Day 71: Ruthven Barracks, Badenoch to Anagach Wood, Moray

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

16th March 2021: 87.05km walked today taking the total to 7306.98/8868km. 13.5% of 88 entries submitting 644.81km.

We journey northwards today through Kingussie, Newtonmore and the heart of Cairngorm National Park, Aviemore and Carrbridge en route to Grantown-on-Spey.

Route 21: Inverness to Aberdeen

Rejoining the road we soon reach Ruthven Barracks. These barracks were built by King George II’s Government between 1719 and 1721, following the Jacobite Rising of 1715, on the site of the medieval castles of the Comyns and the Gordons. They were built to house men to police the area. During the later Jacobite Rising, the Jacobites captured it on their second attempt in February 1746. It was here, after their defeat at the Battle of Culloden on April 16th, 1746, that the remainder of the Jacobite army regrouped awaiting word from Bonnie Prince Charlie. When they received his message it said, ‘Let every man seek his own safety in the best way he can’. The Jacobites dispersed and destroyed the barracks as they left.

We are now following the East Highland Way which goes under the A9 before crossing the River Spey. We then go through woodland before we turn left on a track to follow a path along the River Spey heading west. We turn right when we reach the wildcat trail and enter the Highland Folk Museum.

The Highland Folk Museum originated in 1935 on Iona and was started by Isabel F Grant who began collecting artefacts from Highland life. It moved to a disused church in Laggan before arriving at a 3-acre site in Kingussie, where it opened to the public in June 1944 becoming Britain’s first open air museum. In the early 1980s the museum, which was now owned by Highland Council, acquired an 80-acre site in Newtonmore. This site is divided into four main areas, Aultarie Croft, a 1930s croft, Balameanach, with buildings from the early 20th century, the Pinewoods, an area of woodland, and ‘Baile Gean’, the reconstruction of an early 1700s Highland township. These areas allow visitors to experience life in the Highlands from the 1700s up to the 1950s with staff dressed in period costume. The school featured in the museum is Knockbain School, originally built in 1925 at Knockbain, near Inverness. When it closed it was re-erected here and is set out as it would have been in the 1930s. The museum holds special events including an Outlander Day each year and was also used in the filming of Outlander for the Season 1 ‘Rent’ episode.

Newtonmore itself, whose name translates as ‘big new town’, only began to grow after 1750, with the biggest growth in the early 1800s as a result of the clearances. This growth also coincided with the bridge built over the River Spey in 1808, the road built by Thomas Telford in 1817 which linked Kingussie to Fort William, and the main Inverness to Perth road which was also initially routed through the village. With the arrival of the railway in 1863, hotels were built to house all the visitors. Other places to see in the village are St Bride’s Church built in 1900, which is of an unusual design, and there is also the Clan Macpherson Museum. A new attraction is the Wildcat Experience where there are over 130 model wildcats to search for. They are placed throughout the village and are all painted differently. Examples of these wildcats are the shinty wildcat, puss in boots wildcat and the patchwork wildcat.

Leaving Newtonmore on the East Highland Way, we walk to Kingussie which is only 3 kilometres along the road from Newtonmore. In 1799 the Duke of Gordon decided that a village was needed so Kingussie was built as a planned village. Kingussie is the traditional capital of Badenoch and, when it was founded, it was surrounded by a vast pine forest which is where its name comes from, the Gaelic ‘Ceann a' Ghiuthsaich’ which means ‘Head of the Pine Forest’. Like Newtonmore, Kingussie grew more quickly when the new bridge was built over the River Spey in 1808, new roads were built, and people were moved off the land to make way for sheep. The arrival of the railway increased the size of the village and it became a tourist destination. Both Newtonmore and Kingussie are well known for their shinty teams, with fierce rivalry between them. Kingussie is where the governing body for the sport was formed.

We leave Kingussie by following the B9152 which runs beside the railway line. This tree-lined road passes through the small hamlet of Lynchat before reaching the entrance to the Highland Wildlife Park. This is run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and has a drive through area as well an area to walk around on foot. There are many native species in the park such as the capercaillie and the Scottish wildcat but there are also animals from further away such as Amur tigers, reindeer, buffalo, Przewalski horses, wolves and polar bears.

We walk from the Wildlife Park to Kincraig and pass Loch Insh again, but this time we take the East Highland Way east towards Feshiebridge. It follows the road until the path turns left and we walk through the Frank Bruce Sculpture Park. The sculptures by Frank Bruce, who lived in Aviemore until his death in 2009, are mainly made from reclaimed wood. He didn’t sell his work, as he said that they should be available to the public free of charge, and so was happy when they were located at Feshiebridge under the care of the Frank Bruce Sculpture Trust. He wanted to allow his sculptures to age and decay underlining his belief that his art should be part of the natural cycle of birth, life and death. Some of the sculptures have now decayed to such an extent that they have been laid flat on the ground as they were becoming dangerous.

From here we walk to Feshiebridge where we cross over the River Feshie. The East Highland Way takes us through Inshriach forest, a plantation of Scots pines, which is important for the capercaillie, before reaching a more mixed forest of Scots pines, birches and regenerating woodland. After crossing the Allt Coire Follais, we now enter the Rothiemurchus Forest which covers about 30 square kilometres and is one of the largest surviving areas of ancient woodland in Europe. These forests support many species that are rare elsewhere in Britain, including red squirrels, pine marten, wood ants, Scottish crossbill and the crested tit.

We soon reach Loch Gamhna, before reaching Loch an Eilean, which translates from Gaelic as ‘Loch of the Island’. We turn left here to walk round the very picturesque loch, passing a castle on an island. The original building is thought to have been built in the 13th century on the south end of the island and then the Wolf of Badenoch in 1380 built a tower house on the north end of the island. After the Battle of Culloden, the widow of the 5th Laird of Grant, a Jacobite, sheltered some of the men. The island used to be bigger than it is now and there used to be a causeway which linked the castle to the shore. The causeway disappeared in the 1770s, when the water level was raised so that timber could be floated down to the Spey.

We keep walking around the loch, past the visitor centre and a ruined lime kiln, before crossing the outflow from the loch over a footbridge. Following the path around the loch we pass a cottage before turning left to head towards Loch Morlich. The track through the pine forest is amazing with its patches of purple heather, junipers and birches and takes us to Achnagoichan, before turning towards Lochan Deo. Here we join ‘The Thieves Road’, which was a route said to have been used by cattle reivers, who would sneak down into Strathspey to steal cattle. The track continues until we reach the Cairngorm Club Footbridge on the route through the Lairig Ghru, between Aviemore and Braemar. The bridge was built by the Cairngorm Club in 1912 and crosses the Am Beanaidh. At the next junction, called Piccadilly, we head straight across before meeting the access road to Rothiemurchus Lodge. Here we turn left along the track before turning right towards Loch Morlich. On reaching Loch Morlich we turn right and follow the path round the southside of the loch. Loch Morlich is an Ice Age feature known as a kettle hole where as a glacier melts it leaves a depression in the landscape which then fills up with water.

At the east end of the loch, we cross the fast-flowing Abhain Ruigh-eunachan, before crossing another stream to reach the beach on Loch Morlich. This is a popular place to go swimming or take part in water sports.

From here there are fantastic views of the Cairngorm Mountains. The Cairngorms consists of a high plateaux at about 1000–1200 metres above sea level, above which domed summits rise to almost 1300 metres. Five of the mountains in the Cairngorms are over 4000 feet (over 1200 metres): Ben Macdui, Braeriach, Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochan Uaine and Cairn Gorm itself.

Due to the high plateau, the Cairngorms form an arctic-alpine mountain environment with long lasting snow patches. This means that it has wildlife characteristic of this environment and is home to birds such as ptarmigan, dotterels and snow buntings and mammals such as the mountain hare.

Cairn Gorm also features one of Scotland’s ski centres. Unfortunately, the funicular railway which ferried hundreds of skiers and tourists up the mountain has been closed, and it is not known if it will be reopened.

From Loch Morlich, we cross the road to visit the Reindeer Centre in Glenmore. Reindeer were introduced here in 1952 and there is a herd of free ranging reindeer on the north side of Cairn Gorm. Once a day people can visit the reindeer out on the hill to hand feed them, stroke them and take photos. However, although we don’t have the time to visit them out on the hill, we will still be able to see a small group of reindeer which are cared for down at the Reindeer Centre itself. The reindeer here are continually switched with the reindeer on the hill and are usually chosen as the ones who might benefit from a slightly easier life.

From Glenmore we could take a walk past Glenmore Lodge, the national outdoor training centre up towards the Ryvoan Pass and visit the An Lochan Uaine. The water in this small loch is green and legend has it that this is because pixies wash their clothes in the loch. The real reason it is so green isn’t known.

From the Reindeer Centre we take the old logging way back towards Aviemore, but first of all we will stop at the Glenmore Shop and cafe. This is a wonderful place to watch the birds and red squirrels on the feeders outside the windows. After leaving the café, we rejoin the old logging way which runs parallel to the road on the north side. Near Coylumbridge the old logging route crosses the road and then runs parallel to the road on the south side. Just after the Rothiemurchus Camp and Caravan Park, we turn left and head south on the path back into Rothiemurchus Forest towards Tullochgrue. Past Bennieside Cottage we turn right and when we reach the road, we turn right towards Upper Tullochgrue Farm. Before we reach the cattle grid, there is a large pine tree on our right. This is the pine tree that is used in the Rothiemurchus Logo.

We continue down the road until we reach Blackpark, where we turn left to go to Lochan Mor. This loch is nicknamed the ‘Lily Loch’, as it is covered in the summer by water lilies. There are ruined crofts on the loch shore, and it is a great loch to see waterfowl such as the goldeneye duck. We retrace our steps on the East Highland Way, passing in and out of the pinewoods before we reach Inverdruie. At Inverdruie there is the Rothiemurchus Estate Cafe and Visitor Centre. We pass by Treezone Aviemore, which is a high ropes adventure course, before passing a small white church, St John’s the Baptist, a Scottish Episcopal Church. St John’s began near its existing site in the ‘Tin Tabernacle’ before this church began construction in 1913 through John Grant, the 11th Laird of Rothiemurchus. It wasn’t completed until 1930 due to World War 1 and the architect, Sir Ninian Comper, insisted that there should be no stained-glass windows ‘lest they should interfere with the glory of the surrounding trees’.

After we leave the church, we soon reach Rothiemurchus Fishery. This is a great place to learn to fly fish if you’ve never done it before, or you can just go in and feed the fish! Past the fishery we follow the path over an old iron bridge over the Spey. On the far side of the bridge, we turn right along a minor road and then pass underneath the railway line to reach the main road through Aviemore.

We walk along the main street in Aviemore, past cafes and shops, before arriving at the ring cairn and stone circle towards the north end of Aviemore. It was probably built about 4000 years ago but is now almost surrounded by a housing estate.

On leaving the ring cairn and stone circle we head north out of Aviemore on the Speyside Way which runs parallel to the main road.

Soon the path turns east away from the road and passes close to Aviemore Kart Raceway before going underneath the railway and following the railway line north. At Loch nan Carraigean we start to follow the Pine Marten Trail before turning off left and following the path to Loch Vaa.

Loch Vaa is a picturesque loch renowned for its fishing but has been in the news recently because of what has happened to the water levels over the last year or so. Loch Vaa is spring fed but, in May 2019, the water level dropped markedly, losing nearly 160 million litres of water causing the water level to drop about 1.5 metres, its lowest level in 750 years. Later in the year it had recovered to its normal level before, in April 2020, rising an extra 2.5 metres, the highest level it had reached in decades. This happened even though it had been a very dry April and not a particularly wet or snowy winter. Nobody knows why this has happened, especially as it hasn’t happened to the nearby Avie Lochan which is also spring fed.

We head away from Loch Vaa to the north along a track, before reaching the A95 which we follow until we reach the Deshar Road which heads into Boat of Garten. At this point we turn left on a track up to Docharn farm house which is now uninhabited. If we look back from here, we should have great views across to the Cairngorms. Continuing along the path we reach Docharn woodland, a mix of pine and birch, before reaching the B9135 that the path runs parallel to. We then cross the road and turn right when we reach the railway line.

Continuing north on the path we pass behind the Landmark Forest Park before reaching Carrbridge itself. Landmark Forest Park is an adventure park for all ages with lots of things to do including nature trails, a treetop trail and forest walks, as well as amusement park-type rides and interactive exhibitions.

Carrbridge was established where the main Perth to Inverness route crossed the River Dulnain, a tributary of the River Spey. In Carrbridge there are the remains of a ‘packhorse’ bridge, the oldest surviving in the Highlands. Its original purpose was as a ‘coffin’ bridge, as before it was built in 1717, it was nearly impossible to carry the deceased from the town to the cemetery over the river at Duthil when the River Dulnain was running high. It was severely damaged due to the Muckle Spate, a great flood which happened in August 1829, so what we see today is what was left after this 1829 flood. The railway arrived in Carrbridge in 1894 on the main line from Perth to Inverness and so, like a lot of other places in the area, it grew to meet the needs of the tourists who came here by train.

We leave Carrbridge to head east along the A938 passing Duthil village, with its parish church and its cemetery, where people from Carrbridge used to be buried. This is now the Clan Grant Heritage Centre. The first recorded church was built around 1400 and was dedicated to St Peter. The existing church was built in 1826 and closed in 1967. The Grants of Castle Grant have had their burial place at Duthil since the late 16th century and there are 2 mausoleums for their family in the churchyard.

From here we soon arrive at Dulnain Bridge, meaning ‘Bridge of the Floody River’. It consists of 2 communities, Dulnain Bridge itself and Skye of Curr. The village is centred round the River Dulnain which passes through the village in a deep gorge. To the south is the Speyside Centre which is now being rebuilt after a devastating fire in 2016. It used to be called the Speyside Heather Centre as it specialised in heath plants and heathers, but it is going to be more than a garden centre with a tea room when it reopens, as it will include a wildlife viewing area and the Peat Reek Visitor Experience.

After leaving Dulnain Bridge on the A95 we pass the Roches Moutonnees. These are classic erosion features that show in which direction the ice moved when the area was covered by a glacier. They have a distinctive whale back shape with a steeper drop off at one end.

Continuing along the A95 we arrive back in Grantown-on-Spey before rejoining the Speyside Way through Anagach Wood. This is a beautiful natural Scots pinewood and is home to the capercaillie. The woods were originally planted in 1766, with trees from the nearby Abernethy Forest, but the woods were allowed to regenerate naturally in the early 19th century and are now self-seeding.