Anyone going out last Saturday morning found themselves playing Russian Roulette with the weather: dry and sunny one minute, and a virtual white-out the next as snow squalls swept across the area.

Anyone going out last Saturday morning found themselves playing Russian Roulette with the weather: dry and sunny one minute, and a virtual white-out the next as snow squalls swept across the area.

Nonetheless, I ventured out, hoping that a “weather window” would allow a dry walk in the winter sun.

I drove (cautiously) up to the Greenock Cut centre, realising on the way there was a lot of black ice about. When I stepped out of the car at the centre, the brisk north westerly had a bitter edge to it.

Suitably wrapped up against the cold, I set off up the short, sharp climb to the summit of Dunrod Hill, which is a modest 930ft above sea level. This is not the domain of Munro-baggers, but the view from the top is spectacular.

There’s not much wildlife up there during the winter. It’s still several weeks away from the breeding season, when skylarks, meadow pipits and several other species return to these windswept uplands.

On Saturday, the resident flock of Canada geese that hang about Loch Thom were restless - perhaps sensing spring is around the corner. Small flocks of a dozen or so were calling noisily and flying up in “squadrons” of a dozen or so individuals to circle once or twice before landing in neighbouring fields where rooks looking for food were ignoring the goose commotion.

When I reached the top of the hill, the view, as always was spectacular. It’s a 360 degree panorama of Central Scotland, from Arran in the south to the Arrochar Alps in the north west, and Paisley and Glasgow in the east. On clear days you can see Tinto Hill in Lanarkshire and the Pentlands south of Edinburgh.

You can also see six islands: Ailsa Craig, Arran, Holy island, the two Cumbraes and Bute.

The area has a well documented history, which includes Inverkip’s infamous claim to being the last place in Scotland where a woman was burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Then there was the notorious Auld Dunrod, a farmer reputedly in league with the devil, who used supernatural powers to steal milk from his neighbours’ cattle. Check a map of the area you will see that even today the old sorcerer’s name lives on.

However, the main historical interest nowadays is the legacy of Robert Thom, the engineer who created aqueducts — or ‘cuts’ — to take water to Greenock’s burgeoning industries in the 19th century.

If you don’t want to put the legs under stress by climbing Dunrod Hill, both the Greenock and Kelly Cuts provide good walking and excellent views of the Clyde. There is also a board walk which follows a circular route through the upper part of Shielhill Glen, bringing you back to the car park at the Cut centre.