The Angus Glens

03/10/24

What we had seen of Angus so far had been fields of stubble and straw bales. Earthy potato fields were in the last stages of harvest and fruit farms were ending their season, airing their strawberry polytunnels and uncovering their rows of fruit trees and berry bushes. It’s a fertile district for arable farming and of course is also well known for Aberdeen Angus beef cattle.

Head inland, past Forfar and things start to change. Not far away are the Cairngorms, and on the edge of the mountains are the Angus Glens. Glaciated valleys whose rivers are sourced on the plateau of the Cairngorms and drop through the steep sided valleys where they join to form some of the great rivers that water the fertile lowlands.

Glen Clova

We were heading up to Glen Clova, sometimes touted as the most beautiful of the Glens. We’d chosen Glen Clova, not just because of it’s beauty, but also because looked the easiest to access in a large vehicle. A little investigation revealed that we were unlikely to be allowed to sleep overnight in the upper reaches of the glen, but there were some possible parking spots lower down the valley. There was some Forestry Commission daytime parking though, and so long as it wasn’t too busy we would be able to enjoy a hike.

It was our first foray into single track roads this trip, but nothing too difficult. If you are a fan of Ordnance Survey maps then you’ll know that there are various different colours for narrow roads. We weren’t going to be on the narrowest yellow roads (less than 4m wide), but on the next size up; the orange roads. The drive up was quiet and we didn’t meet any traffic coming in the opposite direction. Just one van behind us, which we pulled over to let past.

We parked up in the Milton of Clova parking area. We were next to another van but there were no other cars here which was quite lucky. The parking area only had a couple of spots big enough for us (if it had been busy, our next option was to go further up the valley – on the narrower yellow roads – to the larger Forestry Commission parking). There was a clear ‘No Overnight Parking’ sign, which we were prepared for, but still a bit of a shame that we would have to move after our walk.

A Walk to Ben Tirran

We chose a route from WalkHighlands. This excellent website provides walking routes of all levels. This one would take us around the corries (glacially formed horseshoe shaped valleys) and lochs on the north side of Glen Clova.

We ascended through the Clova Hotel carpark where there were a lot of 4x4s parked up. As we ascended we heard them all moving off and later saw them parked up on the opposite side of the valley. They were obviously on a shooting day. Later we would see many pheasant and partridge in the lower reaches of the glen. It must be a popular gun sports destination.

The route up was popular. Several people were walking up to Loch Brandy, and some were planning to do the circular walk around the corrie above Loch Brandy. Our route was a little different. We reached the pretty loch and then headed up the right hand side of the corrie where we had views of ‘The Snub’ – the steeper lump on the opposite side of the corrie – being ascended by some of the people we’d met on the path.

As we crossed the boggy moorland towards Ben Tirran we startled golden plover in the grass and they took flight only to come to rest a little further on for more of the same. A herd of deer were keep a respectable distance from us until we crossed the deer fencing and lost sight of them. There is a lot of this tall fencing up here, some of which we followed, keeping it on our left as a good navigation aid and only detouring where the eroded peat and marshy lochans forced us.

On the moors – can you see the deer?

Ben Tirran summit had a trig point but was otherwise fairly featureless. It’s a Corbett (mountains between 2,500–3,000 feet), so didn’t help us tick off our Munro list, but was worth a visit. From here we could smell, and see, the smoke being generated by muirburn (planned burning of heather) in adjacent valleys. It hung in the air creating some odd visual effects.

The descent to Loch Wharral followed. This loch sits in another corrie. Here we had a great glimpse of a mountain hare, sitting watchfully on the slope above us still in it’s dark summer colours. The slopes here were also covered in multiple shooting stands. I wondered what we would have done if they were in use, luckily for us we were alone on the slopes as we picked our way downhill to join the track to the road.

Finally we had a trudge along the road back to Glen Clova. It wasn’t a bad walk in it’s own right but our feet were tired and we just wanted to get back to the van.

Overnight at Gella Bridge

Back down Glen Clova there are a handful of parking areas near Gella Bridge. One had No Overnight parking signs but the other two were free of signage. We tried out the more picturesque spot down by the river but decided there wasn’t enough room for vehicles to get around us and access the track which led off the parking spot, so we moved up to the next one which was smaller but easier to nestle in a corner and be out of the way.

It was a peaceful night, we watched the rabbits which had extensive warrens in the sand banks behind us and opposite us. Later we spoke to someone who told us what a pest they were and how they were causing a lot of instability in the soil around the river, but they were fun to watch.

Once the sun had set we were surrounded by the most clear dark skies with so many stars and an excellent view of the milky way. The downside of such a clear sky was our coldest night so far. When we woke the outside temperature was below zero and the heating was most definitely needed.

Frosty parking spot at Gella Bridge

A bike ride in Glen Doll

The weather, though cold, was lovely and so we decided we’d head back up the glen and have a day on the bikes. We followed the road back up to the Milton of Clova parking where we slotted into the same parking space and go the bikes off our bike rack.

We’d found a bike ride on the internet that headed up Glen Clova and then Glen Doll via Jock’s Road. It wasn’t long before our plans were thwarted. The ride along the road to the Forestry Parking was lovely, easy cycling through the beautiful glen. But then we were onto forest tracks, and with the uneven surface our legs started to evidence a little heaviness from the hike the day before.

Cycling along the road. Can you see all the pheasants in the field? We also noticed that Paul had forgotten to wear his helmet – oops

So instead we took the left hand branch of Glen Doll into Corrie Fee, and it was a good decision. We followed the path as far as our bikes could take us, out of the forest and into the grassy corrie where we could see the glacially deposits under the heather and moss.

Glacial till deposits formed mounds in the valley

We kept going on our bikes, encountering a few tricky sections, until we got to the steps up to the waterfall.

Cycling through the valley

Finally our bikes were abandoned in the heather and we climbed the last section to a good view of the waterfall.

Waterfall in Corrie Fee

We returned the way we had come and had a well deserved bacon sandwich for lunch before heading back down the valley and off to our next destination.

This taster of the Angus Glens had whetted our appetite for more, but they are tricky to visit with a large motorhome so we left any further exploration for a future trip.