Day 22: Sandbank, Argyll & Bute to Leaving Loch Katrine, Stirlingshire

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

26th January 2021: 104.61km walked today taking the total to 2237.63/8854km. 8.0% of 176 people's totals submitting 1307.64km.

Retracing our steps to Sandbank we walk along the A815 north westwards past the head of Holy Loch before turning left at the sign to Glen Massan. We follow this road before following a track along the River Eachaig to reach Benmore Botanic Gardens.

Route 6A: Kennacraig to Callander

Within the garden grounds is Benmore House, completed in 1851 a year after the estate owner, John Lamont, died. His nephew inherited the estate but sold it and there were then various owners until the American, James Piers Patrick, bought it in 1862. He carried out extensive work on the house including the construction of the tower; he also developed the garden and planted the Redwood Avenue of Giant Sequoias in 1863. In 1889 the estate was bought by Henry Younger of the Edinburgh brewer Younger’s. With his son Harry, he made many improvements to the woods and gardens introducing many exotic shrubs and trees; then in 1924 Harry Younger gifted the estate to the nation. In 1929 the Younger Botanic Gardens were opened as the first outstation of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Benmore House itself was taken over in 1965 by the Edinburgh Corporation for use as a schools’ outdoor education centre. Now called Benmore Botanic Gardens they cover 120 acres on the mountainside and feature plants from all over the world. The entrance has golden gates, and beyond that is the avenue of 150-year-old giant redwoods leading into the actual gardens which are particularly spectacular in the spring when the rhododendrons are flowering.

We continue along a path beside the River Eachaig before crossing the A815 to head south on the east side of the road to Puck’s Glen. Puck’s Glen is a narrow gorge through which the Eas Mor stream tumbles down the hillside through a series of waterfalls. The stream, criss-crossed by bridges, is enclosed by rocky walls heavily hung with mosses and overshadowed by dense trees making it dark and atmospheric.

Leaving Puck’s Glen at the top of the ravine we head back north along the east side of Loch Eck, well above the lochside. Loch Eck is a freshwater loch which is popular for boating and kayaking as well as fishing for trout and salmon. Scotland’s rarest freshwater fish, the powan, lives in Loch Eck, surviving from the Ice Age it is protected and found only here and in Loch Lomond.

About halfway along we should be able to see a white farmhouse, on the opposite shore of Loch Eck, called Bernice Farmhouse, situated at the base of Bheinn Mhor mountain. This farmhouse was built in 1778 and is now part of Benmore Outdoor Centre as self-catering accommodation.

We descend to the side of Loch Eck at Whistlefield and walk along the road in a northerly direction before re-joining the Cowal Way at Glenbranter. A famous owner of Glenbranter House and estate was Sir Harry Lauder who was a famous comedian and singer. In 1911 he was the highest-paid performer in the world and was the first British artist to sell a million records. He was knighted in 1919 because of the vast amounts of money he raised for the war effort during World War 1. There is also a memorial here to his son, Captain John Lauder, of the 8th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who died during the same war.

The first trees were planted at Glenbranter in the 1920s when Sir Harry Lauder leased the ground to the Forestry Commission (now Forestry and Land Scotland), which became part of the Argyll Forest Park. During the 1930s the Ministry of Labour opened a work camp, called an Instructional Centre, where young unemployed men from the depressed industrial areas of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Glasgow were sent to work to try and harden them up and prepare them for work elsewhere. If they refused to go then their dole money was stopped. During World War 2 it became an Italian Prison of War Camp and HMS Pasco, a training base used by Combined Operations.

In the 1950s the Forestry Commission built the village of Glenbranter for the forest workers. Behind this village a car park is now situated on the original site of Glenbranter House, demolished in the 1960s after the Forestry Commission failed to maintain it. From this car park there are forestry walks ranging from a short stroll among ancient oaks to longer walks to take in the waterfalls in the Allt Robuic Gorge.

Still on the Cowal Way we now follow the River Cur until we reach Strachur. Strachur was originally called Kilmolash, thought to be a corruption of the name of the early church here, the ‘Church of St Molaise’. The name Strachur seems to come from the Gaelic ‘strath cur’, named for the River Cur. A diversion to Strachur will allow us to visit the Smiddy Museum where we enter a restored 18th century blacksmith smiddy (or workshop) with its forge, bellows, and anvil. The smiddy dates to 1791 and was worked by 4 generations of the Montgomery family before closing in the 1950s to later be restored in the 1990s by the Strachur Smiddy Trust.

Further along the road is the Strachur Church, built on the site of the earlier church in 1789 and set within an oval graveyard. Unusually, there are 11 sculptured grave slabs, most dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, which have been incorporated into the outer wall of the church. It is not known if they were added when the church was built in 1789 or when it was renovated in 1903. Nearby is Strachur House which dates from around 1770 and was built by General John Campbell, 17th Chief of MacArthur Campbells of Strachur. It has been extended over the years and, from 1957, was home to Sir John Fitzroy MacLean, the soldier, diplomat, and adventurer, who was said to have been the model for James Bond, Ian Fleming’s hero.

Retracing our steps south on the A815 we turn eastwards along the road signposted to Succoth towards Succothmore Farm. Before we reach Succothmore we cross the River Cur and head up the track through woodland following the Cowal Way markers. The path crosses open moorland and passes through more woodland before we reach Curra Lochain. The name of this lochan comes from the Gaelic meaning ‘heron’, but we are more likely to see dippers and diving birds. Following the outflow from Curra Lochain, we head down the Sruth Ban Burn towards Lochgoilhead which can be seen to our left and with great mountain views ahead. The Sruth Ban forms a series of waterfalls that we climb down before entering a forest and continuing down to Loch Goil.

We pass Lochgoilhead, which is a picturesque village, now popular as a holiday home centre famous for its outdoor pursuits, which originally developed in the 18th century with the arrival of the steamers. It used to be an important stopping point on the route from Glasgow to Inveraray; people would arrive here by boat from Glasgow, take a coach to St Catherine’s on Loch Fyne and then sail across Loch Fyne to arrive at Inveraray. Lochgoilhead is surrounded by the Arrochar Alps, a group of mountains, located around the head of Loch Goil as well as Loch Long and Loch Fyne.

Although we are not going to visit it on this trip, the renowned Rest and Be Thankful Viewpoint is 10 kilometres away, situated between Glen Croe and Glen Kinglas, at the highest point of the road. The Rest and Be Thankful is quite literally named as the place where travellers in olden times would stop, rest and be thankful that they had reached the top of their steep climb, before continuing to their destination. The original road, the old military road, was built by soldiers in the mid-18th century and a stone was erected as a permanent monument upon its completion in 1750, bearing the words ‘Rest and Be Thankful’. The A83, the current main road over the Rest and Be Thankful, has been closed many times recently due to landslides and when it is closed it used to mean a 95-kilometre diversion. Now though the 18th century old military road has been upgraded and is used as an alternative route, with vehicles using a convoy system as it is single track.

Back on our walk we now climb to the highest point on the Cowal Way, first through forest and then up to moorland, to a cairn which marks this high point between Brack and Cnoc Coinnich. From here we have views south towards Beinn Reithe and to Loch Long, Loch Goil and Gare Loch. We then descend to Loch Long reaching it at Ardgarten. Loch Long is a fjord-like sea loch stretching for 30 kilometres from the Firth of Clyde in the south-west, penetrating deep into the mountains towards Loch Lomond. In 1263 it was used by the Vikings to attack settlements around Loch Lomond. The Vikings pulled their boats out at Arrochar and crossed the isthmus to Loch Lomond at Tarbert (another isthmus, another place called Tarbert), where they sailed south to attack the settlements around the loch.

After walking along the loch for a short time the Cowal Way leaves the shore. We follow a track through forest, passing above the abandoned Loch Long torpedo range, used by the Royal Navy as a base for torpedo testing between 1912 and 1986. We then cross the path which climbs to the top of The Cobbler (Ben Arthur) and the Munros Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime. The path takes us into Arrochar where we turn left and head through Glen Loin, beside the Loin Water, with the slopes of Ben Vorlich ahead. After crossing the bridge over the Inveruglas Water we head east down to Loch Lomond reaching the A81 where we turn left. We pass Sloy Power Station, which is the largest conventional hydro-electric power station in the UK, before we reach Inveruglas, at the end of the Cowal Way.

At Inveruglas, we climb up the new 8-metre-tall wooden pyramid structure called An Ceann Mor, which means ‘large headland’ in Gaelic; a viewing platform with fantastic views across Loch Lomond and of Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps. It was built as part of the Scottish Scenic Routes Project, opening in 2015, and was the last of 4 installations to open in the area.

We head down to the pier at Inveruglas and catch the waterbus across to Inversnaid. Looking back at Inveruglas we get a good view of Sloy Power Station. The station takes water from Loch Sloy, at a height of 277 metres, through 4 large pipes down the mountainside. It was officially opened in 1950 and is normally on standby to generate electricity when there is a sudden demand and can reach full capacity within 5 minutes. As we cross to Inversnaid we pass the uninhabited island of Inveruglas Isle. On the island are the ruins of a 15th century castle, once home to the chiefs of the Clan MacFarlane which was destroyed in the 17th century by Oliver Cromwell’s troops.

Arriving at Inversnaid we take the Great Trossachs Path past the Arklet Falls, where the Arklet Burn falls into Loch Lomond. We cross a bridge spanning the top of the falls before following the burn upstream to Loch Arklet. We continue past Loch Arklet dam before walking through Glen Arklet above the north side of Loch Arklet. Looking back west over the loch we get stunning views of the Arrochar Alps including the Munros, Beinn Narnain, Beinn Ime and Ben Vane.

Soon we reach Stronalachar on the shores of Loch Katrine where the steamship, Sir Walter Scott, brings people here on cruises from Trossachs Pier at the far end of the loch. There is also an excellent tea shop where we can have a well-earned break. Just offshore is Factor’s Island, where Rob Roy MacGregor, the famous outlaw and chief of the clan, once imprisoned the Duke of Montrose’s factor in a long running dispute he had with the Duke. The island is now surrounded by a stone wall, to protect the island when the water level in Loch Katrine is raised during its use as a water supply for Glasgow.

The route now takes us around the northern end of Loch Katrine. At this point, we can see Glengyle House on the other side of the loch. It is in Glengyle that Rob Roy McGregor was born. We follow the road past the head of the loch before heading down the east side of the loch through natural woodlands of birch, oak, and beech. After passing Glengyle we reach Portnellan, then the burial ground of the MacGregors which juts out into the loch. Rob Roy MacGregor, however, is not buried here but is buried at Balqhuidder. After passing the house at Coilachra, we pass the site of an old schoolhouse which indicates that many people used to live here before the land was cleared of people to make way for sheep and deer. Keeping on the road we pass farms at Strone, Edra and Letter before reaching Brenachoile Point, a small grassy peninsula, which is a popular picnic site and has good views across to Ben Venue. Further along the road we pass Ellen's Isle, also known as Eilean Molach, which featured in Sir Walter Scott's epic poem, ‘Lady of the Lake’. It is partly due to the publication of ‘The Lady of the Lake’ and ‘Rob Roy’ by Sir Walter Scott which made the Trossachs a popular tourist destination in the 19th century.

The first pleasure craft on Loch Katrine was the Water Witch which was manned and powered by 8 men who rowed the boat dressed in full Highland costume. In 1843 the first steamer, the Gypsy, arrived. There was great competition between the 2 vessels, but the manpower of the Water Witch was faster than the steam power of the Gypsy. Soon after the arrival of the Gypsy, it disappeared and was later found at the bottom of the loch. The crew of the Water Witch were suspected but nothing could be proved.

In 1900 the SS Sir Walter Scott was built, and she is now the last surviving steam screw steamer in regular service in Scotland. The engines are powered by steam which used to be generated using coal but was changed in 2007 to burn biofuel, making it very environmentally friendly. As well as the Sir Walter Scott there are now 3 other cruise vessels leaving the Trossachs Pier on Loch Katrine.

At the east end of Loch Katrine is a dam, part of the Loch Katrine water scheme which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859. As part of the opening, a cottage was built for Queen Victoria to stay in overnight but, unfortunately, the 21-gun salute blew all the windows of the cottage out, so she was unable to stay! The scheme was built under the guidance of the civil engineer John Bateman and was designed to take water from Loch Katrine, by gravity, to the Milngavie and Balmore Water Treatment Works before being supplied to people across Greater Glasgow and west central Scotland. The aqueduct and tunnel network are constructed at a gradient of 158mm per 1 kilometre and the network is in 2 parts: the first 41.5 kilometres long, between Loch Katrine and the Mugdock Reservoir and the second part is 13 kilometres long between Mugdock and Glasgow. The water scheme is still in use today although over the years the water level of Loch Katrine has had to be raised to cope with the demand.

Leaving Loch Katrine, we follow the Great Trossachs Path, crossing the Achray Water before heading towards Loch Achray.