I dedicate this cache to Peigi McCann, a botanist from California, who has worked tirelessly on an extensive botanical survey of this Hill.
The Cache is not on any of the Sequoias as I don’t want the bark stripped from them.
The easiest route to this cache is to park at the parking Waypoint then go through the gate for about 300 yds where there is a path on the right through a swathe of bark chippings to the top. This swathe is known locally as Hanson’s Folly as it was intended to bring the quarry material down this way. (As of 2021 it will be turned into an access road for quarrying so be cautious.)Through the fence at the top and turn right. From here you will see to where you are headed. You follow the crescent top of the quarry which is nice easy walking through young Silver Birches. I made it to the trees in less than 15 minutes.
From here you can see the extent of the quarry which if it is allowed to expand will remove these trees from the landscape, although there is currently a concerted effort to save the trees. This grove of five trees stands on the top of Gillies Hill and can be seen from everywhere on the Carse of Stirling and is considered a beacon by the local people.
In addition to these magnificent trees are four more planted near the ruins of Polmaise Caste, situated near here, so the hill contains nine sequoias altogether. The "Date Stone" at the former entrance to the mansion says that it was built in 1865, which makes it likely that the trees are around the same date. In addition to the Sequoiadendron on the hill are five Sequoia sempervirens, many Douglas firs, monkey-puzzle trees, etc. all planted during the mansion's early days."
Why are these trees special? They are magnificent not just for their phenomenal size but also for their shape, their sturdy buttress style and soft spongy bark. Also, when one looks up the trunk of a mature Giant Redwood and sees the slim branches sweeping gracefully downwards, there is an air of pre-historic mystique about them; and yet by contrast there is a fresh modern appeal about the smart conical shape of a juvenile tree.
Giant Sequoias are the world's largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 165-280 ft and 18-24 ft in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 311 ft in height and 57 ft in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia is 3,500 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 3 ft thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. Giant Sequoia regenerates by seed. A mature Giant Sequoia has been estimated to disperse from 300,000-400,000 seeds per year. The Giant Sequoia was well known to Native American tribes who called them Wawona, Toos-pung-ish and Hea-mi-withic, the latter two in the language of the Tule River Tribe.
The first scientific naming of the species was by John Lindley in 1853, who named it Wellingtonia gigantea, without realizing this was an invalid name under the botanical code as the name Wellingtonia had already been used earlier. The name "Wellingtonia" has persisted as a common name, even though it is deprecated.
It was first brought into cultivation in Europe in 1853 by Scotsman John D. Matthew, who collected a small quantity of seed which he brought to Scotland. Growth in Britain is very fast, with the tallest tree, at Benmore in southwest Scotland, reaching 177 ft at age 150 years.
I have unashamedly taken most of this information from wikipaedia but there is an excellent redwood site also at http://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/index.html if you wish to know more about these magnificent trees.
This has inadvertantly turned into a series covering specimen trees in and around Stirling.
If you are interested in communing with Nature, learning about trees, or just bagging a cache give them a visit.
The others in the series are –
The Big Sycamores GC1EDN4
This one The Sequiadendron giganteum of Gillies Hill GC1H74Q
The Perfect Tree GC1FC71
The Pedunculate Oak of Touch GC1H9XD
and Sequoia sempervirens. GC1HDY4