Day 70: Nairn, Inverness-shire to Insh Marshes, Speyside

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

15th March 2021: 108.65km walked today taking the total to 7219.93/8868km. 14% of 96 entries submitting 776.1km.

Today we explore Nairn before reaching Forres and then walking the Dava Way to Grantown-on-Spey. We then join the Speyside Way and walk through Aviemore before reaching Loch Insh.

Route 21: Inverness to Aberdeen

Arriving on the outskirts of Nairn, we continue along a track which takes us through the Nairn Golf Club (1887) onto the seafront. Once an ancient fishing port dating back to the 4th century, and a market town, 2 communities developed in Nairn: the Doric speaking farmers and fisherfolk, and the Gaelic speaking Highlanders. The Battle of Auldearn took place near here in 1645, a conflict which was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms taking place between the Royalists and the Covenanters; the Covenanters lost. The town was also split in another way as it developed with the fishertown down by the harbour, built by Thomas Telford, with its cramped narrow lanes, and the grand Victorian houses in the west end. Nairn has enjoyed a reputation as a seaside resort since the 1860s, now also has award-winning beaches and two 18-hole championship golf courses. In fact, Nairn’s sandy beaches were used extensively in training exercises for the Normandy landings during World War 2.

The town annually hosts the Nairn International Jazz Festival and the Nairn Book and Arts Festival. The biggest Highland games in the north started in 1867 and are still held here. Claims to fame? The Duke of Cumberland is believed to have stayed here the night before the Battle of Culloden. Charlie Chaplin holidayed every summer here staying in the Newton Hotel. William Whitelaw, deputy Prime Minister 1979–88, was born in Nairn and the family have a street named after them. Historical fiction writer for young adults, Frances M Hendry, lives here, as does actress Tilda Swinton.

We walk along the seafront passing West Links onto The Links, passing the children’s play area and large green with the Wallace bandstand, erected in 1884 as a gift from John Wallace who emigrated to Australia, and where Fort George military bands used to play during the summer months. Enjoying the dune-backed beaches and views over the Moray Firth to the Black Isle, we arrive in the harbour area, with Fishertown directly behind it, home to fishing boats and leisure craft facilities these days. The harbour was constructed between 1818-1825 under the direction of Thomas Telford and led to the straightening of the mouth of the River Nairn. Nairn Museum, which we don’t pass today, talks more about the local history of the area.

We wander around the harbour area, passing the ‘Nairn Fishwife’ sculpture, erected for the Highland Year of Culture in 2007. Sculpted by Ginny Hutchison and Charles Engebretson, it is based on one of Nairn’s last fishwives, Annie Ralph. Fishwives had huge responsibilities, as the inscription on the sculpture indicates:

‘In Nairn, when the fishing industry was at its height in the late 19th century, the fishwife played a very important role within the community. As well as being responsible for caring for house and family, she also gathered bait, baited lines, gathered durkins (pine cones for smoking fish), prepared and smoked fish, including the famous "Nairn Spelding", then sold them throughout the local area from the creel on her back.’

From the harbour we cross over the River Nairn, to pass through the Nairn Lochloy Caravan Site running alongside the Nairn Dunbar Golf Course (1899) to reach the RSPB Culbin Sands Nature Reserve. Shaped by the tide and the wind, the sand bars of Culbin and Nairn are an ever-changing habitat. Alongside the dunes are salt marshes, mudflats, shingle and mussel beds which support an array of common and rare varieties of flora and fauna. A man-made addition is the anti-glider poles, which look like telegraph poles sticking up out of the sand. They were installed in 1940 to prevent enemy glider planes landing on the beach during World War 2. They stretch for 9 kilometres and are the largest Scheduled Monument on an RSPB Reserve. We walk along the sands for a short while before heading over the dunes into Lochloy Woods, part of the larger Culbin Forest, following the trails past Loch Loy.

From the edge of Culbin Forest we head to Brodie Castle which is now looked after by the National Trust for Scotland. It was the ancestral home of the Brodie clan for over 400 years, the castle originally built in 1567 on land given to the Brodies by King Robert the Bruce. It is a Z- plan turreted tower house covered in rose-pink lime harling. Inside the castle there are priceless antiques and unusual objects.

In the grounds there are woodland walks to explore and if you come back in the Spring the Brodie Estate is home to the National Daffodil Collection with over 100 species of daffodil.

Also in the grounds is the Playful Garden, a wonderful family attraction, including a giant rabbit sculpture, mirrors, water and musical instruments.

On leaving the castle grounds, we see the Pictish monument known as ‘Rodney’s Stone’ which was originally discovered in the churchyard in the nearby village of Dyke in 1781. It was moved to the village in 1782 and named the Rodney Stone, to celebrate the victory of Admiral Rodney over the French fleet in the West Indies that year. It was moved to Brodie Castle in the 1830s. The stone itself is just under 2 metres high and on the front, there is a beautifully carved cross, while the rear has 3 sets of carvings including a pair of fish monsters and an elephant. It also has an inscription in Ogham, an early alphabet, which is thought to contain the name ‘Eddarrnonn’.

Near Brodie Castle is a small hill known locally as ‘Macbeth’s Hillock’ where Macbeth is said to have encountered the witches who told him of his rise to be King and about his future demise.

From Brodie Castle we could detour to Brodie Countryfare where there is a fantastic gift shop and cafe before heading along the A96 to Forres.

Just before we reach Forres we cross the River Findhorn on a bridge built in 1938. The river was originally crossed at a ford near Waterford Farm. Forres became a Royal Burgh in 1140 and is one of Scotland’s oldest towns. Forres used to have a royal residence, Forres Castle in the 1100s but nothing now remains, and where it was situated is now a public park. Forres was granted a Royal Charter by King James IV of Scotland in 1496.

Forres used to be the area’s main market town, evidenced by the widened part of the high street where the market used to be, the tolbooth built in 1838 and the mercat cross built in 1844. We pass the Falconer Museum, named after Hugh Falconer, who came from Forres and was a renowned botanist, geologist and palaeontologist. This museum details Moray’s distant and more recent past. Just north of here is the smallest distillery in Speyside, the Benromach Distillery and visitor centre. Continuing east we reach Sueno’s Stone, a 7-metre tall Pictish cross slab covered in Pictish art. It was discovered in 1726 and was named at that time after Sweyn Forkbeard. It is now encased in armoured glass to prevent further erosion and it also being covered in graffiti.

Heading back into Forres we pass Grant Park, where Forres House was located until it burned down in 1971 and is now the site of a sunken garden. The flower displays here highlight the town’s success over the years in the ‘Britain in Bloom’ and ‘Scotland in Bloom’ competitions. At the top of Grant Park, on Cluny Hill, is Nelson’s Tower, built as a memorial to Admiral Lord Nelson and opened on Trafalgar Day, 21st October 1812. From the top of the tower there are great views over Forres and over to Findhorn Bay.

From Grant Park we now follow the Dava Way towards Grantown-on-Spey. Following Sanquhar Road we pass Sanquhar Loch before reaching the disused railway line which used to carry trains from Forres to Grantown on Spey. We follow this disused line out of Forres and soon reach the Dallas Dhu Distillery, meaning ‘Black Water Valley’ in Gaelic, which closed in 1983 before it was taken over by Historic Scotland. Historic Scotland reopened it in 1988 as a visitor attraction showing the process of whisky making in the 1900s.

The Dava Way continues along a railway embankment before crossing the Burn of Mosset which can be seen far below. Not long after we cross over the road to Rafford we leave the disused railway line for a time (to avoid a flooded cutting) and follow the path through woodland until we reach Squirrel Neuk Bridge. Here we use the steps to reach the old railway track again and pass under an arch of the turreted Scurrypool Bridge. The line crosses the Altyre Burn using a new bridge, which was installed when the Dava Way was opened, as the original one was removed when the railway was closed. At another bridge at Peathillock we can walk down to Randolph’s Leap, where the River Findhorn is channelled through a narrow ravine.

The name Randolph’s Leap came about because in the 14th century the land on the west side of the river was owned by Thomas Randolph, the Earl of Moray, and the land on the east was owned by Sir Alexander Cummings and his sons. The Cummings family held the post of ranger of the Forest of Darnaway but, when the Randolphs and the Cummings fell out, the Cummings were told to stay away from Darnaway. The eldest Cummings son, Alastair, objected and brought a force of men to Darnaway, where they were ambushed and forced to retreat. Alastair Cummings and 3 of his men found themselves backed up to the River Findhorn, and as it is only 3 metres across at this point, Cummings and his men leapt across. It should, therefore, really be called Cumming’s Leap rather than Randolph’s Leap.

Still on the old railway track we reach the Divie Viaduct which was built in the 1860s at a cost of £10,000. It has 7 arches and is 52 metres high. There is a great view from the viaduct down to the River Divie below.

We pass through Bantrach Wood before we reach the moorland, Dava Moor. We pass below the eastern slopes of the Knock of Braemory before reaching the village of Dava itself. At Dava, the Dava Way deviates from the old railway line to avoid private houses before rejoining it again. The Dava Way crosses more moorland before almost reaching the main road, the A939. Near here is the Jesus Saves stone. This is a boulder painted white with the words ‘Jesus Saves’. The most popular legend involves a retired missionary from Africa, who painted it at the beginning of the 1900s as an expression of her faith. When she died the Keeper of the Stone position was handed on and for over 100 years the words have been repainted in secrecy. It has to be repainted fairly frequently, as it is often vandalised.

Soon on the right we pass Loch Mhic Leoid, before we reach the summit of the climb at 320 metres. We then pass a wooden sculpture of a ‘Redcoat’, placed here to commemorate the Battle of Cromdale which took place in 1690 between the British and the Jacobites. This battle took place not far from the Dava Way at Cromdale and was the final battle of the first Jacobite Rising when there was an attempt to restore James VII to the throne.

Soon we leave the moor to go through woodlands, where we leave the railway line for a short time before rejoining it near Castle Grant. Castle Grant sits on a hill known as Freuchie Hillock and the castle was originally called Freuchie Castle, Freuchie meaning ‘Heathery Place’. It was built at the beginning of the 15th century and was the home of the Comyn’s before Ludovic Grant obtained a Crown Charter to rule the lands in 1694. He changed the name to Castle Grant, and it became the ancestral seat of Clan Grant. In 1765 it was rebuilt as a mansion for the then laird, Sir James Grant. It fell into disrepair and, by 1950, was no longer the clan seat. It has since been renovated and is in private ownership.

Continuing on the disused railway line, we turn off it at Wester Dreggie where we turn left and follow Seafield Avenue into Grantown-on-Spey, the capital of Strathspey.

The original settlement in the area was at Cromdale (which we will visit later) which is 3 kilometres east of Grantown-on-Spey and dates back over 1000 years. However, a new bridge was built over the River Spey in 1754, up-river from Cromdale, when the military road was built to join Corgaff Castle with Fort George. It was here, where the bridge for the military road crossed the Spey and the road from Aviemore joined, that Sir James Grant, ‘Good Sir James’, decided to build a town while he was rebuilding Castle Grant. He built it mainly to rehouse tenants who had lost their land due to his agricultural reorganisation. The town was started in 1766 and was built to a plan where the houses were constructed around a central green. Many of the houses were built of grey stone along wide tree-lined avenues. The town was named after him, with the ‘on-Spey’ suffix added when the town became a burgh in 1898. In 1863 2 competing railway lines arrived in the town and these helped to establish the town as a tourist destination. There is a museum in the town which tells the stories of the town, from its founding until the Victorian times when it became a tourist retreat.

Heading out of Grantown-on-Spey we head south, before joining the Speyside Way which goes through part of Anagach Wood, a natural Scots pine forest. We cross a road before we reach a path on the north side of the River Spey and turn east, walking along the path beside the river. We soon reach the bridge where the old military road crosses the river and we rejoin the Speyside Way. This bridge was the one completed in 1754 by Major William Caufield and soldiers of the 33rd regiment, completed over 10 years before the first houses were actually built in Grantown-on-Spey. Crossing the bridge to the south side of the river, we follow the road, crossing the A95 before we arrive at the Speyside Smokehouse. Past the smokehouse we reach another disused old railway line which the Speyside Way follows. We pass Balliefurth, which means the ‘homestead of the ferry’ as this was where there used to be a ferry which would take people across the Spey, before we reach Ballintomb, the rallying ground of the local Clan Grant.

Passing birch woods, we pass Balliemore before passing Abernethy Golf Course to arrive at Nethy Bridge. The village was originally called Abernethy, but when the railway arrived here in the 1860s there was already an Abernethy, so it was renamed Nethy Bridge. The name is derived from the River Nethy, a tributary of the River Spey and the arched Telford bridge which was built in 1810.

From Nethy Bridge, we walk through the Abernethy National Nature Reserve, which is famous for its birdlife, particularly crested tits. The Speyside Way continues through the wood before reaching the road which goes to Loch Garten. We can make a detour here to visit the RSPB Osprey Centre at Loch Garten to see the ospreys which nest there. Otherwise, we continue along the path which runs beside the road, past 2 small ponds before crossing the Spey to reach Boat of Garten. Boat of Garten did not exist until the opening of the railway station in 1866. It was named Boat of Garten after the chain-operated ferry that ran across the River Spey at Gartenmore. The Boat of Garten Railway Station closed in 1965, but has since reopened as it is used by the Strathspey Railway Company which operates a steam train between Aviemore and Broomhill.

From Boat of Garten the Speyside Way goes through woodland, alongside the Strathspey railway track before crossing heather moorland with only a few sparse birch trees. We pass the Spey Valley Golf Course before arriving in Aviemore.

Aviemore is another town where the railway caused significant growth to the town when it arrived in the 1860s. The second major growth of the town occurred with the development of the Cairngorm Ski Area in the 1960s. Unfortunately, at the time of the development of the Aviemore Centre concrete was in fashion and it has only recently been changed for the better. Aviemore is a centre for outdoor activities with walking, cycling, skiing and fishing being amongst the most popular activities.

Heading down the main street we reach the roundabout at the end and follow the road for 500 metres, before turning left under the railway line where the path then turns right and follows the railway line. Crossing the Allt na Criche, we will be able to see the memorial to the Duke of Gordon on the summit of the hill, Torr Alvie. If we had time to walk up to the monument, we would first pass the Waterloo Cairn, erected by the Marquis of Huntly in 1815 in memory of the men of the Gordon Highlanders who fell at the Battle of Waterloo. We would then reach the Duke of Gordon Memorial which is over 25 metres in height and commemorates the last Duke of Gordon who died in 1836.

Continuing south through birch woodlands we pass close to Alvie Church, which sits at the edge of Loch Alvie. The church was renovated in 1880, after it had seen many changes since its first recorded date of 1380. During this renovation, the cobbled floor was removed and the remains of 150 bodies were discovered. It was thought that they may have been the victims of a battle, but no weapons were found with them.

We soon pass Dalraddy Campsite, owned by Alvie and Dalraddy Estates which are 2 family-owned traditional Highland estates which extend from the Monadhliath Hills across the River Spey to the Cairngorms National Park. In the estate there is a zip wire trail, and we could also try clay pigeon shooting, archery and horse riding. Alvie House is not far away, an Edwardian shooting lodge dating back to the mid-19th century.

At this point we divert onto the Badenoch Way as it has better views over the River Spey. At Kincraig we keep on the Badenoch Way, crossing over the River Spey on a timber and steel bridge built in 1874. The historic name here is Boat of Insh, which suggests that there used to be a ferryboat at this spot. Just over the bridge, we pass Loch Insh with its outdoor centre where you can take part in water sports such as kayaking, canoeing and windsurfing. We then walk along paths through the grounds of the centre along the shore of Loch Insh before heading to the road. Crossing the road, we pick up the path which runs parallel to the road before it turns left, and we head uphill towards Farleitter Hill. The Badenoch Way then descends towards the village of Insh and then passes through Inveruglas and Drumguish before crossing the road at Tromie Bridge. Following the River Tromie, we pass the Speyside Distillery which is on the other side of the river. The Speyside Distillery was originally a barley mill and croft which closed in 1965, and instead was converted to a single malt distillery which started producing whisky in 1990. The distillery takes its water from the River Tromie, a tributary of the River Spey, using the old mill lade which originally ran the waterwheel that powered the old mill. The distillery was bought by Harvey’s of Edinburgh in 2012 which safeguards the distillery’s future.

The path now goes alongside Insh Marshes which cover 10 square kilometres of the River Spey floodplain and is owned by the RSPB. These marshes are important for wildlife, as it is the largest area of floodplain in the UK which has not been improved and so can flood several times a year. There are hides for seeing the birds, such as lapwings, redshanks and curlews and other wildlife such as roe deer and foxes.