Saturday 30 May - A Braco figure-of-eight, 7.5 miles
A walk of two circuits, led by John Andrews. The first, longer one, followed the River Knaik towards and beyond the Castle, then headed out onto the moorland before returning to the start. The second, shorter, loop explored the site of Ardoch Roman fort.
Photos by Marjory Watson
Wednesday 27 May - Loch Skiach, circular from Logierait, 10.5 miles
This was a circular walk starting from Logierait, led by Sheelagh Candy. We crossed the old Logierait Bridge and walked along a minor road before joining the track heading to the loch. After an initial uphill climb through woods we reached the undulating track to Loch Skiach. The return route was through moorland paths to rejoin the downhill track returning to Logierait.
Photos by Marjory Watson
Saturday 23 May - Glamis circular, 7.5 miles
On Saturday 23rd May, a group of 10 ramblers, including 3 visitors, met at Glamis to do this circular walk of just over 7 miles. We set off passing the parish church, stopping to view a Pictish stone through a gate in a private garden opposite the church. We entered Glamis Estate and visited St. Fergus well, named after an 8th century priest who baptised at this natural spring. We followed the Glamis burn, finally crossing it to walk along the drive to catch sight of the dramatic castle itself.
We then retraced our steps to climb up through the woodland to cross the A94 and continue uphill. There we found another Pictish stone carved with a serpent and a cross. Continuing around the base of Hunters Hill, we stopped for a coffee break overlooking the vale of Strathmore.
Round and down the back of the hill, we crossed the Ogilvie burn and followed the path to the dam at the end. Crossing two roads on the way we emerged at the edge of the village of Charleston. We walked beyond the houses onto a woodland path (which eventually goes onto Crams Hill, not our destination today). We stopped here for lunch where there were open views before returning down through woods and crossing the A94 once more back to Glamis.
It was such a pleasant day there was no haste needed and plenty of time to sit in the warmth of the sun. We found a good cafe in the village where we had a cuppa before travelling home. Thank you to Coral for back marking.
Report & photos by Lynn Salvin
Wednesday 20 May - Kinclaven, Ballathie & bluebells, 7 miles
Due to the weekend away in Portpatrick there was quite a large gap in the calendar for local walks, so Ian Stokes hastily arranged this walk around Kinclaven and Ballathie, a walk that we did during the bluebell season last year.
Nine of us arrived at the Kinclaven car park on a damp but warm morning. A few waterproofs and an umbrella soon frightened the rain away for the day. The area doesn’t really lend itself to a straightforward route but we basically walked three circles. The main Kinclaven wood, a circuit of Court Hill and a lap of Ballathie Hotel grounds. The only difference from last year was that we did the Ballathie bit clockwise, passing the hotel’s spectacular gardens first.
We had our morning break at the Court Hill war monument (it isn’t a true war memorial) and lunch at the swing. Particularly on the final section back to the car park, we saw the bluebells at their very best.
Six of us then went on to have tea and scones at Uisge where we spent some time discussing future rambling ideas. Watch this space!
Report & photos by Ian Stokes
Wednesday 6 May - Alyth to Blairgowrie via Craighall Estate, 9 miles
A better than forecast day greeted us for this linear ramble from Alyth to Blairgowrie. Eighteen of us met at Wellmeadow, Blairgowrie to catch the bus to Alyth. Ian Stokes led us from Alyth out to the berry fields at Murton. It wasn’t long before layers of clothing were being removed in the warm conditions. After a pleasant walk past the berry fields, we started our ascent to Drimmie. We had our morning break part way up the climb then had a further short stop at Drimmie Loch.
From there we passed through Drimmie Wood before descending down the very quiet Drimmie road. We then entered Craighall Estate. This was new ground for most of us. On the map the route shows an intriguing near full circle with a short but very steep drop at the closest point. We had our lunch at a fine vantage point just before the castle. After lunch we passed the castle and followed the main drive down to the A93.
After a short walk along the A93 we followed the river back to Blairgowrie through a spectacular spread of flowering wild garlic.
A dozen of us finished a successful day with tea, coffee and cake at Adventures with Books, who looked after us royally, providing us with our own room where we all enjoyed a post-ramble natter.
Report by Ian Stokes, photos by Marjory Watson & Tom Reid
Saturday 2 May - Two Monuments and a Castle, 6.5 miles
We started from beside Cortachy Primary School and, after an initial short climb, John Andrews led us down to the banks of the River South Esk that we followed upstream.
After a coffee stop we left the riverside path and climbed through woods into open countryside to Cullow. Following a short stretch of road walking we started the climb to the Airlie Monument through Tulloch Hill plantation, that had been largely cleared. However, this did mean that we had extensive views to the south as we gained height.
On reaching the Airlie Monument we had our lunch stop before retracing our steps downhill to a junction that took us to the Scott & Wilson monument. The Antarctic explorers planned their ill-fated trip to the South Pole at Dr. Wilson's nearby home in Glen Prosen.
From the monument we descended, skirting Mile Hill to Coiliamy and back towards Cortachy. When the cars were back in sight, we had a final treat in store as we entered the policies of Cortachy Castle where the rhododendrons were in full flower. We eventually emerged in front of the castle with its interesting sculptures in the immediate grounds surrounding it.
Leaving the castle grounds beside the 200-year-old red sandstone church, it was just a short walk back to the cars.
Photos by Tom Reid, Marjory Watson & Pete Trant