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Section 2 Section
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Leaving the lowlands of Perthshire by the Highland Railway or the A9, the first biggish hills are encountered on the long straight approaching Ballinluig. From here Schiehallion shows as a sharp cone over the shoulder of a curiously neglected range of hills. For years the SMC district guides denied their existence and they have only now made their 'debut' in the modern blue covered guides. Rivaling Schiehallion on the left is the conical Farragon Hill, beyond is the slightly higher and less imposing Meall nan Tairneachan. Whilst access has been made easier from the south by a network of bulldozed roads this side rises gently from Strathtay and the real fun is to be found by approaching from the north, up from the shores of Loch Tummel.
The two Corbett tops are merely the highest pair of a string of knobbly schistose hills running from the Wade road at Loch Kinardochy to Pitlochry. Between the countless bumps are several fine lochans set amongst crags and heather braes, but before getting too carried away with this scene of pastoral splendour , there is also a working mine tucked in under the summit crags of Meall Tairneachan and a major road runs within a short pech of the summit itself. With a bike Tairneachain must be the easiest Corbett, certainly the one with the quickest descent.
Whilst not the most exciting of hills, they are very handily placed for visits from the lowlands and are blessed with fine views, contrasting between the wild north and gentle south, and always dominated by the vast cone of Schiehallion, which is exceptional from Tairneachan.
To the south is the old sanctuary of Dull , once the site of an important monastic settlement, and reputed to be the burial place of St. Adamnan (or Eonan) abbot of Iona and biographer of St Columba. The location of his grave is no longer remembered. The sanctuary, was marked with crosses , as at Applecross, likewise a fugitive was safe within its bounds. Two of the crosses can be seen at Weem Church. Weem is linked with yet another great saint, as St Cuthbert retreated to a hermitage above Weem, possibly where the climbers now go.
Nearby is Menzies Castle and the newly developed climbing area of Weem Crags. has a long and violent history and was sacked by Montrose, and briefly inhabited by Queen Mary. Easily the most famous monument in the area though must be the Wade Bridge at Aberfeldy/Weem. This I can remember appeared on a stamp in the '60s (Tarr Steps in Somerset was on the letter post stamp. Aberfeldy was reserved for parcels). This beautiful structure is still carrying traffic on the road to Rannoch to this day, and was built within a year according to the inscription on the bridge. The bridge over the Tay completed the Stirling branch of the Inverness Road, and was very much a prestige project. It was the most expensive item in the roads project at £4095 5s 10d, and a fitting memorial. Here too was the location of the first mustering of the Black Watch, celebrated by the nearby monument, which lists the deeds of this famous regiment in Gaelic and English.
Above Strathtay the hills rise gently and are increasingly covered by conifers, an up to date map is handy here. Passing by the quick route offered by the mine road from Kinardochy, the obvious ascent route is from the North, starting from the minor road running along the southern shores of Loch Tummel. There are several possible starting points although there are constraints forced by the forestry. It should be noted that there is a deer fence, unmarked by the OS along the whole hillside at about 400m. To get both hills most start at Frenich where it is possible to leave a few cars.
The road to Frenich from the Pitlochry bypass is very fine and recommended for cyclists. I once walked it, trying to get to Schiehallion, in the end I got a lift from Foss to Glen Lyon, so changed my plans to more distant hills. Passing the falls of Tummel and twisting amongst birkwoods , it is a must see during the back end. I made sure my ascent was at this time, after the stag stalking season, but still within the rutting season and the hills and woods ablaze with colour. This morning there were several photographers out and about, days like this supply the calendars and post cards.
The OS shows a forest road heading west from Frenich through the not so colourful forestry block, ending close by a pony track. As expected they did connect so easy access to the hill is possible at 805578. Once clear of the trees, the colours returned and views opened up over the Dunalastair woods and distantly to Schiehallion and Beinn a'Ghlo. The Ben a'Ghlo view is unusual in that the normally retiring Braigh Coire Chruin Bhalagain is dominant as a fine peak. After crunching through the ice on the track and passing through the new fence, I had to take to the heather for a rough pech up beside an old dyke. This was grouse country and I was often given my marching orders. The dyke gave out as shown on the 1:25000 map at a cairn and here the going eased into gentle undulating grassland, covered in early snows.
A small eyecatching peak Chiochan a Chop provided an enjoyable diversion to its sharp summit and then I was upon the brutal mine road, which was hurriedly crossed before embarking on the swim up the drifted northern slopes of the summit block. I was near the mine here, but it is so located as to be invisible unless 'on the premises' so to speak. There was no hiding the road.
Footprints at the summit told of a visit earlier in the day, perhaps they came up by the Dull side? The trig point had its brass baseplate intact, very rare now, I am sure someone is collecting them. The view, as expected, was dominated by Schiehallion and the snowy wastes of Cairn Mairg beyond. A snow shower blotted out the Gaick.
Schiehallion dominates the summit. The Glen Lyon hills are behind the trig point.
I chose to return to the road, rather than tackle the steep crags east of the summit. The road took a sharp turn downhill to the Andean wastes of the barytes mine. The mineral is heavy and is used as 'mud' in oil wells, its cheap and heavy enough to counter the pressures of the upwelling oil, these hills are one of the worlds richest deposits. The mine has been up here since the late 70's and few know of its existance.
The road continued to some trial levels and skirted Creag an Loch. Purists would leave the road at the mine to take in this top, I went round heading for the sharp cone of Farragon Hill.
Farragon Hill from the ascent of Tairneachan.
The shapely one of the pair, Farragon Hill is a prominent landmark in Strathtay. Seaton Gordon suggested that it may have been a holy place, but it is now quiet and spared having a pilgrim trail worn up it. Given its shape and the history of the area this is not too fanciful a notion. The justification for this theory is that the hill is probably named after St Fheargain, a missionary from Iona. Like its neighbour the southern slopes are given to modern forestry plantations, and are gentle. It is to the east where the fun starts with numerous rocky knolls and lochans stretching to Pitlochry. A road now threads its way through here, from Cluny on Tayside to Netherton on the south Loch Tummel road. This would probably reward the cyclist. Other roads lead up from Strathtay. A rough ascent cabn be made from Frenich and you will get your feet wet.
From the end of the Tairneachan mine road a short bog trot led to the steep cone of Farragon. All the crags are small so it was very easy to find a way up. By now the wind was up and it was good to nestle in amongst the summit rocks to admire the view.
Soon I was joined by a lone walker ,who was staying at Pitlochry Youth Hostel. I noticed his map had the Corbetts highlighted. If you are reading this. thanks for the jam tart ! I was to reverse his footsteps down into the bowl at the head of the Frenich burn. Here I was able to watch stags fighting for the last of the hinds, walk amongst the sites of old sheilings, their rowans thick with red berries and fall down numerous holes in the bogs.
In the years I have been wandering over Scotland I have noticed the coming of paths carved by walkers across the Munros. Here was the same only it was the vast herds of deer causing the paths. Deer erosion is only too noticeable now, but 15 years ago it was invisible.
The burn disappeared into a ravine and I made sure I crossed back to the unforested east bank for the final descent. Through a cat flap in the deer fence, down into a birch wood and a trap. I had blundered down a tongue between the main burn and a tributary ravine. I needed a scramble up and traverse to get on to easy ground above the farm at Lick. A discrete flanking down the side of the last field brought me to a gate in the roadside fence opposite Frenich house, with its fine garden and the end of my day. By now the sun was in and I was to miss the colours of the woodland on returning to the A9. Care was taken not to run over the returning photographers. It was the perfect autumn day.
It is interesting to see the census figures for the parishes of Weem and Dull from the 19th Century. They show the extent of depopulation at the time, and help explain the size and numbers of sheilings in these hills
Source: The Highland Clearances. (http://www.sirius.com/~macgowan/hc.cen.html ~ not currently a live link)
1831 1841 1851 1881 Dull 4590 3811 3342 2565 Weem 1209 890 740 474
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