Aberfoyle Ramble

The large village of Aberfoyle sits on the banks of a nascent River Forth, within the boundaries of the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. Traditionally part of Perthshire, local services in Aberfoyle are provided by Stirling Council. The 1270-feet summit of Craigmore glowers over the flat plain below. Nicole and I had been to Aberfoyle many times before. We like the walking trails and bird hides in the nearby Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and the centre of the village is always bustling. The local economy now depends heavily on outdoor pursuits as the traditional slate quarrying industry died out in the 1950s.

Today I fancied having a crack at Craigmore and then taking the more leisurely option of the Three Lochs Forest Drive. Before that, I followed the loop from the village centre to Doon Hill - which features a mysterious clootie well. The trail passed the remains of Kirkton Church (built in 1744) and its associated graveyard. A new place of worship for the townsfolk was unveiled in 1870 and Kirkton had its roof removed - leading to an inevitable period of decay. By the mid-1990s the building was a virtual ruin, with trees growing out of the stonework. Recent renovations have improved its condition and the site can be explored with ease. The trail took me into the woods and up the modest elevation of Doon Hill. I passed tree stumps with embedded coins before arriving at the atmospheric clootie well in a clearing close to the summit. The strips of cloth (cloots) are traditionally hung from branches as an act of healing. As the material degrades, the sickness departs the afflicted person. The origins are most likely Pagan. Clootie wells have a unique ambience and my humble opinion is everyone should visit one before they die. There is a legend intertwined with the Aberfoyle site. Robert Kirk was a local minister who penned a notorious book "The Secret Commonwealth of Elves and Fairies" in 1691. Not long afterwards, the author mysteriously disappeared and his body was later found on Doon Hill, clad only in a nightgown. It is said he had angered the little people by revealing their secrets in the publication. Legend insists the ancient pine tree in the middle of the clootie well site contains a doorway to an underground Fairy Queen's palace, where the reverend's spirit was trapped following the murder. It certainly is a macabre tale and who knows whether the fairies disposed of poor old Robert Kirk. I don't think they are to be trifled with. Just make sure you show the appropriate level of respect if you ever drop by.

The top of Doon Hill was heavily wooded but you can often find a gap in the trees and this indeed proved to be the case. I was able to look over a swathe of forest towards Craigmore. I descended by a different path and retraced my steps to the car-park in the village centre. The next mission required a short drive up the steep road leading to the Forest Lodge visitors centre. Starting my ascent of Craigmore from here would lessen the climb and the hill path started directly opposite the entrance. There was a longer (and probably more forgiving) route via the trails inside the forest park but I took the direct option. The initial stage took me through a patch of woodland but I was soon winding my way among the ferns on the open hillside. Spectacular views were revealed as I gained height and there was a clear path to follow. After much huffing and puffing, I reached the trackbed of an old tramway cut into the hillside. A lone (and leaning) telegraph pole stood on the slopes and served as a clear indicator that industry was once present here, as did the foundations of an old building. The tramway conveyed men and freight from the slate quarries to the branch line down below. The stone was in high demand as a roofing material and was then transported across Scotland. Aberfoyle received its branch rail connection in 1882 and the tramway was up and running within three years. The demise of the industry led to the final closure of the line in 1959. Passenger traffic had ceased at the beginning of this decade due to business being abstracted by motor bus and increasing car ownership. I walked along the old tramway until reaching a path junction with a sign that pointed upwards to Craigmore summit and downwards to the visitors centre. I had been the only person ascending my chosen route but I now encountered others who had obviously followed directions from the lodge.

The path was muddy in places and some very minor scrambling was required. Otherwise it was a straightforward climb and I emerged upon an undulating plateau. I think the true peak lay further ahead but I was happy to end my mission at a hillock which presented an incredible vista of Loch Ard down in the valley. I surmised I wouldn't get a better view than this and did I really matter whether I continued to the highest point to see a pile of stones? Loch Ard is sometimes cited as the source of the River Forth, although maps often pinpoint the confluence of the loch outflow and the Duchray Water as the beginning of the mighty river. Either way, wouldn't it be fabulous if a walking trail could one day be established all the way to the North Sea? The Forestry Commission maintain existing paths alongside the loch, therefore the first stage is in place! I've heard such a plan for our longest river - the Tay - is currently in the embryonic stages. After pausing to rest and appreciate the panorama, I began to make my way downhill by the reverse route, to arrive back at the car-park for the forest lodge. The complex hosts the longest overhead zip line in the UK, run by a company called Go Ape. You often see or hear figures passing above the tree canopy when exploring the woodland around the visitor centre. The Highland Boundary Fault - which splits Scotland into two distinct geographical regions - runs close to Aberfoyle and Sir Walter Scott actually designated Doon Hill as a boundary marker between the Highlands and Lowlands on his travels to the area in the early 1800s. His poem Lady of the Lake is said to have prompted a tourist boom in the Trossachs area and Aberfoyle was a main gateway. It's a nice theory, and Scott himself was not averse to romanticising the past. I'll buy into it!

My next port of call was the entrance to the Three Lochs Forest Drive - two miles further up the A821 (also known as the Duke's Pass). Nicole and I had attempted to tackle the 7-mile circuit a few years back but we found the route closed for maintenance. The Forestry Commission website stated the drive was open to the public between 9am and 4pm and a charge of £3 applied. I envisaged some type of barrier and made sure I had sufficient coins as well as my bank card. In the event, the entrance road was wide open but I stopped at the payment machine to obtain a ticket. As I did so, a couple of cars just headed straight in. Fair enough, but I was more than happy to part with a few quid as I do support the work of the Forestry Commission and these facilities wouldn't exist if everyone simply freeloaded. Perhaps the drivers of the vehicles that passed me had purchased an annual ticket for £40. Three Lochs is a slight misnomer for the tour as the first body stretch of water - encountered almost immediately - is little more than a pond, known officially as Lochan Reoidhte. The road surface was good and there were ample parking bays where you could stop to admire the scenery. I pulled over alongside Loch Drunkie (pictured) and Loch Achray. There are walking loops within the driving compound and a large car park in the middle had toilet facilities and picnic tables, while an ice cream van was doing a brisk trade. The exit took me back on to the A821, about a mile and a half further north. What an action-packed day!

Bathgate Bennie Museum

I try to visit as many town museums as I can. They tend to be full of stories and stuffed with all manner of fascinating objects. I had a free day during my holidays and headed over to Bathgate in West Lothian. There isn't much difference distance-wise between going over the Queensferry Crossing or Kincardine Bridge. I opted for the latter as the roads would probably be quieter. The town is nestled below the Bathgate Hills and my one and only previous visit was after a trip to the Korean War Memorial in the vicinity. Truly one of Scotland's hidden historical gems.

Bathgate has a sizable population of around 25000 and it's past is dominated by industry, particularly mining and shale oil production, which superseded the weaving activities of the past. These trades, in turn, gave way to lighter manufacturing as the 20th century progressed. Today the town serves mainly as a commuter base for both Edinburgh and the greater Glasgow area. The proximity of the motorway and railway linking these two cities makes Bathgate a well connected place. I have family history connections to the general area as my great grandfather David Howieson and his siblings grew up in West Calder, around four miles distant as the crow flies. The town centre is situated on an incline and has a large number of shops. I parked up high and wandered down the bustling Hopetoun Street towards the Bennie Museum. Entry was free but I purchased a handful of postcards since these places don't exist on fresh air. I received a warm welcome, along with the usual "are you local" enquiry. As a good German would say, local ist relativ! Nobody else was browsing the exhibits but apparently a few folk had been in earlier. The museum opened in 1989 and is housed within two adjoining weavers cottages. The site later hosted a garage (which explains the antique petrol pump inside) and the Bennie family gifted the decaying properties to the town in 1980. After much restoration work, the museum emerged. There was a plethora of artefacts within and I'll focus my report on two of Bathgate's most famous sons, both of whom have their own displays in the main gallery. Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870) was a medical pioneer and a bust of him is pictured below.

The son of a baker, Simpson excelled in school and had a prodigious memory. He began his medical studies at the tender age of 14 and graduated to join the Royal College of Surgeons. He eventually became a professor of midwifery in Edinburgh and was appointed as one of Queen Victoria's royal physicians for Scotland. He developed the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic during childbirth and the Simpson Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh was named in his honour. This happens to be the place where yours truly came into the world in 1971. Simpson's later career focused on hospital infection and surgical sepsis. He also promoted the right of women to enter the medical profession. Another Bathgate lad greatly advanced the industrial revolution by making huge strides in the distillation of oil. James "Paraffin" Young (1811-1883) was apprenticed to his cabinet maker father upon leaving school. He found this unfulfilling and attended night school before accepting a place at Anderson’s College in Glasgow to study chemistry. His major breakthrough occurred in 1848 while working in the mining industry. Young noticed oil leaking from the ceiling of a mine tunnel and deduced there must be a way of intentionally extracting oil from coal by the application of heat. He worked upon this principle and successfully patented the results. This led to Young and his partners founding a business in Bathgate that became the first commercial oil refinery in the world. The enterprise used Young’s technique of distilling a paraffin spirit from locally mined shale. My great grandfather and his brothers all began their working lives in the shale pits. In 1865, Young branched out on his own and set up the Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company. With the introduction of a new plant at Addiewell, Midlothian, he became the father of the industry. The venture was a world-wide success, selling oil and paraffin lamps as far afield as America. In modern times, famous citizens of Bathgate are pop music sensation Lewis Capaldi and racing driver Dario Franchitti. I departed the museum highly impressed with the varied collection on display.

I decided to drive by the former Bathgate Academy on my way to my next destination - the small village of Seafield, where I planned to climb a shale bing. The grand school building had featured in the museum and the text openly stated that profits from slavery had funded the construction. This is the way forward. It achieves little if you demolish a useful building because of who paid for it hundreds of years ago. Tearing the structure down also wipes out the associated history. Far better to educate people about how we must never make these mistakes again. Bathgate man John Newland made a fortune out of a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Having no legitimate children, he left his entire estate (including the slaves) to his home town and stipulated a free school should be erected. The will was contested by his sister and - after a long court battle - the Parish of Bathgate received around a quarter of the original sum. This money was invested for 15 years and the academy finally opened its doors in 1833. A new school was built in 1967 and the grand old building has now been converted to private apartments. I drove to the village of Seafield which is dominated the shale waste heap, now sculpted into a more pleasing shape and renamed Seafield Law. The bing is part of a wider nature reserve and a network of paths has been created, linking to Bathgate. The reserve also has an area of protected peat bog called Easter Inch Moss. This type of habitat - much abused in the past - is a haven for wildlife, as well as providing vital carbon storage. The flora and fauna on Seafield Law is less diverse as the reclamation project was only completed a quarter of a century ago. This situation should develop as time goes by.

The Scottish shale oil industry peaked around 1900 and gradually declined as the technology for deep-sea drilling was improved. A stay of execution was awarded in the late 1930s when the government kept shale refining afloat in order to ensure a domestic supply of fuel during the war years. The industry limped on after the conflict and the final shale mine closed in 1962. Today, the evidence of this once widespread process can be easily seen across West Lothian and the fringes of Midlothian in the form of the conical slag heaps, many now blooming in green and some even listed as important monuments. From the 650-feet summit of the Law, I had a fine view across the surrounding landscape. Easily discernible were the Five Sisters (pictured above) - a series of sawtooth shaped bings in the vicinity of West Calder. The waste shale material is non-toxic and free draining, therefore the heaps have largely been left in place, whereas the coal bings of Fife were removed from the landscape and were mostly gone by the end of the 80s. I vividly remember my dad taking me up the bings at Bowhill and Brighills, a post-industrial wasteland. The man-made mounds in Lothians - once regarded as a scar on the landscape - are now being quietly reclaimed by nature and the day will come when locals see them as mere hills.

Doune Heritage Circuit

I got married to Nicole at Doune Castle in 2008. It was a great day and we had the reception a few miles along the road at Bridge of Allan. I had never explored the various paths around the town and decided to build a little circular route. Doune is traditionally part of Perthshire, currently administered by Stirling Council and uses a Falkirk postcode. Make of that what you will. The population is a couple of thousand and the town and castle stand on the River Teith. Once known for the manufacture of pistols, the local economy now relies heavily on tourism, boosted significantly by the regular appearance of the castle in the worldwide smash TV series Outlander.

I started at the Mercat Cross in the town centre where several streets intersect. I made my way along the main road towards the site of the old railway station. The line closed in 1965 and came off the Stirling to Perth route (which still exists today) at Dunblane. It ran on to Callander and eventually Oban. The line crossed the Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig railway at Crianlarich. During the rationalisation of the 1960s, it was decided to retain the portion from Crianlarich to Oban and link this exclusively to the Glasgow line, while closing the tracks via Doune and Callander. Present day services leave Glasgow Queen Street for Crianlarich, where the train splits for Oban or Mallaig. Doune is now a railway desert, although the station house still stands as a private residence. The remainder of the station site has been lost to a modern housing scheme. I entered the Doune Ponds Nature Reserve - a leafy oasis that occupies an old gravel quarry. A network of accessible paths has been created by local volunteers. Meadow and picnic areas coexist alongside patches that have been left wild to encourage bio-diversity of all types. A bird hide overlooks the largest of the five ponds and I observed swans resting on the little island in the middle. A large stone stood just outside the reserve. Known as the Trysting Stone, it was used as a counting position at the large cattle fairs or "trysts" held in previous centuries. The stone was moved a short distance to its present location at the entrance to the nature reserve and now has its own enclosure and information board. I wanted to connect with the mile and a half of walkable railway trackbed and I had to retrace my steps past the Mercat Cross before cutting up a narrow street next to a church. The tarmac railway path leads eastwards out of town and is a popular route among locals. There is no chance of the rails ever being reinstated as both Dunblane Junction and Doune Station have been covered by new houses. It is a similar story in Callander, where chunks of the trackbed have been swallowed up. There were a couple of nice viewpoints along the old line, including the well-maintained allotments (pictured below). Doune sits in a valley but the Trossachs Hills aren't far away.

The path eventually petered out at a minor road and I turned tail and walked back towards Doune, cutting across a park and dropping down to the castle at the other end of town from the old railway station. When Nicole and I married, Doune Castle was quite well known as a filming location for British movie Monty Python & the Holy Grail, released in 1975. A famous scene involves the knights approaching the castle walls, knocking coconut shells together to mimic the sound of horses hooves. Apparently the film's modest budget precluded the deployment of genuine equine characters. This joke actually appeared in the title of the German-language version Die Ritter der Kokosnuß (Knights of the Coconut). I recall the funny moment when the soldiers defending the castle launched a dead cow from a catapult on the ramparts. When visiting the venue prior to the wedding, the guide informed us there had been a few Monty Python themed nuptials, including the bride and groom entering to the clip-clop of coconuts held by the assembled guests. I can only assume that Outlander has been a complete game changer and is probably a driving force behind wedding bookings at Doune. General visitor numbers will have gone through the roof as fans come to see "Castle Leoch" as it's known in the series. Certainly, the upgrade of the car-park must have cost a few quid. Only limited visitor access is permitted inside the castle compound at the moment due to work being carried out on the masonry. My intention was simply to have a look at the building from the outside and follow the path that led down to the banks of the River Teith. Firstly, I took a short signed detour to a historic mill beside the Ardoch Burn. The mill dates from at least 1798 and continued to operate until the late 1930s.

Doune Castle has an imposing 100-foot gatehouse and one of the best examples in Scotland of a preserved great hall. I did a circuit of the exterior walls and found a peaceful bench by the Teith. As I passed the rear of the castle I encountered a group of Americans who were discussing Outlander. There's no escaping! Further research revealed the castle has also appeared in Game of Thrones. No doubt this has ramped up the TV tourism by another notch. The present form of the building emerged in the late 14th century. Ownership passed to the crown in 1425 and the castle was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house. In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Jacobite risings. The structure was ruined by 1800 but restoration works were carried out in late Victorian times and it is now maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The site is naturally defended on three sides by steeply sloping ground and by the two rivers to east and west. The castle forms an irregular pentagon in plan. Mary Queen of Scots stayed here on several occasions. Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops occupied the complex during the 1745 rebellion but the government took control after the Battle of Falkirk, utilising the castle as a prison. Quite a chequered history! This completed my little historic tour of Doune.