Late Summer in Glenlivet - What to do?

Glenlivet to the Ladder Hills

Ladder Hills by Scalan

We have had fabulous weather this week which has been much enjoyed by our visitors to Bluefolds in fact it has been too hot, but we are not complaining just looking for more. Driving around Glenlivet and the Cairngorms National Park has shown that lots of visitors from all over Europe and many from further afield are now enjoying spending time in this stunning area of Scotland. I lost count of the number of cars I saw from Continental Europe who are able to take advantage of the better exchange rate at present. I went in search of heather and I found it on the Ladder Hills; on Aanside and all the way to Cairngorm Mountain through the National Park. There are many great walks on the Glenlivet Estate. We have the walk booklet with details of where to park and the exact routes in each of the cottages. Find Late Availability at Bluefolds I love to walk by the River Livet and there are a choice of walks. Walk 3 starts from the Allanreid car park (near Tomnavulin) and is a low level one along the banks of the River with some walking over moorland. It is a 6 mile circular walk with great views to the Ladder Hills. The Malcolm Gillespie Smugglers Trail in the Braes of Glenlivet starts from Chapeltown and is also circular over the hills for 6 1/2 miles. The Glen Brown walk through forest, farm and hill track is a shorter 4 1/2 mile walk with views down Strath Avon and up Glen Brown and starts from the White Bridge Car Park. All the walks have boards at the start of them showing the routes.  Find more information about these fantastic walks on The Glenlivet Estate

Driving along Aanside

Ready for a hill walk on the Glen Brown Circuit.

Skies and Heather

Cairngorm Mountain near the mountain garden

Lecht Mine, Glenlivet

Lecht Mine from the Car Park

Across the Glenlivet Estate there is a range of historic sites and buildings waiting to be explored.  The Crown Estate Glenlivet
featured the Lecht mine in their Winter newsletter reprinted here. The mine is easily reached by a pleasant short walk from the car park on the Lecht road.

The Lecht mine

• Iron ore was first mined at the Lecht in 1730 by York Buildings Company of London. The mine was abandoned in 1737 due to substantial losses.

• The mined ore was transported on horseback across the Avon at the Fordmouth-Lynachork ford, and then over the Dorback Hills to Nethy Bridge. Wood from the Abernethy Forest was used to smelt it down into “Strathdoun (Strathavon) pigs”.

• The mine was re-opened in 1841 by the Duke of Richmond as a manganese mine, local stories tell that the Minister of Corgarff had to lend his bull to help drag the new heavy rollers over the Lecht Pass. However following the importation of manganese ore from Russia, the price fell from £8 per ton to an uneconomical £3 per ton, and the mine was closed for a final time in 1846.

• At the peak of activity over 60 men and boys worked at the mine and it was, and still is, the largest manganese mine ever worked in Scotland.

Lecht Mine building still standing - last used 1846

• In 1863 there was nearly a reprieve for the old mine when samples of iron ore were sent to James Morrison, Manager of the Ferryhill Iron Works, Co Durham, for assessment. He would gladly have taken 50,000 tons per annum, and all that was needed to secure viability for the re-opening of the mine was a railway link to Tomintoul, but in that time of economic retrenchment no-one could be found to back the proposed iron ore railway.

• The foundations of some other buildings can still be seen, but only the mine building has survived as it was very solidly built to carry the water wheel and heavy machinery.

• The mine building was restored and reroofed and interpretation about the mine workings installed in a joint project between The Crown Estate and Moray Council.

Winter in Glenlivet

Thomas Telford bridge over the river Spey at Craigellachie

Walking on the Speyside Way near Craigellachie

Holidaymakers enjoyed the snow and sunshine in Glenlivet and Cairngorms over Christmas and New Year. The Lecht and Cairngorm ski resorts were very busy. The visitors to our cottages had to walk up the hill except for the lucky ones with 4 wheel drive! Since the New Year the snow and ice has gradually melted and the last few days have been warm, but there is a lot of winter left!

Watching the sun go down at Lossiemouth east beach

Lossiemouth east beach with view to Spey Bay

Blairfindy castle close to the Glenlivet distillery

Ducks on frozen pond at Cooper Park, Elgin

As you go down to the woods today, you are in for a big surprise

While driving around Glenlivet, I passed this lovely tree and glimpsed the ruined Blairfindy castle in the background. I then drove on to the Tombae area and found banks and fields covered in violets, primroses, celandine and wood anemone. This is on the Glenlivet Estate part of the Cairngorms National Park. There are a wonderful selection of walks on the Glenlivet estate.