Dunkeld

Hi there, reader

Hope you slept well last night as the temperatures in the UK dropped to a bracing 2 degrees. My previous low on this trip has been 6 degrees and last night I found it necessary to put the light on at 5am and reheat the water bottle.

Today I visited another small but very lovely town called Dunkeld, which has been named 'The Gateway to the Highlands'. 

Dunkeld

Dunkeld was on my route to Perth and my friend, Donna, recommended it as worth a visit. I found it easy to get a good parking spot and took a walk along the main shopping street. I've noticed these more upmarket places have very few (or no) pun names on their shops.

Right away, I found the historic Royal Dunkeld Hotel, which was built around 1810. Queen Victoria once stayed here.

I see they've got a Michael Jackson tribute night coming up for Halloween. 

Shame I'll miss that. I reckon if I had my Professor Snape costume with me, that 50 pounds tab would be mine.

Lunch

My name's Brian, and I'm addicted to Irn Bru. It started as a bit of a laugh about five weeks ago. I just got one can because I was in Scotland and everyone drinks it. But there's something about it. That distinctive orange and blue design, the unique taste that's hard to describe. It's available everywhere you go, everywhere you look. Goes so well with a bag of chips. Before I knew it, I was drinking two, three, sometimes four cans a week. With God's help, I'll conquer this terrible affliction.

I got this delicious vegan curry pasty from a local bakery and they heated it up for me. I was joined for lunch by a new friend.

And this is my view as I ate lunch. High Street on the right, The Cross on the left and the Atholl Memorial Fountain in the middle.

Community Orchard

The Dunkeld and Birnam Community Orchard was started in October 2008 by Scottish fruit trees consultant, John Hancox. He received enthusiastic help planting the trees from children at the Royal School of Dunkeld, their parents and local residents.

There are nearly 180 trees (45 varieties in all) which include a mixture of apple, pear, plum, damson, cherry and greengage. There is also a soft fruit garden with currants, berries and brambles.

When the fruit is in season it is free for anyone who wants to pick it. Anyone! Local residents or visitors can enjoy fruit from this orchard, and the community put up 'pick me' signs when a tree is ready to harvest.

The Hermitage

At the end of the village is Dunkeld Bridge which crosses the River Tay.

Then it's a thirty minute walk to The Hermitage (officially The Hermitage Pleasure Ground). 

I passed some huge trees along the way.

The Hermitage is a National Trust protected site just to the west of the A9. It sits on the banks of the River Braan in Craigvinean Forest. It was created by John Murray, the third Duke of Atholl.

The Hermitage used to include a Douglas-fir tree which was first tree in Britain to grow to over 200 feet tall (61 metres). Sadly, it was blown over by high winds in 2017 at around 267 years old (it was thought to have been planted in the 1750s).

I found lots more examples of these logs and tree stumps where people had hammered in coins for good luck.

Have you heard of 'forest bathing'? The term emerged in Japan in the 1980s and in Japanese is called shinrin-yoku. The basic concept is that time spent in nature is good for you. People who practice forest bathing say it is more than just taking a walk in the woods. If you want to know more about it, here's a link.

And here's a look around The Hermitage. Very therapeutic!

Further on, I found this bench, inscribed with the name John Carrick.

I had a sit down. This is the view from John Carrick's bench,

And here's a video from that spot.

Ossian's Hall

For this post, I've saved the best video for last. Get ready to be mind blown. 

This is Ossian's Hall, which overlooks the Black Linn Falls of the River Braan (a tributary of the River Tay, which runs through Dunkeld, Perth and on to Dundee). Ossian's Hall is a folly, built on a rocky outcrop by the 2nd duke of Atholl, and a shrine to the blind bard, Ossian.

Ok, here goes. Brace yourself. Let's enter ... Ossian's Hall!

Just stunning. What a view! You can't see any in this video, but while I was standing there I saw at least ten big salmon trying to leap up those falls. Pretty ambitious. Surely no fish can overcome such a powerful current?

An Evening in Perth

It started raining quite heavily, so I left The Hermitage and found the van after a brief period of disorientation. Half an hour later I arrived in Perth and reunited with my friend and colleague, Donna.

Donna and I worked together for British Council in Bangkok until she left in 2017 to return to her native Scotland. We had a long walk around Perth and got chips for dinner (yes, I had another Irn Bru).

It was great to catch up with Donna and find out all about living and working in Perth. 

This afternoon, I'm heading off to Dundee for a few days, and I'll catch up with you there.

Thanks for reading,

Brian