Sketches of Stirling: Eight
I meet my walking companions at the corner of Torbrex Lane, in the village of the same name which lies to the south west of Stirling, once an important area for weaving. From there we walk along Torbrex Road, taking a left over the M9 motorway towards the outskirts of Cambusbarron.
A road sign welcomes visitors to the peaceful village by displaying a black silhouette of the skyline stretching from the parish church via the fir forested ridge of Gillies Hill and Tinkers Loan, to the Robert the Bruce statue at the ‘Brucie’ on the Battle of Bannockburn Site.
The narrow country road leads us past the remains of woodland fringes, now encroached upon by modern newbuilds, mainly hidden from the road, while on the other side there are attractive scandi-style dwellings in a mixture of white stone and wood. Further along another fairly new development slopes down to the Swanswater Fishery.
We head on past these places until we are at the top of King George’s Park, then on into the old part of the village where the church stands tall and proud at its centre, with a pointed spire rising to the blue sky containing puffy white clouds, above a square tower. Down the front of the tower is draped a bright tableau of red poppies, which, from the further end of the village, dominates the scene amid old stone houses and cottages built on either side of Main Street.
Walking onwards we head in a north westerly direction along Touch Road, out into open countryside. The rolling fields to our right are still verdant green after copious rainfall within recent weeks, grazed by woolly sheep, soon to be sheltered indoors for winter . Down a steep hill leading from the end of Main Street lie the old mills , now converted into modern luxury flats but still retaining their barrack-like exterior, visible from this side of the village.
Over bordering hedgerows, we can see the back end of the castle, and much further east, the tops of distant grey hills near Kinross in Fife. To the north east lies Bridge of Allan where the roofs of the halls of residence of neighbouring Stirling University, built in the grounds of the historic Airthray Estate, are visible. Beyond this vista it is possible to spy the Knock of Crieff, in Perthshire, a wooded hill beside the famous Hydro, nearly thirty miles away. A faint rainbow paints the sky in pastels.
The route continues to afford magnificent panoramas over undulating pastureland, until we reach a viewpoint where we stand and contemplate the blue-grey outlines of Ben Ledi, Ben Vorlich and Stuc a’Chroin in the Trossachs, beneath a canopy of gathering, thick white cloud, precursor of the rainy weather which is forecast for the next day.
The clouds roll on eastwards as we turn back towards the village. At the corner of the Foresters Arms, a local gastropub which serves appetising food from midday onwards, we enter Gillies Hill, a steep climb towards the woods of the same name. The sky is brighter now, bathed in a low afternoon sun while we pass solid semi-detached and terraced houses of brown rough cast, which, to our right, are shadowed by a border of golden, autumnal trees, behind them.
Up and up we go until we find a path leading into a shady copse of silver birch, lit as if by torchlight, the sun straight ahead, sending out white beams, dead centre. A photo taken of this sight will later reveal the presence of a white shape, like a tiny flying saucer, a pink heart at its centre. The spirit of this ancient woodland, into which man has encroached with bulldozers, still remains, when one seeks its presence.
Back in the village we buy some sustenance from a local shop and walk along a path shaded by trees and bushes, until we come to Bruce’s Well, a sacred site, so called because it was here that King Robert the Bruce took holy water before going into battle. The well, marked by a collection of horseshoe-shaped grey stones, also known as Chapel Croft, is situated where an actual chapel once stood, and takes water from part of the Sauchie Burn, a former mill stream .
The trickling burn accompanies us along the pathway towards Birkhill Road, a mysterious enveloping panoply of evergreen firs with twisted, hollowed trunks, surrounded by thick natural hedges of overgrown ivy and russet leaves of deciduous trees illuminated by sunshine from behind the scenes.
In King George’s Park we find a favourite seat, enjoying our refreshments while watching happy children play on swings, a ‘bird nest’ climbing frame, a flying fox, roundabouts and trampolines. Dogs run free up and down the hill, watched by cawing crows from high tree tops.
Then it’s time to return home via Birkhill Road, over the motorway again, taking a short cut through Grampian Road and Kenningknowes Road back in the direction of Torbrex. Fascinating fungi formations cluster beneath trees: honey-coloured button-like Sulphur Tuft, and larger beige Saffron Milkcap, sheltering homes for hiding gnomes, elemental spirits that guard the dampened earth.
This completes our autumn walk, adding to the memories of hedgerows laden with dangling, shiny dark red Crab Apples, brighter red Rosehips, and Boysenberries, and a chimney top near the woods where seven pairs of wood pigeons have gathered, obtaining a bird’s eye view of three human beings marvelling at nature’s late season showcase.
