{"id":580,"date":"2013-01-26T01:36:15","date_gmt":"2013-01-26T01:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=580"},"modified":"2013-02-01T22:48:50","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T22:48:50","slug":"crianlarich-to-tyndrum-strath-fillan-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=580","title":{"rendered":"Crianlarich to Tyndrum, Strath Fillan, Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Crianlarich in the rain. So what\u2019s new? Iron-calved walkers and runners were setting off regardless up the forest paths.<br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.onload = setupZoom; function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=800,width=1040,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script>First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('StrathFillan.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><\/script><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8212\/8329938280_32963deb71.jpg\" title='Allt Gleann a&#039; Chlachain in flood'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8212\/8329938280_32963deb71_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8364\/8328879129_98bf40a384.jpg\" title='West Highland Way in Strath Fillan'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8364\/8328879129_98bf40a384_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8492\/8328878183_73b1761a8e.jpg\" title='graveyard at Kirkton'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8492\/8328878183_73b1761a8e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8501\/8329935282_eef8875f47.jpg\" title='St Fillan&#039;s Church 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8501\/8329935282_eef8875f47_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8220\/8329932680_43dc82ace4.jpg\" title='River Fillan at Kirkton Bridge'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8220\/8329932680_43dc82ace4_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8220\/8328873423_13ddaa2ba9.jpg\" title='Strath Fillan meadow'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8220\/8328873423_13ddaa2ba9_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8079\/8329929708_ed0a4bcc95.jpg\" title='sphagnum in the forest'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8079\/8329929708_ed0a4bcc95_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8214\/8329928654_d4eb1073a8.jpg\" title='lichen'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8214\/8329928654_d4eb1073a8_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=580\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\nA huddle of sad French holidaymakers waited at the station, with a cheery local exhorting them: \u2018Well, at least ye\u2019ve escaped the midgies!\u2019 From the hillside path above the village I watched the blue, pink and silver train bear the French away south to the compensatory tearooms of Glasgow. Then I followed the path, studded with white nuggets of quartzite, up through rowans and lichen-hung fir trees to Bogle Glen pass and the West Highland Way.<\/p>\n<p>As a long-distance walk of 95 miles, from Glasgow\u2019s outskirts as far north as Fort William, the West Highland Way offers a surprisingly stern challenge. But it\u2019s also provided with very well-placed railway stations if you just want to try out a short section. I\u2019d had the stretch from Crianlarich to Tyndrum in my sights for ages, so a day of dreich weather wasn\u2019t going to put me off.<\/p>\n<p>Between rain and wind the forest wept and roared. Hill trickles bounded down their suddenly swollen channels. The Way forged steadily up the flank of Strath Fillan under the trees, sheltered from the weather until it dipped to cross the loudly rushing River Fillan in the flat meadows of the valley. House sparrows flirted on the wetly gleaming garden walls of Kirkton Farm, and a wren ran along the mossy stones of St Fillan\u2019s Church, a hollow ruin in a sycamore grove.<\/p>\n<p>Robert the Bruce designated this modest foundation a priory in 1318, in thanksgiving to the 8th-century Irish missionary Fillan, the relic of whose left arm had helped Bruce to victory at Bannockburn four years earlier. Fillan seems to have had a way with wild animals \u2013 on one occasion a wolf, having killed one of the saint\u2019s two oxen, then submitted itself to being yoked to the other beast in order to help Fillan finish his ploughing.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the priory the West Highland Way dipped close to the Holy Pool at the confluence of Allt Gleann a\u2019 Chlachain and the River Finnan. Insanity sufferers of a more rugged era would be ducked in the pool, then tied up under a heap of straw on the old font slab in the church ruin and left there for the night \u2013 more tough love than psychiatry, perhaps.<\/p>\n<p>I lingered on the river\u2019s brink, watched the yeasty churning of the rain-swollen pool, and then followed the Way up into the trees again and down to Tyndrum and the rattly little train back to Crianlarich.<br \/>\nStart: Crianlarich station, FK20 8QN (OS ref NN 385251)<\/p>\n<p>Finish: Tyndrum Lower station, FK20 8RZ, or Upper Tyndrum station, FK20 8RY<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Rail (<a href=\"http:\/\/thetrainline.com\">thetrainline.com<\/a>) to Crianlarich. Road: A82 from Glasgow<\/p>\n<p>Walk (6 miles, moderate, OS Explorer 364): From Crianlarich station go up steps, cross A82 to small car park. Left up path (\u2018Access to West Highland Way\u2019\/WHW) through trees. In \u00bd mile, meet WHW (376251); ahead, passing deer gate on left; on up slope past \u2018Bogle Glen\u2019 sign. Follow WHW thistle symbols for 2\u00bd miles to recross A82 (359278). Ahead to cross River Fillan. Pass Kirkton Farm, St Fillan\u2019s Church (359284) and Auchtertyre to recross A82 (349288). Follow WHW beside river, then through forestry to Tyndrum Lower station (327301). Train back to Crianlarich.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: Real Food Caf\u00e9, Tyndrum (01838-400235; <a href=\"http:\/\/therealfoodcafe.com\">therealfoodcafe.com<\/a>) \u2013 justly popular no-frills caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: Craigbank Guesthouse, Main Street, Crianlarich FK20 8QS (01838-300279; craigbankguesthouse.com)<\/p>\n<p>Guidebook: The West Highland Way by Bob Aitken and Roger Smith (Mercat Press)<\/p>\n<p>Information: Balloch TIC (01389-753533); <a href=\"http:\/\/visitscotland.com\">visitscotland.com<\/a><br \/>\n<A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.ramblers.org.uk\/\">www.ramblers.org.uk<\/A> <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.satmap.com\/\">www.satmap.com<\/A> <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.LogMyTrip.co.uk\/\">www.LogMyTrip.co.uk<\/A><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crianlarich in the rain. So what\u2019s new? Iron-calved walkers and runners were setting off regardless up the forest paths.<\/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-580","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\/580","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=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}