Day 80: Dalruzion Forest, Perth & Kinross to Aberlemno, Tayside

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

25th March 2021: 102.58km walked today taking the total to 8189.11/8868km. 20% of 70 entries submitting 512.89km.

Today our walk takes us past the 8000km mark. We visit Blairgowrie, Alyth and Kirriemuir as well as Glamis Castle, Forfar and the standing stones at Aberlemno.

Route 22: Aberdeen to St Andrews

We soon reach the A93 which we follow south passing Dalrulzion Forest where there are the remains of double-walled Iron Age houses. This form of Iron Age house building style is called a Dalrulzion hut because there were so many examples of this ancient building found within this forest. After another 7 kilometres, we reach the Bridge of Cally. This is a small village which sits at the junction of 3 glens: Glenshee, Strathardle and Glenericht. It is built around the bridge over the River Ardle before it joins the Black Water to form the River Ericht.

After crossing the bridge, we pass the Bridge of Cally Hotel which was originally a temperance establishment where alcohol only started to be served in the 1960s. Just after the hotel, we rejoin the Cateran Trail through woodland before turning left to walk to Blairgowrie. Climbing out of Strathardle we soon cross level moorland before descending to the Lornty Burn which we cross at the Bridge of Drummad. We turn left here to follow the Lornty Burn east. The walk then climbs to the top of the Knockie, a great viewpoint over Blairgowrie and the River Ericht as well as to the Drumderg Wind Farm.

From the Knockie we walk downhill and then turn left to walk back to the Lornty Burn. It is worth taking a look at the Lornty Bridge as it has been built 3 times with one structure built on top of the other. The original, built in about 1725, was the only road crossing in this locality on the way north, used by the former Military Road until Brig O’ Blair was constructed in 1777.

Just below the bridge is one of the weirs which was used to channel water to water wheels to drive the mills. This is the last on the Lornty Burn before it joins the River Ericht. We then pass Brooklinn Mill which dates from the early 19th century, now converted to a house, before we pass some old mill workers cottages.

The track goes down the side of the River Ericht and we soon reach a wooden footbridge that we cross to see a weir upstream, as well as some of the textile mills on each side of the river, which made Blairgowrie prosperous. Blairgowrie’s growth owed a lot to the strength of the River Ericht waters which was used to power the mills. By 1860 there were 11 mills, 8 of which were turning flax into linen and 3 processing jute; in total, they employed 1600 people. On the other side of the footbridge is Keathbank Jute Mill which was the 12th mill to be built in 1870, at which time it had the largest water wheel in Scotland. It has now been converted into apartments.

As the power of the River Ericht was limited and not sufficient to drive heavy power looms, the mills here concentrated on the spinning of thread. However, the industry began to decline at the start of the 20th century, mainly due to competition from mills in India where labour costs were much lower. The Ericht mills became more uneconomical and began to close. There were minor booms during the 2 World Wars but the last working mills on the River Ericht were forced to shut in 1979. One of these derelict mills is Oakbank Mill which can be seen on the west side of the footbridge.

Continuing down along the west bank of the River Ericht, we soon reach a path on our left which goes down to a viewing platform at Cargill’s Leap. Donald Cargill, who was a local minister and Covenanter, escaped from troops who were pursuing him by leaping over the falls below. The Covenanters were Presbyterians, who signed a National Covenant in 1638 to allow them to continue their way of worship, but this led to their persecution by Charles II. Although Cargill escaped at this point, he was eventually captured and executed.

Following the path down the side of the River Ericht, we reach the town of Blairgowrie itself. When Glenshee Ski Centre opened, Blairgowrie took advantage of the fact that it was en route, so hotels and ski shops were opened. Other leisure developments took place, particularly in golf. Blairgowrie Golf Club had their first meeting on 26th February 1889, where it was said that a suitable piece of ground for golf had been found close to Black Loch belonging to the Dowager Marchioness of Lansdowne. This first course was called the Lansdowne Course. Since then, the golf club has developed 2 18-hole championship courses and a 9-hole course.

Blairgowrie is also at the centre of the Scottish soft fruit industry, particularly raspberries and strawberries. This has become an important part of the town’s economy with large quantities of fruit dispatched to markets and jam factories throughout Britain.

If we had time, we would go to see Newton Castle on the outskirts to the west side of Blairgowrie. This is a 17th-century z-plan castle, built on the site of a mid-1500s castellated manor house that burned down. The castle is home to Sir William Allan MacPherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, chief of Clan MacPherson. The castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Jean Drummond, who died after making a pact with a local witch.

Also nearby is Ardblair Castle. The lands of Ardblair were granted to the Blairs of Balthayock in 1399 and remained with the Blairs until 1792, when it passed through marriage to the Oliphants of Gask and still belong to the Blair Oliphant family. The existing castle is an L-plan castle dating from the 16th century and was originally almost surrounded by the Rae Loch which is now much reduced in size to what it was then.

In Blairgowrie, we turn right at Upper Mill Street to walk to Wellmeadow, a grassy triangle in the middle of the town which hosts markets and outdoor entertainment. Before crossing the bridge over the River Ericht, we go to visit a steel sculpture of salmon and swirling water which is found close to the river. We then cross the bridge to reach Blairgowrie’s twin, the burgh of Rattray. The bridge here was originally built in 1777 and was then called the Brig O’Blair. It was replaced in the 1840s after the previous bridge was washed away. It has been expanded over the years to cope with the amount of traffic which now uses it.

The part of Rattray we walk through first, New Rattray, dates from 1777 when the bridge over the Ericht was first built. As we continue walking along the A926 we reach Old Rattray, where we reach Rattray Kirk, which only dates back to 1820 but was built on the site of the original 12th-century church.

Just outside the Rattray boundary is Craighall Castle, the ancestral home of the chieftain of the Clan Rattray. The castle was built on the cliff edge of the River Ericht in the 17th century, although some parts seem to have been built earlier. It was the home to 20 generations of the clan chiefs of Clan Rattray but was sold in 2010 by the then clan chief, Lachlan Rattray of Rattray.

We leave Rattray along the A926 walking for 6 kilometres to reach New Alyth, where we turn left to walk into Alyth. The name Alyth is thought to be Pictish, which shows how long Alyth has been established. When we reach Airlie Street we turn left and walk up to the market square. Turning right we reach the Alyth Hotel which is where James Sandy lived. He was born in 1766 and, although he was crippled in both legs as a result of accidents, he was known as the ‘Alyth Genius’ due to his creativity and ingenuity. He made fine musical and optical instruments, as well as clocks, but was best known as the inventor of a concealed hinge.

Just past the hotel is the Alyth Museum which is the only museum in the Perth and Kinross area which is outside Perth. It shows what life was like in Alyth and the surrounding areas. One of the exhibits is the Blairgowrie Drunk's Cart which was used in the 19th century to carry drunks back to their home.

Further on we pass the Losset Inn which is one of the oldest inns in Scotland and has been a drover’s inn since 1760. At this time, Alyth was larger than Blairgowrie and had 9 fairs a year, which is more than most market towns held. Just around the corner from here, crossing the Alyth Burn, is the Pack Bridge, one of the oldest masonry bridges in Scotland. It was intended to carry pack horses across the burn and is said to have been built around 1500, although it is known to have been rebuilt in 1674. The sharp, wedge-shaped piers of the bridge, which are designed to resist water flow and break up ice, are unusual features.

Nearby are the remains of the former linen mills where, in the 18th century, flax was processed to produce linen. These mills were at their height following the arrival of the railway in 1861 and by 1870 there were 350 people employed there.

From Pack Bridge, we go up Toutle Street, so-called because of the custom of the herdsman tooting his horn so that the people in the town would bring out their livestock to be herded up Alyth Hill. We turn left along the high street where, in the churchyard, we can see ‘The Arches’, all that remains of the first stone church to be built in the district, thought to have been built in the 13th century and where Robert the Bruce is said to have worshipped in 1326. This church stopped being used in 1839 when the new church was built and was taken down in 1846. Nearby there was an even older church dating from the 6th century which was dedicated to St Moluag.

Further along, we find Alyth Parish Church, designed by Thomas Hamilton and was the church that was built in 1839. The church is gothic in style with an unusually high spire.

Retracing our steps, we head out of Alyth along the B952 and then the C421 which runs below the Alyth Hills including Barry (or Barrow) Hill. On top of this hill is a hill fort, which is possibly Pictish, and where, it is claimed, that Queen Guinevere was imprisoned by the Pictish King Mordred.

After crossing the River Isla, where we cross into Angus, we turn left to follow the river northwards before turning right at the sign to Airlie Village. We pass through Kirkton of Airlie where there is a simple church built in 1783 and dedicated to St Meddan before we turn left along the Reedie Market Drove Road. This road was where cattle were driven to the market which was held on Reedie Muir. We follow the drove road past Lindertis which is where Sir Hugh Munro lived. He was born in London in 1856 but was brought up on the family estate of Lindertis. He enjoyed walking in the hills and was a founder member and later President of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. He is best known though, for his list of mountains which are over 3000 feet, known as Munros, which was published in 1891. There are currently 282 Munros and 227 subsidiary tops on the list. When Sir Hugh Munro lived at Lindertis there was a large house on the estate, but this has since been demolished and no trace of it remains.

We continue along the drove road until we reach a minor road where we keep straight on, bypassing Westmuir which was a village built to provide housing for linen workers who worked in Kirriemuir. The burgh of ‘Kerymure’ was created by James II in 1459 which allowed the residents to hold weekly markets and annual fairs. In the 1760s a local weaver developed a double thickness cloth which was ideal for making into corsets. This was the foundation of Kirriemuir’s growth as a centre for textiles and, by 1860, there were 1500 hand loom weavers in the town. By the end of World War 1 fashion had changed, and this almost brought an end to the weaving industry in Kirriemuir. The only existing jute mill left in Britain though is still in Kirriemuir, at the Marywell Works.

When we reach Kirriemuir we turn right to follow the Gairlie Burn through Kirrie Den until Bellies Brae, where we turn left. Just a short way up this road we find a statue of Bon Scott, the front man of AC/DC, who lived in Kirriemuir when he was young, before he moved to Australia. We keep going up the road to reach the town square where there is a statue of Peter Pan. The author of Peter Pan, Sir J M Barrie, was born in Kirriemuir in 1860, the 9th of 10 children. He lived part of his childhood in Kirriemuir and is buried in the town cemetery. Beside the Peter Pan statue is the old Town House, dating back to 1604 when it was built as the town’s jail and courthouse. This is where the Gateway to the Glens Museum is situated which opened in 2001 after the building was restored. The museum tells the story of Kirriemuir and the Angus Glens.

From here we go along Bank Street and then turn left along School Wynd before we reach Brechin Road where, on the right, we find the birthplace of Sir J M Barrie. It is now a museum dedicated to the playwright and novelist run by the National Trust for Scotland.

Retracing our steps, we head along the B957, passing the Town Hall built in 1885, and the library, before passing the Police Museum which is located in the same building as the existing Police Station. This charts the history of policing in Tayside from the early 1800s through to the present day. Continuing on, we reach the Gairlie Burn again, but this time we turn right to go northwards through the Den. We pass a pond which was known as the Witch Pool, where witches were thought to have been drowned, but it is in fact a millpond for the 19th century Meikle Mill which used to stand here. Kirriemuir has a history of witchcraft dating back to the 16th century. Many buildings have a witches’ stane, a hard grey stone, set into the local red sandstone to ward off evil.

At the top of Kirrie Den, we turn right onto Glengate and then follow signs up to St Mary’s Episcopal Church. At the church, we go along West Hillbank before turning uphill before turning right, at the footpath, to the Camera Obscura which is 1 of only 3 in Scotland. Kirriemuir Camera Obscura was gifted to the town by Sir J M Barrie, along with the cricket pavilion in which it is situated and was opened by the author on 7th June 1930. The camera obscura gives stunning views of the surrounding countryside and is best visited on a bright sunny day for the best view.

As we carry on along the path, we reach a standing stone near the top of the Hill of Kirriemuir. This probably dates back to the late Neolithic or Bronze Age and stands about 2.7 metres high. We walk around the edge of an old quarry, now used for rock climbing, before reaching the B957 where we turn left to head east. Soon we turn right along a road signposted to Forfar and, when we reach the A926, we continue southwards before turning right at a sign for Balindarg. After another 5 kilometres of walking along the road surrounded by farmland, we turn left when we reach the A928 and continue walking south until we reach the village of Glamis. Here we turn left to walk through the Queen Mother Memorial Gates and up the tree-lined avenue, which takes us almost 2 kilometres to reach the castle itself. As we approach down the drive, the magnificent view of the castle opens up with the Angus hills behind.

Glamis is witness to over 1000 years of history, starting with the murder of King Malcolm II in 1034. At that time, it is thought that there was a royal hunting lodge at Glamis. King Robert the Bruce took the estate back from the Balliol family in 1329 and, in 1372, King Robert II gave the Barony of Glamis to Sir John Lyon of Forteviot. In 1382 Sir John married King Robert’s daughter, Princess Joanna, and it was their son who started, in 1404, to turn the old royal hunting lodge into the Glamis Castle we see today. Glamis Castle has had a chequered history, switching between the Crown and the Lyons family, as well as being occupied by Cromwell and the Duke of Cumberland’s troops; but it has remained their ancestral seat since 1372.

In 1767, John, the 9th Earl of Strathmore, married Mary Eleanor Bowes, who was heiress to vast estates belonging to her father George Bowes. With access to money, he remodelled the castle and the estate and, in 1773, Glamis Village was constructed for estate workers. Their son took the family name, Bowes Lyon. In 1900 Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon was born here, who later became HM Queen Elizabeth, upon the succession of her husband as King George VI. She later became HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when her daughter became Queen Elizabeth II. In 1950 Glamis Castle opened to the public for the first time and, as well as the castle, there are beautiful gardens to explore; it now includes the Macbeth Trail which helps to explain the link between Glamis Castle and Shakespeare’s famous play.

Glamis Castle has many stories associated with it and is considered to be Scotland’s most haunted castle. The first ghost is the Grey Lady, said to be Lady Janet who was accused of trying to poison King James V and was then convicted of witchcraft in 1537. She was burned at the stake in Edinburgh and her ghost is said to haunt the castle. Then there is the Monster of Glamis. It is thought that an heir was born hideously deformed and was hidden in a secret room. It could be that this was Thomas, the firstborn son of the 11th Earl Thomas Bowes-Lyon and his wife Charlotte, who was born on October 21st, 1821. Although official records state that he died the same day, others say he survived but was so deformed that he couldn’t possibly inherit so was kept a secret. Other ghosts are Earl Beardie, the tongueless lady, the hanged butler and the African serving boy.

From the castle, we walk down the path beside the Glamis Burn to return to Glamis village. Although most of Glamis village was constructed in the 18th century as an estate village, it is also where Saint Fergus, a Pictish bishop, chose to build a church in the 600s. St Fergus Kirk, built in 1792, now stands on the same site, although one aisle, the Strathmore Aisle, survives from an earlier church dating back to the 15th century. Close to the church is St Fergus Well which is believed to have been used by St Fergus for baptisms.

In the area surrounding Glamis, there are many Pictish remains including the massive Glamis Manse Symbol Stone, which is 2.7 metres tall and stands in the manse garden opposite St Fergus Kirk.

From Glamis, we walk east along the A94 for about 6 kilometres to reach the Forfar Bypass, which we go under, before turning left to walk down to the Forfar Loch. At the end of the last Ice Age, a glacier left behind a string of lochs in the Forfar area, of which the Forfar Loch is the most westerly. A story about the loch states that the murderers of King Malcolm II, fleeing from Glamis in 1034, tried to cross the loch when it was frozen, but the ice broke and they drowned.

On the northern side of the loch, there is a gravel projection called Queen or Saint Margaret’s Inch. When the loch was partially drained in 1781, a crannog was discovered on the Inch, and silver ornaments, bone chessmen and bronze vessels were found. It is also thought that, around the 13th century, a cell of monks from Coupar Angus Abbey built a chapel on the Inch.

The town of Forfar is the administrative centre for Angus. It is in the heart of Strathmore, a broad and fertile agricultural valley. There seems to have been a settlement at Forfar since the Picts when the area of Angus formed part of the Kingdom of Circinn. Nearby is Restenneth Priory, where a church was founded by King Nechtan of the Picts in 715 AD. Forfar became a Pictish stronghold before it was transformed into a royal castle by King Malcolm II. When Malcolm III became King of Scotland in 1058, he called a parliament at Forfar Castle and about that time it became a Royal Burgh. Forfar Castle was rebuilt in 1170 but was destroyed by Robert the Bruce in 1306 and none of it remains.

Forfar, like other towns in the area, became a centre for producing textiles in the 18th and 19th centuries. As well as this, agriculture and food production are an important part of Forfar’s economy. Bottled water and potatoes are part of this, but Forfar is probably best known for the Forfar Bridie. Forfar Bridies are horseshoe-shaped meat pasties that originated in the early 19th century. One story of their origin is that they were made for wedding meals (Brides’ meal), hence the horseshoe shape. Another story is that they were made by Margaret Bridie of Glamis and sold at the Buttermarket in Forfar.

As we walk into Forfar, we pass the Meffan Museum and Art Gallery. This was originally funded by Miss Jane Meffan, in memory of her father, the former provost William Meffan. The museum tells the story of Forfar from the Stone Age and contains Pictish Stones, a reconstructed Vennel with its trades and crafts, and an exhibition on the Forfar Witch Trials. Between 1661 and 1663, 42 suspects were imprisoned and 22 of them were sentenced to death for being witches. The 22 executed were strangled until they were nearly dead, then burned in barrels of tar. In 2010, a memorial was erected to the Forfar witches to commemorate the people who were tortured and murdered. The memorial is next to Forfar Loch and says, ‘The Forfar Witches - Just People’ with 22 dots to represent each victim.

Walking further along the High Street we reach the Town House at the Cross. The Town House was built in 1788, the first major work of the architect James Playfair. The Cross was the original location of the Mercat Cross, but this was moved to Castle Hill when the Town House was built.

We turn down Castle Street and, just before we reach Canmore Street, we have to go into the newsagents and ask for a key to the gate to Castle Hill. Walking along Canmore Street we find the gate on our right and then we climb the cobbled lane up to the Mercat Cross on the top of Castle Hill. It is believed that Castle Hill was once an island, on the south-east shore of Forfar Loch before the loch was partially drained and was an easily defended site so made it ideal for the site of Forfar Castle. This was built in 1170 but was destroyed by King Robert the Bruce to ensure that it could never be held again by the English.

The Mercat Cross was originally built in 1685 at The Cross in Forfar but was moved to Castlehill in 1799 when it was considered to be an obstruction at its original site. Iron stairs were added to the tower to allow it to be used as a lookout tower and viewpoint. The actual Mercat Cross would have been on top of the tower, but it has been lost.

After returning the key to the newsagent, we head north on the B9128. If we had more time it would have been worth visiting Restenneth Priory. It has already been said that King Nechtan built a church at the site in 710 AD. The priory itself, however, was founded in the 12th century and, in 1162, it was granted by King Malcolm IV to Jedburgh Abbey, placing it under the control of Augustinian monks. During the Wars of Independence, the Priory was severely damaged by fire and it was then rebuilt on a bigger scale. In 1327 King Robert the Bruce’s infant son, John, was buried at the Priory. The Priory went into decline in the 15th century and, after the Scottish Reformation, Restenneth and its landholdings were granted to the Home family. It was transferred into state care in 1919 and is now looked after by Historic Environment Scotland.

Continuing our walk, we pass Quilkoe and the Forfar Bypass to reach Battledykes, which was a Roman Camp possibly dating to the Severan campaign of 208-211 AD. After leaving Battledykes, we follow the track along the edge of a wood until we get to Oathlaw. This is a small village with a church built in 1815 which has a square tower, unusual for a rural church. This church has now been converted into a home and pottery showroom.

We keep walking along the road until we reach Milton of Finavon. Just before we cross the road there is the Finavon Doocot. This is the largest doocot in Scotland with 2,400 nesting boxes. It is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland and was said to have been built by the Earl of Crawford in the 16th Century. After leaving the doocot we have to cross the main A90 dual carriageway, before turning right and heading onto the path which joins with Milton Lane.

We soon pass close to Finavon Castle. There are actually 2 buildings with this name, a ruined 14-17th century castle and a 19th-century mansion house. The estate was the property of the Lindsay, Earls of Crawford, from 1375 and they built the castle. Over the years the castle was extended to form an L-Plan tower house. In 1629 the castle passed to Alexander Lindsay, the 2nd Lord Spynie. It then went through several changes of ownership, through the Carnegie family, Gordon Earls of Aboyne and the Gardynes. The old castle was replaced by the country house in 1856, now also called Finavon Castle.

From Finavon we walk down the minor road which goes south before turning east to get to the hamlet of Bogardo. The road twists and turns before passing below Finavon Vitrified Fort. From radiocarbon dating, it appears that this fort was used from 7 BC to 4-5 AD.

Continuing on we reach the B9134 and turn east before reaching Aberlemno, where there is a church and 4 Pictish sculptured stones which date from between 500 and 900 AD. We first walk down to the church, where we find the first Pictish stone in the churchyard. The church here has a long history and there is documentary evidence to suggest that Aberlemno Kirk was originally called Egglespether, a Pictish church from around 710 AD. Certainly, there was a church here in 1242, but the building which exists today largely dates to 1722 when the church was more or less rebuilt. The Pictish stone stands near the west gable of the church and dates to the mid-9th century. On the front is carved a Celtic cross flanked by entwined beasts and, on the back, is a battle scene, possibly commemorating the Battle of Nechtansmere. This has been disputed though and other interpretations are that it depicts a battle between Picts and Vikings, or that it is a memorial to the 8th-century Pictish King Oengus.

Retracing our steps to the B9134 we turn right and find the other 3 Pictish stones on the roadside. The first one we reach is tall and narrow dating from mid-900 AD. It has a ringed cross flanked by angels on one side, and on the reverse, a hunting scene below 2 large Pictish symbols. It is also decorated down the narrow sides. The second stone is unshaped and has Pictish symbols on one side and, on the other side, has prehistoric cup marks which possibly shows that this stone was reused. The third stone is highly eroded, and it is, therefore, difficult to make out any markings. These 3 roadside stones are covered in winter to protect them from the elements.

Aberlemno’s other claim to fame is that a genus of fossil plant, first found in a nearby quarry, are named Aberlemnia, in honour of where they were found. Other fossils, now assigned to Aberlemnia caledonica, have been found in Wales, Brazil and possibly Bolivia.

We now walk along the B9134 for another 10 kilometres before reaching the A935, which we walk along towards Brechin.