Ribbon of Wilderness by Peter Wright sampler

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introduction
about the same time. The sense of local identity which this Parish
structure had maintained was replaced by the new concept of
community, and the establishment of Community Councils. With
as much as 80 per cent of the Watershed having formerly been
Parish boundary, its significance to people living on either side of
it today continues. It now marks out the upper extent of their
Community Council or school catchment area, and the area of
benefit for other local associations. In some places, the advent of
greater mobility, which the car has brought, will have had an
impact on how local is indeed local, especially in the realms of
economic activity, but the concept of local prevails none the less.
The significance of the Parish boundary was further reinforced
in historical times when witches, villains and, tragically, suicides
could not be buried in consecrated ground. In such cases, a kind of
no-mans-land on the Parish boundary was often chosen. How
many such unmarked graves are there on the Watershed itself? No
one will ever know.
So, as the magic formula is painted onto the map, and the layers
of demarcation, organisation and sense of place for local people do
indeed begin to emerge, it is clear that all but a small proportion
of the Watershed has significance as a boundary of one sort or
another. And these boundaries continue to influence people’s
current thinking, identity and activity, to the present day.
When I finally set out to take a pencil and plot the Watershed
on a map, the concept was relatively simple, for many of the factors
I have described were fairly clear. The only real prerequisite was an
ability to read and interpret a map, so the starting point was a
paper exercise – no boots or walking poles required. The major
river valleys and their tributaries were clearly marked, but there
were a few areas which needed some more careful consideration,
and these included:
Coulter to Biggar Common
Black Law wind farm to Kirk o’ Shotts transmitter
Cumbernauld
Carron Reservoir in the Campsie Fells
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