Special Places

Strathbraan

Perthshire's secret storybook strath and glens... Amulree, Strathbraan and Glen Quaich lie within a golden triangle, between Dunkeld, Aberfeldy and the Sma Glen. Peaceful, secluded, and off the beaten path, but minutes from the A9, the main Scottish arterial route and the mainline railway station of Dunkeld and Birnam.

Established more than two centuries past as one of Scotland's first tourist routes, the charms, secrets, lively characters and stunning landscapes have been little known, slumbering in the half light of history. The area brims with characters, from centuries past to the present day residents. Their combined vitality and creative talents keep this area very much alive.

Swashbuckling legends such as Rob Roy and Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through here. The road building colossus General George Wade constructed his many miles of Military routes here. Poet William Wordsworth penned an ode to 'The Lonely Inn' at Amulree. Visit Loch Freuchie in Glen Quaich, enjoy a pitcure-postcard setting with an abundance of wildlife and idyllic walks. Make sure you take a minute to visit Amulree & Strathbraan Church, pop inside to view the information display on the history of the area.

An artist who relished this quiet area was Pre Raphaelite painter Sir John Everrett Millais. He loved painting away his summer holidays over 20 years, renting Rumbling Bridge cottage, which became a hotbed of scandal as he eloped with Ruskin's wife, Perth born Effie Gray. The cottage still stands, as do the scenes of his painting. Later, European Royalty fanned out over the moors from a nearby turreted shooting lodge.

Musical legends lived and loved here, such as famous fiddle player Niel Gow; while legendary modern musicians such as Pete Clark keep his genius alive. Beatrix Potter's inspiration figure for Mrs Tiggywinkle spent her early childhood on a remote farm here.

This is fungi foraging country; hares race across the fields, ospreys, red kites and buzzards fly overhead. The very tallest of 'Big Trees' grow here, from the highest Douglas Fir at the Hermitage to an impressive half mile avenue of ancient oaks.

Walks span well marked riverside routes, and little known tracks. Explore hidden places such as one of the highest hill passes in Scotland, the mystical deserted fairy village in Ballinloan, the Hermitage Routes, drove roads, heritage paths, Wade Roads, wild swimming and quad biking.

View an magical map of Strathbraan by clicking here... seeing really is believing!

Tigh Nam Bodach

The ancient pagan shrine of Tigh nam Bodach is located in Glen Cailliche (the Crooked Glen of the Stones), north of Loch Lyon. The shrine is made up of a modest stone structure that houses a family of three bell shaped water stones from the river bed of the Lyon. The largest represents the Cailleach (old woman), accompanied by the Bodach (old man) and their daughter, Nighean. In what is believed to be the oldest uninterrupted pre-Christian ritual in Britain, the water-worn figures from the River Lyon are taken out of their house every May and faced down the glen, and returned every November.

The ritual marked the two great Celtic fire festivals of Beltane(Summer) and Samhain (Winter)and the annual migration of Highland cattle on and off the hills. Legend states that The Cailleach, in the tradition of the Celtic mother-goddesses, blessed the stock and the pasturage and ensured good weather and "strange and terrible" things could happen to those who dared disturb her wintering grounds in Glen Cailliche.

The Cailleach, or divine goddess, is a potent force in Celtic mythology, commonly associated with wild nature and landscape. A local myth says that Loch Tay was formed when she forgot to leave a flagstone lid on a magical spring well.

The Black Watch Monument, Aberfeldy

Close by Wade’s Bridge in Aberfeldy stands the Black Watch Monument. It takes the form of a massive cairn topped with a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the original uniform of the Black Watch Regiment.

In the wake of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, companies of trustworthy Highlanders were raised from loyal clans. They became known as the ’Black Watch’ for the watch they kept on the Highlands and from their dark government tartan. In 1739 King George II authorised the companies be formed into a regiment of foot, "the men to be natives of that country, and none other to be taken". That same year they held their first regimental parade on the banks of the River Tay at Aberfeldy, on what is now part of the Golf course.

The monument was unveiled in 1887 by the Marquis of Breadalbane to commemorate the first muster of the Regiment in May 1740. The muster took place on the Weem Cow Park on the north bank of the River Tay, in the Parish

THIS CAIRN IS ERECTED BY GRATEFUL AND ADMIRING COUNTRYMEN
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER AT TAYBRIDGE
IN OCTOBER 1739

OF THE SIX INDEPENDANT COMPANIES AFTERWARDS INCREASED TO TEN

OF THE "FREICEADAN DUBH" OR BLACK WATCH

WHO AFTER SERVING IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HIGHLANDS
WERE EMBODIED INTO A REGIMENT DESIGNATED THE 43rd AND AFTERWARDS
THE 42nd ROYAL HIGHLANDER WHOSE FIRST MUSTER TOOK PLACE IN MAY 1740 NEAR TAYBRIDGE AND ALSO IN RECOGNITION OF THE VALOUR AND PATRIOTISM WHICH HAVE EVER SINCE DISTINGUISHED THE SOLDIERS OF THIS CORPS DURING ITS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER IN MANY LANDS
A.D. 1887

Alltandubh

The former township of Alltandubh (Little Black Stream) once comprised eight buildings and a corn-drying kiln.

Carn Liath

Carn Liath (Grey Mountain) stands at 975m and is the lowest of the Bein a'Ghlo's (Hills of the Mist) three summits, the other peaks being Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Height of the corrie of the round lumps) and Carn nan Gabhar (Peak of the Goat). It is an extremely popular climb amongst hill walkers (ranked 181 of 283 Munros), as perhaps evidenced by the badly-eroded track to the summit.