolated peak, the views are excellent on a clear day to both mountains and lowlands.
The pillar has a crack all the way around at the height of the flush bracket.
STEEPNESS: A stiff, but manageable climb from all directions, the east being the steepest.
TERRAIN: Mainly grass, with heather higher up. A few rock outcrops lie to the east.
ACCESSIBILITY: Roads surround the base of the mountain. The B951 runs along the eastern foot in Glen Isla and then turns westwards along the northern foot over the Pass of Balloch to Glen Shee. A minor road also links the two glens to the south, and another minor road runs along the western foot to compete the circuit. The two main routes to the summit are from the B951 to the north where a track was bulldozed in the construction of the mast, and to the east from Glen Isla at Forter Haugh where there is a large lay-by on the B951 at the foot of the steep eastern flank.
NAVIGATION: The track from the north runs to the summit via a gate in the fence halfway up. From the east however, the steep eastern shoulder is trackless and requires a steep zigzagging route up to the north-east top, where the summit comes into view in clear conditions. All other directions are trackless, but there are no false summits.
DANGER: None apart from the route up the rocky eastern side.