Lochgoin Monument
Okay, so there are plenty of covenanter caches out there. The ones we have visited have tended to be out in the wilds. This one is no exception, although the recent windfarm development has certainly made the area seem more accessible and closer to civilisation (perhaps a bit too close). The windfarm itself is well worth a visit. Viewed by some as an eyesore (as the name of Pooter's 12 year old "Not In My Back Yard" would suggest), it certainly has opened up a great area for walking and cycling whatever your views on the windmills. Visit the Whitelee Windfarm site for more info. They also have an interactive visitor centre that is well worth visiting.
Anyhoo, leave the visitor centre (just a wee bit along the road to Eaglesham from the proper cachers' parking waypoint) until after you have visited the cache. Some delayed gratification perhaps......
Conventacles were illegal gatherings of Covenanters and, therefore, tended to happen in remote places. Several thousand might attend. Lochgoin farm may have been one of these "far out" places and was certainly believed to have been a refuge for Covenanters. It was ransacked by Government soldiers on a number of occasions, searching for these hideaways.
The monument itself is to John Howie of Lochgoin and it is quite outstanding. It's another of the ones like the one that the Quadbarrel's found which is so remote that practically nobody will have seen it, despite the expense and effort of erecting it. The signage suggests that there is a small Covenanters Museum in the farm. We haven't visited ourselves because you have to do so when the farm residents are there.
Early in the morning
Oh, we forgot to mention how to get to the cache. There are two parking waypoints. The best is by the Eaglesham Moor Road. Rather than entering the Windfarm you take a tarmac track to the right of it which is signposted for the farm and museum. Follow this track along and you'll soon see the monument against the horizon ahead of you. Once you've found the cache the walk can be made circular by heading North East to Lochgoin itself. Have fun and remember the visitor centre for a warm-up after!
Last owner check on the cache - 19.1.13