{"id":377,"date":"2011-06-11T19:06:10","date_gmt":"2011-06-11T19:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=377"},"modified":"2011-06-11T19:42:36","modified_gmt":"2011-06-11T19:42:36","slug":"royal-deeside-and-glengirnock-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=377","title":{"rendered":"Royal Deeside and Glengirnock, Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At last, after days of rain over Scotland, a beautiful sunny morning of wind and high cloud and patches of brilliant blue sky.<br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.onload = setupZoom; function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk;\nvar walkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=700,width=800,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script>First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Glengirnock.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5303\/5736616646_2fe46fea59.jpg\" title='PICT0030'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5303\/5736616646_2fe46fea59_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5182\/5736067567_4bc5d06167.jpg\" title='PICT0028'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5182\/5736067567_4bc5d06167_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2795\/5736617864_2d66653f70.jpg\" title='PICT0035'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2795\/5736617864_2d66653f70_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3109\/5736068469_150ef50e0c.jpg\" title='PICT0029'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3109\/5736068469_150ef50e0c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2361\/5736618922_02d8549d38.jpg\" title='PICT0039'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2361\/5736618922_02d8549d38_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3471\/5736069589_cdae885a9d.jpg\" title='PICT0027'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3471\/5736069589_cdae885a9d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2360\/5736069799_b9ba08c8b0.jpg\" title='PICT0034'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2360\/5736069799_b9ba08c8b0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=377\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\nAround Balmoral Castle the River Dee ran broad and sparkling, and the hills cradling the royal retreat were brushed green and gold with bright sunlight.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of miles downriver I made my way through the fields around Abergeldie, climbing over and wriggling under tall ladder stiles, following rickety fences and 4 x 4 tracks knee-deep in heather through the lonely valley that separates the rocky knolls of Creag Ghiubhais (\u2018hill of the fir-trees\u2019) and Creag nam Ban, the Hill of the Women. The unaccustomed sunshine had called out the butterflies; meadow browns in clouds, leopard-spotted fritillaries, and a beautiful royal blue creature that moved too erratically for me to fix its name for sure. I surprised a buzzard on a field wall; it stared round at me as if it had never seen a human being before, then jumped up and flapped with stiff wing-beats over the trees.<\/p>\n<p>Near the silent buildings at the Mill of Cosh I turned onto a stony track and made for the hills. These 4-wheel-drive roadways have proliferated all through the Highlands, and they are a wonderful asset for walkers. But they haven\u2019t succeeded in keeping a population in the remote back country hereabouts. Beside the track the house of Loinveg stood shuttered among its shelter trees. Beyond lay the great dun-coloured bowl of Glen Girnock, the Girnock Burn snaking through its marshy bottom, heathery hills encircling it. Not a sheep, not a cow. Complete silence, a cold wind, and the exhilaration of striding out in empty moorland with a stunning view ahead to the dark cliffs of Lochnagar.<\/p>\n<p>I passed a tiny stone-built whisky still, some long-forgotten amateur distiller\u2019s illicit pride and joy, and came to the abandoned farmstead of Bovaglie, windows boarded, ornate garden gate swinging in the wind, an eerie and haunted place. A final high stretch looking west into the heart of the Grampian Mountains, and a descent through a pine forest bearded with trailing lichens, down to the road and the broad Dee Valley once more.<\/p>\n<p>Start &#038; finish: Parking bay near Abergeldie Cottages, near Balmoral (OS ref NO 287948)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there:<br \/>\nA93 Braemar-Ballater; at Balmoral, B976 (\u2018East Deeside\u2019). Cross River Dee; follow B976. Pass sign on left to Clachanturn; next right (unmarked); just past right bend, parking bay on right.<\/p>\n<p>Walk: (8\u00bd, moderate, OS Explorer 388): Up driveway opposite, past Abergeldie Cottages and on up grass track. Dogleg left and right (289947); continue uphill, with stone wall and trees on right, to forestry fence. Right; follow fence down; cross 2 ladder stiles (291949); follow fence for \u00be mile, descending beside B976. Pass 2 locked gates; on through trees for 400 yards. At next locked gate by road (304958), hairpin back to right up grassy track through trees, then through open heather for \u2154 mile, passing between Creag nam Ban and Creag Ghiubhais, to meet tumbledown fence (310949). Left along it for \u00be mile to Mill of Cosh; right on stony track (320953). Follow track for 3 miles past Loinveg and Bovaglie. In another mile, right at junction (290923). In \u2153 mile, where track begins to descend, right at track crossing (285925). Stile into forest (286929); at fork in \u00bc mile (286934) keep ahead (left); down to Khantore (288938); road to Balnacroft (285944); right to car.<\/p>\n<p>NB: Faint track skirting Creag Ghiubhais \u2013 some heather wading! <\/p>\n<p>Lunch: Picnic<\/p>\n<p>Info:     Ballater TIC (01339-755306); <a href=\"http:\/\/www.royal-deeside.org.uk\/\">www.royal-deeside.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>2011 Gower Walking Festival: 4 &#8211; 19 June;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mumblestic.co.uk\/\">www.mumblestic.co.uk<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.logmytrip.co.uk\/\">http:\/\/www.logmytrip.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At last, after days of rain over Scotland, a beautiful sunny morning of wind and high cloud and patches of brilliant blue sky. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}