Thursday 30 April 2026 - Glen Feshie

 

Sue had one remaining Munro to climb in the Cairngorms. Despite the need for a long (hour and three quarters) drive, we pulled up at the Achlean car park near Feshiebridge before 10am.

Sue then shot off to climb Mullach Clach a' Bhlair on another 'blue sky' but rather windy day.

Meanwhile, I had a day off, just venturing out for a short walk in the breeze.

I turned back at the Achlean ford and went looking for the footbridge higher up. I couldn't find it. Here's my route  - 5.3 km with 140 metres ascent. 

Sue got ahead of her 7 hour schedule and went to the top of Sgor Gaoith, her second Munro of the day, before returning to join me at the car just a little over 6 hours after setting off.

Wednesday 29 April 2026 - Hill of Persie and Creigh Hill

Nearly all of our squad of 24 joined forces to celebrate Keith and Carol's Ruby wedding anniversary for a walk from Persie House to Persie Hill and back.

We started from our back door and soon passed the small loch behind the house. My Merlin app recorded 16 different bird songs in very little time.

We soon formed a long crocodile on the side of the hill.

A jolly party enjoyed drinks and cake at the 447 metre summit cairn.

There were good views on the 'blue sky' day.

Most of us then yomped through the heather to the 444 metre trig point on the nearby summit of Knock of Balmyle, from where there were more good views.

From time to time on this and other walks this week, hares scurried between viewpoints and small brown lizards squirted from under our feet.

After returning to base through a tree lined avenue, we enjoyed lunch outside the house.

We had walked just 6.3 km, with 220 metres ascent, in a very leisurely two hours and 45 minutes.

Persie House glowed in the sunshine. 

In the afternoon Keith and I went east to the Backwater Reservoir to climb Creigh Hill, a small hill apparently topped by the remains of an Iron Age settlement. 

6

It was a shame to leave the 498 metre summit, but Mac had insisted that we should be back and washed in time for his quiz.

This little outing comprised 4.2 km with 210 metres ascent, taking an hour and a half. 

And the quiz was a success.

Tuesday 28 Apriĺ 2026 - Carn a' Mhaim

Leaving Persie House at 7am enabled Sue to depart from the Linn of Dee car park an hour later for her cycle into Glen Lui and the traverse of The Devil's Point, Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochain Uaine.

The River Dee was in benign form as I crossed the bridge beyond the National Trust car park (above).

Sue shot off ahead whilst I made a false start, having forgotten to bring the key to my bike lock. The easy track as far as Derry Lodge, then a push over a narrow bridge and a more difficult pedal, with sandy sections and water culverts, led me to within 250 metres of the bridge over the River Lui, where I decided to abandon the bike. Of course, I had the key, but the actual bike lock was sitting happily back in the car. Never mind.

Here's the view back down the valley from Luibeg Bridge.

And this is looking up the valley.

Soon I was on the steep ascent to the 1037 metre summit of Carn a'Mhaim. Starting at around 500 metres, this ascent wasn't demanding, especially as I knew that others in our party had given me a 2 hour start.

On reaching the summit I enjoyed good views all round, and particularly across to The Devil's Point, from where Sue had already broadcast her progress. 

Here's the view back to Derry Lodge.

A couple joined me on the summit and kindly took a photo.

After consuming half my lunch, I said goodbye to the couple and headed back down via the substantial cairn at the subsidiary 1014 metre summit.

Good views as I descended, on the way meeting those who had given me a two hour start, before I reached Luibeg Bridge again and embarked on a search for my discarded bike.

This tree stump had me puzzled.

A pleasant bike ride got me back to the Linn of Dee car park by 3:30. Here's my route - about 20 km on the bike plus a 7.4 km walk with 600 metres ascent, taking me a little over 7 hours.

The others turned up at 5:30, after a paddle in the river, and Sue pedalled in 20 minutes later, slightly ahead of schedule after a brilliant day's walk and an impressive three Munro tally.

Monday 27 April 2026 - Branklyn Gardens and Kinnoull Hill

We've visited Branklyn Gardens in Perth before. They are a special place. Many of the plants originated in the Himalaya and the Alps, and were introduced here by the Renton family from the 1920s to their death in the 1960s. Now successfully managed by the National Trust, the gardens are thriving. Here are just a few of the photos from my camera. More will follow in due course. (See the bottom of this posting.)

After an hour in the sunny garden, coffee and scones outside the café were most welcome. 

Just outside the garden, a sign advertising 'Kinnoull Hill 2.5km' couldn't be resisted, so we set off on a well maintained trail through sunlit woodland.

A tower came into view at the top of a cliff. We would reach that later.

Far below, the River Tay and the M90 motorway flowed side by side.

The summit of Kinnoull Hill tops out at a modest 222 metres, but is in such a position that many of the Scottish mountains can be seen.

The onward path to the tower passes through more woodland, fresh foliage glinting in the sunshine.

There are more good views from the tower. If you visit this page later you may discover some history...

* see below

The 'Red Trail' led us in a circuit back down to the gardens, via an unexpected swarm of Leopardsbane. 

Here's our route - 6.2 km with nearly 300 metres ascent, taking us 2¼ hours.

I had the Merlin bird calls App turned on today. Here's what it heard. (I wish I could actually see just a fraction of the birds on this list!)

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow 

Magpie

Willow Warbler

Garden Warbler

Chiffchaff

Bullfinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Chaffinch

Blue Tit 

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit 

Treecreeper

Goldcrest 

Song Thrush

Blackbird 

Blackcap

Dunnock

House Sparrow

Gadwall

Stock Dove

Collared Dove 

Wood Pigeon

Siskin

Wren

Robin

I also saw the following, as well as some of those above, in Glen Uig yesterday:

Oystercatchers

Pheasants

Partridge 

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtails (on the lawn outside)

Mallards

Others in our party have also heard cuckoos

Buzzards

Osprey

I wonder whether the latter two had a hand in the dead carcases I passed in the Glen?

Here are more pictures from the gardens.

*Kinnoull Tower

On an outcrop a few hundred yards to the east of, and several feet below, the summit is Kinnoull Tower, a folly built in the eighteenth century, by Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull, to resemble castles along the Rhine he had admired in Germany during his Grand Tour of Europe. Kinnoull saw a similarity between the mountainous landscape along the Rhine and the rocky outcrops on his estate near Perth. On his return, to achieve a similar effect, he built a modest castle on the highest point of Kinnoull Hill, with its tower overlooking the River Tay. The tower is a Category B listed structure.

Another of Hay's lasting legacies is the Perth Bridge over the Tay, which he helped fund.

Jane Austen visited Kinnoull Hill in September 1789. She described Kinnoull Tower in "Lesley Castle", one of two Scottish stories in her Juvenilia, as:

An old and Mouldering Castle, which is situated two miles from Perth on a bold projecting Rock, and commands an extensive view of the Town and its delightful Environs.