Tay Reed Beds

The small town of Errol lies in Perthshire on the north side of the River Tay. Our only previous visit was back in 2008 when we picked up a consignment of fruit wines for our wedding ceremony. Cairn o' Mohr have been producing their core range of strawberry, raspberry, bramble, elderberry and oak leaf since 1987 and have now branched into cider. I must admit it took me a few years to cotton on to the clever Gaelicised pun behind the winery's title but their wares (including non-alcoholic varieties) are worth seeking out. I was googling around for river walks and I noticed a path alongside the Tay from Errol to Port Allen. It seemed like a potentially nice stroll and we headed up the M90 and over the Friarton Bridge on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. Nicole enquired as to whether we would be anywhere near the reed beds, a hotspot for serious birders. The answer would soon reveal itself.

Errol has a couple of thousand inhabitants and the streets are very narrow. We thought it wise to park at the primary school near the edge of town, make our way down a core path to the river from there and pass along the High Street on our return leg. A handy circular route was clearly indicated on Google Maps. The path took us by a farmstead then angled gradually towards the shore to meet a right of way running straight down from the town centre. Across a field on a ridge of land stands Errol Park Mansion - rebuilt in 1875 following a major fire and now available to hire for weddings and hospitality events. Panoramic views of the Tay, walled gardens, extensive woodland walks, manicured lawns, tennis courts and deer park can all be enjoyed exclusively. The bedrooms and bathrooms have been kept in the style in which they were designed and each room is adorned with unique furniture and artwork. Fine dining is of course part of the experience. The grounds were originally planted with avenues of oak and yew. After construction of the new house, rhododendrons were added along with cedar and beech. A highlight of the woodland today is a line of 30 Californian redwoods. The mansion is now a category-A listed building and numerous external structures are listed separately. Perthshire lost hundreds of grand country houses to the wrecking ball during the 20th century but this one survives as a link to a very different age. We posed for photos against the trunk of an enormous tree then continued along the public path which was now running very close to the river. A clearing exposed a swathe of gold as we caught out first unobstructed sighting of the reed beds - the largest continuous stretch of this habitat in the UK. We were able to wander down for a look at ground level and the sheer expanse of the vegetation was breathtaking. Believed to have been planted by monks in the 16th Century as a guard against erosion, the reed beds were expanded a couple of hundred years later by work parties of captured Napoleonic troops on day release from Perth Prison. The present territory stretches some 10 miles along the northern bank. The reeds are now home to a wide variety of wildlife and the area has been managed by the RSPB since commercial thatch gathering ceased in 2005. A programme of cutting ensures the needs of different species are met. Birds to look out for are water rail, marsh harriers and bearded tits.

A disastrous fire broke out among the reeds in 2020 and a total of nine appliances - including a helicopter - battled the flames which reached heights of 40 feet. The smoke clouds could apparently be seen from as far away as Portobello! Two miles of habitat were destroyed - no doubt wiping out nests and breeding territory - but at least the emergency services were able to bring the blaze under control within a matter of hours. Things could certainly have been a lot worse! Thankfully, the reeds have been able to regenerate and the bird population is still present. We saw the marsh harrier fly overhead and watched a black cap through binoculars as it poked around. The latter was observed from an elevated viewpoint further along the path. The trail extends to a 7km loop known as the Taybank Circular. We had cut one corner on the way in but we were more than satisfied with the views we experienced. A pleasant wooded section brought us to the hamlet of Port Allen where a few rowing boats floated in the harbour. The pier was used to load grain from nearby mills and is clearly shown on the first edition of the OS map from 1861. It is reckoned the population was as high as 200 in those days but there are now just a handful of private houses. We lingered here for a while before heading back downstream to the giant redwood tree. This time we took the direct route up to Errol and we paused at a community garden on the way. A wander through the streets brought us back to the car. We passed by the Cairn o' Mohr winery before joining the A90. It is actually located in Errol Station - a separate tiny village. The Perth to Dundee railway (opened in 1847) wasn't routed through Errol and the halt was positioned over a mile to the north. In the days when stations required a team of staff, a cluster of housing would have sprung up by the railway.

Errol Station was closed to passengers in 1985 although the platforms and buildings remain intact, the latter now sold off as a private dwelling. Curiously, the lattice footbridge has been preserved as a listed structure but the rotting timber steps have been removed. It is almost political anathema to shut a railway station these days and had Errol clung on a while longer, it may well have still been in use today. I'm not aware of any re-opening campaign but I assume there is no real demand to warrant the expenditure. The vast majority of Errol residents probably already own a car and there is a regular bus service to Dundee and Peth throughout the day. Not every station or line closure can be realistically reversed (and I say that as a strong proponent of train travel). We zipped back down the M90 and reflected upon an enjoyable day out. The bearded tits had remained presumably hidden within the reeds and it wasn't like the time in Germany when we basically walked straight into a flock of them on terrain similar to today's. Nature sightings are never guaranteed, which is part of the appeal.

West Fife Woodlands Way

There are two famous long distance walking trails through the Kingdom of Fife. The Coastal Path winds for 117 miles around the peninsula and was opened around 20 years ago. It is an immensely popular route and I have done every stage in a planned sequence, plus innumerable bits and pieces whenever I happened to be in the vicinity. It really does cover the complete county coastline, from Culross on the Firth of Forth to Newburgh on the Tay. A new inland trail - The Fife Pilgrim Way - formally came on stream in the summer of 2019. It approximates the journey of medieval pilgrims across the Kingdom to the shrine of Saint Andrew after sailing over the Forth. At 64 miles, it is considerably shorter than the coastal walk. It also has two starting points - the ports of Culross and North Queensferry. These legs converge at Dunfermline Abbey and both my sister and I have reached this point at the time of writing. We are planning to complete the rest of the path together.

In my corner of the county, the circular West Fife Woodlands Way is a recent addition to the Kingdom's formal walking routes. At a length of 10 miles, it stitches together a mixture of paths, pavements and farm tracks and is fully signed throughout. I had already done all these legs in smaller chunks over the years with the exception of a mile between Shiresmill and Devilla Forest. But of course I couldn't resist the challenge of doing the whole loop in one go, particularly as it was on my patch. I chose a pleasant day during my Easter break to tackle the trail and selected the entrance to the old Valleyfield Estate at Newmills as my starting point. The Woodlands Way notionally begins in Culross but you can of course break into the circle at any point and keep going. I have written extensively about the Valleyfield Estate in another post and will provide just basic information here. Sir Robert Preston (1740-1834) unexpectedly inherited the baronetcy in 1800 and spent a significant amount of money improving the grand mansion and commissioning renowned landscape gardener Sir Humphry Repton to design a new layout for the grounds - the only example of a Repton garden in the whole of Scotland. Preston had amassed a large fortune as a shipping magnate in the far east and had also served as a Member of Parliament for over 20 years. Nicknamed Floating Bob due to his maritime exploits, Preston was almost literally a larger than life character. His great friend Sir Walter Scott once said "Sir Robert is as big as two men....and eats like three"

Floating Bob couldn't resist taking on a new venture and he established an artificial island (named after himself) within his inter-tidal lands on the Firth of Forth. Preston Island was something of an industrial marvel, combining coal mining and salt production on an integrated coastal site. As is often the case with pioneering projects, it wasn't a long-term success and coal extraction ceased following a major explosion. The salt pans continued operating until increased taxes rendered them non-viable. The Woodlands Way passes right through the former estate and a local group - led by the irrepressible Ronnie Collins - has done much to increase public awareness of local history via information boards and annual snowdrop walks. The members also perform a lot of maintenance on local pathways to keep them navigable for the likes of you and me. Hat duly tipped to them! Valleyfield House fell into decay and was demolished in 1941. Only a few chunks of foundation remain in the undergrowth. The walled flower garden survived and can be viewed from the trail as you walk alongside the Bluther Burn. Pieces of pillar from the mansion's entrance porch remain in the water to this day, most likely rolled down the hill by youngsters back in the 40s. You can also spot an ice house and the sluice gates that diverted the river around an ornamental island. The estate is now council-owned and managed as a woodland park. Full marks to local historians for unearthing traces of the opulent past.

As I entered Valleyfield Estate, I spotted this circular memorial to a local lady accused of witchcraft in 1704. I have written screeds about the fate of Lilias Adie in other blog articles and I was at the unveiling ceremony for the plaque placed on the village green at Culross. Three stones in total were laid as a mark of respect to the Scottish women who suffered this terrible fate. Lilias is unique in this whole grisly affair as she died in custody before her "trial" could be held. Therefore she has a known burial site. It's not a grand resting place, far from it. Lilias was unceremoniously dumped in a hastily-dug hole upon the foreshore and a large oblong stone was placed on top of her coffin - lest she return from the dead following reanimation by Old Nick himself. The tomb was raided during Victorian times and several bones removed. Two walking sticks were fashioned from parts of the coffin. Lilias's skull has mysteriously disappeared after last being on display at the Empire Exhibition in 1938. Local archaeologist Douglas Spiers - who pinpointed the grave recently - has attempted to track down the scattered remains but has so far drawn a blank. He has conducted many talks and interviews on the subject in both regional and national circles. The sad case of Lilias Adie aroused great interest and scientists at Dundee University even constructed a model of her projected face. The matter of falsely accused witches is now a widely debated topic and - while we can't change the course of events from previous centuries - it's satisfying that this injustice is now given long overdue recognition. I exited the Valleyfield Estate and the path took me in the direction of the former mining village of Blairhall, swinging towards the old pit bing before I reached the actual settlement. West Fife was once dominated by the coal industry but the closure of Comrie Colliery in 1986 following the bitter national strike left just one pit standing in this end of the county. When Longannet was flooded beyond repair at the turn of the century, it was all over and the pick-axes fell silent. Blairhall Colliery ceased operations in 1969 and the surrounding landscape has now been reclaimed as a nature reserve. The old slag heap is a fantastic vantage point and the Stirlingshire peak of Dumyat dominates the horizon. The official route goes up and over the bing but there is also the option to skirt the bottom. I tried to imagine an industrial scene from the past. Wagonloads of coal connecting with the nearby Dunfermline to Stirling Railway. The pit winding engine raising the black diamonds from the earth and transporting the army of men up and down the shaft. Was a pit a smoky environment on the surface? I'll have to ask my folks. I would imagine coal dust would have been the main irritant.

The path took me through the reclaimed land and into Balgownie Wood. Nicole and I once saw a crossbill here. Our only sighting of this bird. Now managed by the Forestry Commission, Balgownie was once the woodland for Culross Abbey and is reckoned to have been planted in medieval times. Some ancient oak is concealed within the mixed selection of trees. Thankfully the signed route quickly veered away from the stony forest road and followed a more secluded path to the far end of the woods. From a clearing, I had a lovely view of Brankstone Grange - a 19th century country house - nestled on a hillside in the distance. Now back in private hands, it was previously owned by the Barnardo's charity and run as a children's home. Many old mansions were converted to educational or care facilities in the post-war years. A healthy supply of these properties on the market would have kept buying or rental prices reasonable and a lot of space (both indoors and out) was on offer to interested parties. Whether that meant the building was actually the ideal solution is a different matter entirely. There aren't many examples of children's homes (or indeed schools) still operating in this type of environment. I crossed a minor road then passed through a gate to walk a gravelled link path between Balgownie Wood and Devilla Forest. Established by the West Fife group, it's a pleasant stroll with the Ochil Hills as a prominent backdrop. I emerged at business premises that traded previously as the Walled Garden. A tea-room, restaurant and farm shop were situated within the compound but it now seems to have transformed into a wedding venue. Nicole and I had stopped by for a coffee a few years ago and had to scrape together our small change as a sign on the entrance door informed us only cash was accepted. Quite unusual at the time, pretty much unthinkable in the post-pandemic age. A family of four behind us had to turn around and leave as they had only plastic currency. Back on the trail, I completed the only section that could be potentially described as boring - almost a mile alongside an industrial access road that met the A985. I then slipped back into the forest and passed the plague grave. Three child siblings in the Balds family from Culross passed away on the same day in 1645 and were buried in the woods. Even today, locals still maintain the plot and leave little toys and trinkets as a mark of respect. I then walked through the grounds of Culross Old Kirk, a ruined pre-reformation place of worship which gravestones dating from 1620. The location has been used in the Outlander TV series and the mausoleum in the corner of the churchyard has recently been cleaned up by the woodlands group. I followed the trail into Culross village where it runs alongside the railway line on the seafront. Passengers haven't travelled on this route since 1930 and coal traffic finally ceased a few years ago with the closure of Longannet Power Station. Now used for occasional steam charters, stock movements and a diversionary line, the campaign for full reopening continues and weight was added by confirmation that train builders Taglo have purchased the power station site for the location of a new factory. It will connect to the existing single-track line and passenger services are slated to return from the Alloa direction as far as Clackmannan. Such a move would surely strengthen the case for through running to Dunfermline, although an onward Edinburgh link would require trains to reverse across the tracks (or the construction of a triangular junction). Let's hope politicians don't use Covid as an excuse to shelve these schemes late in the day. Toe the green line guys!

I followed the tracks past a man-made peninsula that has swallowed up the original Preston Island. Ash from the power station was used to reclaim land from the intertidal zone and it now forms part of a popular walking loop. The remains of the old saltworks and coal mine can be viewed from behind a wire fence. Floating Bob's stately home is long gone but it's entirely right that some of his legacy remains upon the Lands of Valleyfield. An uphill climb alongside the Culross to Newmills road brought me back to my starting point. Ten miles of local paths with a huge amount of history thrown in. The West Fife Woodlands Way makes a great day wander and I can heartily recommend this new addition to the Kingdom's walking trails. The car was in sight, parked beside the old estate entrance. I had performed a good deed at the start of my expedition, re-uniting an iPhone with its teenage owner. Finding it on the ground and unable to identify to whom it might belong, I thought I'd post a message on local groups when I returned home to see if anyone claimed the device. As I was trying to photograph the screensaver image, the phone emitted a noise telling me someone was attempting to track it remotely. I guessed it could be the two people I'd passed on my way in. Turning round, I headed back and soon saw a woman and girl heading towards me. I held the phone aloft and a smile spread across the youngster's face. The camaraderie of walkers in action!

Kirklands House & Garden

The West Fife village of Saline lies just five miles from our home. There is a pleasant walk through the wooded steep-sided glen that overlooks the extensive gardens of Kirklands House on the other side of the burn. When I heard the owners were staging a series of open days, I decided to go along for a nose. Kirklands was the previous home of the Saline Stone Men - statues of Robert Burns characters Tam O' Shanter and his drinking buddy Souter Johnnie. Carved in the 18th century by Robert Forrest, these famous larger-than-life figures were acquired by Fife Council and placed in the garden next to the new museum. We parked in the village centre and walked round to the house, which is situated next to a historic graveyard. In fact, I'd once peered over the churchyard wall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Stone Men, but they had already departed.

We paid the £5 admission fee and received a warm welcome. Our tree surgeon was a steward for the day. Kirklands House dates from 1832 and the present owners Peter & Gill Hart have resided at the property since 1977. They developed a business offering bed and breakfast as well as various gardening courses but have now retired from this venture. The couple have basically built the two-acre garden from scratch since arriving to just a patch of grass at the front and rear of the house. The rest of the grounds were rough ground and woodland, while two ponies grazed in the walled enclosure. Forty-odd years later, the site is still a work in progress but the overall transformation is immediately apparent. A Facebook page gives regular updates and also details of public viewings. The terraced walled garden with raised beds is home to the vegetable and fruit plantations, with 18 espalier apple trees set against the stone boundary. Batches of jam are produced every year and the greenhouse provides a fresh supply of tomatoes and other vegetables. Also on site is a bog garden featuring giant leaved gunnera manicata and a selection of other plants that love this environment. In the summer months, the herbaceous borders take centre stage and many varieties of hostas can be found in the shaded parts. A spectacular carpet of bluebells arrives in spring and other favourites are the rhododendrons blue poppies. We had a walk around the various pathways and I clambered down to a temporary bridge over the burn which provided access to the public route through the glen. There was also a treehouse and a walkway around the top of the terrace. A marquee and seating area had been set up on the lawn. Tea and scones were doing a roaring trade. It was a most enjoyable place to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon and those involved with the running of the garden were on hand answer questions and generally chat with visitors. Today's event was outdoors only and there was no tour of the house on offer, although you were welcome to wander up the driveway for a closer look at the architecture. I'm not complaining about the lack of inside access as I realise it is a private home. Just making an observation. On our way out, we walked across the the northern boundary wall for excellent views of Saline Hill and the rolling landscape below. A nice photo opportunity.

Peter and Gill's two children have long since left home and they helped create today's scene as they were growing up. A local retired miner named Benny assisted with the physical labour and was chiefly responsible for rebuilding and shoring up the walls. You have to admire the family for making their property accessible to the public on a regular basis. Yes, they charge a few pounds for entrance but they have to cover their costs and a lot of work has been put into the place over the years. Why shouldn't they enjoy a small amount of remuneration? I would certainly recommend a visit and this can be combined with a wander up and down Saline glen. The village itself was originally a weaving settlement and many of these cottages remain. Saline Hill is a stiffer challenge, standing over 1000 feet high. There isn't a dedicated path to the top and some fence climbing is required on the way. The views from the top are, however, superb. During my research for this article, I came across the blog of the Saline & District Heritage Society. They hold an annual exhibition and organise a programme of talks. Presently disrupted by the all-pervasive Corona virus, it's something I must check out when permitted to do so.