Pressmennan Wood – A Lake and the Homes of the Glingbobs
Pressmennan Wood covers a hillside at the foot of the Lammermuirs, a mile south of the village of Stenton, and looks down on a long, narrow lake.
The Woodland Trust owns the wood and keeps a sculpture trail in it for children, a surfaced path along its length and a path up to a viewpoint. There is no single set walk, so make your own from these.
- Time
- Allow two hours for the sculpture trail, the lake and the viewpoint. The wood has 6.5 km (4 miles) of paths, with a surfaced path of just over 2 km (1.2 miles) from the west entrance to the east.
- The path
- A kissing gate at the entrance. A short stretch of the main track from the car park is firm and level; most paths are grass and earth, narrow and steep in places, and the sculpture trail does not suit a wheelchair or a buggy.
- Where to start
- The Woodland Trust's free car park, with space for eight cars, at the end of a track signed off the road about a mile south of Stenton. From the A1 at Thistly Cross near Dunbar take the B6370 to Stenton, then the road that leaves the far end of the village beside the primary school.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From mid October to March the grass and earth paths are muddy and the wood is at its best on a dry day; the leaves colour in autumn.
- Dogs
- Welcome.
- Children
- The sculpture trail is made for children. Bring wellies: the path is wet and muddy after rain.
- Toilets
- None nearby. The nearest public toilets are in Dunbar, East Linton, Garvald and Gifford.
- Before you set out
- The lake is not the Woodland Trust's; keep to the wood's own paths along it.
The walk
Pressmennan is an old wood on the northern slopes of the Lammermuirs, with a long, narrow lake along its foot. It is one of the few waters in Scotland that is called a lake. From the car park a circular sculpture trail goes into the trees. Hidden along it are the homes of the Glingbobs and Tootflits, imaginary creatures made for the wood in 2008 by a local sculptor, Robin Wood.
They are there for children to spot. A surfaced path of just over 2 km, a little more than a mile, runs through the wood from its west entrance to its east. Another climbs Gallows Law to a viewpoint with a picnic bench. Down by the water, look for signs of otters and deer along the edge.
Oak from Pressmennan may have gone into the Great Michael, the warship launched in 1511. Away from the surfaced path the ways are grass and earth, narrow and steep in places. Allow two hours for the trail, the lake and the viewpoint.
If it rains
The trees keep off a shower, but the earth paths turn muddy quickly and children will want wellies. The surfaced path stays firm.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Blue Cabin by the Sea in Cockburnspath, 10 miles away. Sleeps 4.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Scott Millar via Google