Group Holiday, 2025
St Andrews & NE Fife Ramblers travelled to Aberfoyle last week for our first group holiday in four years. With rain forecast for the remainder of the week, we made the most of our first afternoon with a walk to Doon Hill and Fairy Knowe on the outskirts of the village. This 4-mile walk ended up closer to 6 miles when our leader, aka your correspondent, missed a left turn early on (in her defence, the supposed signpost was missing) but eventually we found the correct path and climbed up through the woods of Doon Hill. At the top we encountered a large tree festooned with colourful strips of cloth – ‘clouties’ – which, according to local superstition, serve to ward off illness. As we descended we admired some intricate wood carvings depicting little houses, all adding to the magic of the forest. Returning along the bank of the River Forth – as someone observed, it’s much wider at Elie – we reached our hotel, but continued on the path of the old railway (always a favourite) to pick up our cars in the village. A great, rain-free start to the holiday.
The next day, the weather outlook was not promising and indeed the rain had started by the time we set out from the car park at Kinlochard, located eventually after your correspondent (again!) had tried a couple of wrong turns. Happy to see that a large fallen tree, which had blocked the path at the time of the recce, had since been removed we followed a route around the edge of Loch Ard on this 7.5-mile walk. The ‘good views’ alluded to in the walk description were largely obscured by the mist, as well as the many shrubs and trees which have grown up since the description was written, but we caught occasional glimpses of the loch and the crannog, a small artificial island on which an iron-age round house would have stood. We circled back towards Kinlochard on the Statute Labour Road, with a brief stop for lunch where, but for the steady drizzle, we would have had a ‘fantastic’ view of Ben Lomond. Back at the hotel we were entertained after dinner by a ‘Scottish night’ and some enthusiastic singing.
On Wednesday, after checking the forecast, we postponed our 5-mile walk at Leannach Forest until the early afternoon. This turned out to be a wise decision as, despite the overcast conditions, we largely evaded the rain. However, we were thwarted instead on this otherwise straightforward circuit by a track closure for forestry works. As a result, after completing the first couple of miles we had to turn back to pick up the other end of the route and then retrace our steps once again to reach the car park. The promised views of Ben A’an, Ben Venue and Loch Achray did not materialise of course, but we were pleased to get back to the hotel dry and in good spirits after a pleasant walk amongst the vibrant autumn colours. The evening’s entertainment was twofold: a country-style singer with a fine voice followed by our own traditional quiz, incurring some predictable challenges, with your correspondent, predictably, having the last word.
Continuous rain on our final day forced us to revise our plans to tackle Primrose Hill at Loch Katrine. We followed the start of this walk along the north shore of the loch but instead of taking the path uphill we continued on the road as far as the pier, with its old forlorn boathouse. As the rain increased we trudged soggily back to Trossachs Pier, passing the SS Sir Walter Scott moored on the far side, and headed into the café for a welcome lunch and a chance to discard our wet outer layers. Our final evening concluded with reflections on a very entertaining week in excellent company, with some good walking despite the sub-optimal conditions; and with thanks to the organisers Jim Forret, Jane Houston and in his absence Colin Brown, for making the arrangements and for leading us on our walks. We aim to repeat the experience at a different venue next year!
All of our walks are open to guests who would like to try out The Ramblers and full details can be found on our website www.standrewsnefiferamblers.com
