http://www.chiadfhear.co.uk/main/walking/walks/An_Ochils_Day_Out.htm
An Ochils Day Out
Distance: 12½ miles/20km.
Maps: OS Landranger 1:50,000 Sheet 58 or OS Explorer 1:25,000 Sheet 366.
Start: Grid Ref: NN963979. There is a small car park on the south side of
the main road through Dollar, opposite the clock tower, beside the public
conveniences.
Grading: This is quite a strenuous, circular walk requiring good navigation
skills and should be undertaken with care in poor visibility. The Ochil tops
offer very little in the way of shelter from the elements, therefore full
protective clothing, a map and a compass and the ability to use both are
essential at any time of the year. Some parts of the route are extremely wet
and/or rough underfoot so stout footwear with good ankle support should be
worn. It is good day-walk for any fit, competent walkers. The route is
grazed by sheep so ensure dogs are controlled!
Castle Campbell is located at the head of Dollar Glen - a steep sided,
wooded ravine - with the Burn of Sorrow to one side and the Burn of Care the
other. Originally called Castle Gloom, it is an awe-inspiring sight as it
first comes into view. The tower house, built in the mid 15th century by
Colin Campbell the first Earl of Argyll, is the oldest part of the castle
surviving. James IV, by Act of Parliament in 1489-90, granted him permission
to change the name of the castle to Castle Campbell.
The miles of drystane dykes on the Ochils that delineate marches or
boundaries and afford shelter for sheep and lambs as well as walkers are a
lasting memorial to the men who built them. In 1892 George and William Shand
were contracted to repair the many miles of drystane dykes between the
Glenquey and Glendevon estates. For the two summers it took them to complete
the work, they made their temporary home in a wooden hut that had to be
taken up by horse-drawn cart to the small quarry below the summit at the top
of the hill called Innerdownie. The right-angled shelter which provided a
windbreak for their little hut is a beautiful example of the skill of
drystane dyking. The work was measured and paid for in chains - one chain
being 22 yards/20m - and the rate of pay was a little over 1s 6d/7½p per
yard/0.9m!
This route includes a 15th Century castle, an old drove route through
Glenquey between Glendevon and Dollar, part of a popular ridge walk that
takes in some of the high tops of the Ochils and a descent through a
tranquil glen following the tumbling waters of the Burn of Sorrow.
Cross the road at the pedestrian (zebra) crossing and walk north following
the Dollar Burn as far as the narrow bridge in front of the museum from
where cars use the narrow road to the right up to the small car park at the
castle. The walking route to Castle Campbell is signposted through a gap in
the wall and follows a track up through the steep sided, wooded gorge to the
castle. It is interspersed with sturdy wooden walkways and the occasional
vantage point.
From the castle follow the narrow road uphill, cross the bridge beside the
ford then left past the cottage. At the gate into the forest there is the
alternative of crossing it and going up the forest track or outside to the
left. As the forest track is, more often than not, very wet and muddy it may
be better to follow the route around the outside. However, if taking the
route through the forest, follow the path that leads directly ahead at a
wide crossroads a short way past the gate and exit higher up.
Follow the track past the Maiden's Well at grid reference NN970014, on
record as early as the mid-1800s alleging that the spirit of a young woman
that lived in it could be encouraged forth by night. Potential suitors,
brave or daft enough to visit were found dead in the morning. In the early
1900s however, a researcher decided that it most likely gained its name from
a maiden held prisoner in the castle and who was allowed to walk to the well
to drink the waters. This track follows the line of the old drove road
through to Glenquey Reservoir and Glenquey Farm. Just before the high gate
leading through to the farm, beside the walled sheep fold, turn left and
follow a wide track up the grassy hillside through where the Woodland Trust
have established a new forest of deciduous trees. Where this track bears
sharp left, go right, to the low wall and continue on the grassy track all
the way up the rise to the boundary wall and the fence surrounding the
well-established Forestry Commission conifer plantation.
Turn left and follow the wide track in a south-westerly direction alongside
Glenquey's Great Wall - the march dyke between the estates of Glenquey and
Glendevon - on an easy ascent to the cairned top of Innerdownie. On top of
the dyke are the remains of a two-wire fence with iron supporting standards
set into stones. The drilling was laboriously accomplished with a hammer and
a tool known as a "jumper" which was thumped and turned on the stone until
the hole was deep enough to bed the standard in sulphur and coal tar.
A short distance after the summit, at Grid Ref: NN958022, pass through a
gate in the high deer fence then begin the gentle ascent to a junction of
fence-lines to the north of the summit of White Wisp Hill at the County
Boundary Line. Tracks on either side of the fence and wall lead over the
summit of Tarmangie Hill and down to another fence crossing.
Just before this, on the south side of the fence that crosses Skythorn Hill,
there is a feint, narrow path bearing off left, southwards over the Maddy
Moss into a hollow and the start of one of the many header streams that
eventually make up the Burn of Sorrow. Once located, turn left again to head
down eastwards on a good track to where the stream converges with another
down waterfalls into a pool at Grid Ref: NN933008. The path from here down
the steep-sided Glen of Sorrow is obvious as it takes an easy descent angle
beside the gently tumbling waters of the Burn of Sorrow. The path alternates
through varying terrain, crossing the burn on occasion, negotiating some
exposed edges that call for a little extra care, before eventually emerging
at the Castle Campbell car park. Follow the inward route back to the start
from here.
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