Lady Mary's Walk, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland
Advice if using a wheelchair or pushchair
Turning onto the Laggan Road back to Crieff
Back in the days when we lived at Bridge of Earn, near Perth, we had driven up to Crieff for the day and enjoyed a picnic in a park before finding an attractive riverside walk. As we sat having a lazy lunch in the sunshine outside the Crieff Hydro Hotel brasserie, I was shocked to realise that it must have been over 20 years ago! I wasn’t sure whether one or both of our grown-up children had been with us then, probably in a pushchair.
On this hot afternoon there was some enthusiasm in going for a walk, but it shouldn’t be too long and strenuous, and some shade along the way would be welcome! So I thought of this previous walk and checked in the Crieff Walks leaflet to work out which one it was. It must have been Lady Mary’s Walk, which also had a separate leaflet for wheelchair users, one of a series produced by Bob Bennett through a Millennium Award Scheme supported by the National Lottery.
Four of us voted for the walk, with others going to the swimming pool or squash court. We could have walked down there from the hotel, adding half a mile in either direction, but decided to take the car down and avoid a tiring climb back uphill in the heat.
We had already seen the road down to the park at the western side of Crieff, off to the left of the main road to Comrie. It’s called Taylor Park in the leaflets, but there’s some confusion caused by the sign which names it McRosty Park. Another bit of grassland on the other side of the river has a third name although it’s effectively part of the same area of parkland. Aha, it pays to read the walks leaflet. Under “Curroughs Walk” it says that “Three parks in one – MacRosty, Taylor and Mungall – were all given to the town by past provosts and civic leaders.” So now we know.
Whatever it’s called, the park provided a large area of grassland with mature trees, plenty of space for picnics, and a play area for kids. There was a long parking area beside the access road, and information panels for the walks similar to those we’d seen on the way up The Knock. These ones highlighted two different walks, but neither of them was Lady Mary’s Walk. More confusion! The Curroughs, Laggan Hill, Trowan and Lady Mary’s walks all run through Taylor Park.
We weren’t quite sure which way to go, but knew we needed to walk alongside the burn, so we walked towards the little roadbridge just beyond the parking area. There, on the other side, was the sign pointing us to the left for the Lady Mary’s Walk. From then on it was straightforward and well signposted,
Advice if using a wheelchair or pushchair
However, if you’d arrived in your wheelchair or with your child in a pram you would have had problems. The first section of the walk beside the Turret Burn was NOT suitable for such vehicles, with ruts and rocks to contend with. As we worked out later, you’d need to proceed a bit further up this road beyond the bridge and turn left into Laggan Road. After passing the new housing, it becomes a minor road and soon reaches a small crossroads, with a well-surfaced path off to the left which leads down to join Lady Mary’s Walk. It seems that this is the route intended in the Crieff Walks and Bob Bennett Walks leaflets, but they don’t give a clear indication of this starting point.
First of all the uneven path ran close to the right bank of the Turret Burn, and under a disused railway bridge. It was easy enough on foot, and pleasant in the shade of the trees. Soon we reached a spot beside a slow-moving pool where the sun played on the water. A couple of kids went past quickly, on bikes, so it seemed to be OK on two wheels! The path turned slightly to the right, and we could see that the burn was flowing into the much wider River Earn with a view in both directions. There were more young people playing around on the edge of the water, hopping across stones, and trying their hand at fishing. It was a pleasure to see youngsters enjoying the countryside like this.
Not much further on, and the uneven path joined up with a wider one, which seemed to be the line of the old railway which once ran to Lochearnhead. It must have been a splendid scenic route. The leaflet indicates that this was named after Lady Mary by her father, local landowner Sir Patrick Murray of Ochtertyre, in 1825 – this must have been before the railway was built, so it has reverted to a footpath.
Further along, a couple were sitting on a bench overlooking the river, enjoying the shade on a warm afternoon. It really was an ideal walk in this sort of weather. We just took our time, and found plenty of other benches which we could sit on - we soon realised that a series of individually-designed benches had been created to enhance the route, each with a distinctive inscription highlighting aspects of the river, the wildlife and the former railway line.
Turning onto the Laggan Road back to Crieff
The track became narrower as the line of the railway left the river bank, but it was still an excellent surface. Then it turned to the right and cross the route of the railway line, then right again along the old Drovers' Road, the Trowan Road. This would once have been one of the main economic arteries of the area, followed by thousands of cattle being driven from a vast area of the Highlands towards the market at Crieff. There they would be sold for fattening in the lowlands.
Once again we were walking on a good surface, and the route was well signposted (see above). We could have taken a slightly longer and more strenuous route back to Crieff, over the Laggan Hill, but the relaxing stroll in the shade was just fine! We knew it would take us straight back into town.
There were views over fields, first to the left, then to the right, and when we reached a large collection of farm buildings we joined a surfaced road. But it was narrow and there was no traffic as we completed the route. It passed another fine house on the left, then at the next farm road junction we spotted Knock Hill and the Crieff Hydro Hotel in the distance.
On again for another half a mile to a cross-roads. In fact, the "road" to the right was the track leading down to the river bank which would be suitable for wheelchair users. Again it was well signposted (see photo below).
We kept on the Laggan Road and soon found ourselves on a typical residential street with new housing on either side and a few people out looking after their gardens. This sloped down slightly towards a junction with another road - turning right along here took us back to Taylor Park and our car.
It was one of those afternoons where it would have been very easy just to laze around at the hotel in the sunshine and not have much to show for it. We felt very self-satisfied that we had made the effort to go out and walk, and had managed to find an ideal route for all of us.
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