November Weekend to Pitlochry

On this November trip we were staying at the Moulin Hotel on the outskirts of Pitlochry. Andrew and Ann were staying in a nearby hotel, as was Heidi. Everyone made their own arrangements for the Friday and we all met up in the Moulin Bar in the evening.

On Saturday the majority of us .. Ian, Steven, Jean, Tom, Heidi, Miriam and I .. decided to climb Ben Vrackie from the hotel. It was dry and paritally sunny with a cold wind. There were plenty of other walkers. The route was straightforward and we made good progress. It was very windy at the top, so it was a quick photo and then down to some shelter for lunch. After lunch we made our way back to the hotel for some well deserved refreshment.

For those not climbing Ben Vrackie ...... Hilary took the bus to Perth to see the Stone of Destiny, Andrew and Ann had an appointment at the Aberfeldy Distillery and Iris explored a local walk taking in the Black Spout Waterfall.

On Sunday everyone again made their own arrangements. It was a nice day with plenty of sunshine. Ian and Iris take the 'Gold Medal' by walking from Pitlochry to the Coronation Bridge on the River Tummel and back.

It was an enjoyable weekend.

Mark Setford

November Weekday Walk in the City of Glasgow

6 of us .. Diane, Iris, Allan, Hamish, James and Ian .. met at the entrance to St. Enoch Subway Station at 10am for the start of the urban walk along the Clyde to Glasgow Green, and on up High Street to the Necropolis and Cathedral. The weather forecast was not particularly good, but despite some heavy rain early on, from the start point and for the rest of the day the weather was fairly reasonable.

We walked along the Clydeside to Glasgow Green past the rowing club premises. Before reaching King's Drive we turned left towards the Templeton building, past the West Brewery then on to the Peoples Palace and the Winter Gardens, both closed for construction work .. it was then back through the MacLennan Arch. We continued up along the Saltmarket, through Glasgow Cross and up High Street towards Glasgow Cathedral, passing the Barony Hall on our left. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs into the Necropolis where we headed up to the John Knox monument .. the only hill climb of the day .. and continued on a circular tour of part of the extensive number of monuments in the Necropolis.

After leaving the Necropolis, we wandered on to the Cathedral Precinct but didn’t spend much time there as most had made a visit already. Then it was back on to Castle Street, past Provand’s Lordship onto High street and past the magnificent St Mungo mural on the right. It was then time for a small refreshment, so we went into the very recently opened ‘Pursuit of Hoppiness’, an excellent very small but comfortable beer bar where they stock around 200 different beers in cans and bottles .. no coffees or any other type of drinks at the moment but they have plans to extend shortly.

After reaching the Merchant City area we mostly split up to suit our own travel arrangements, while Allan and I had some lunch prior to meeting up with some members of our works retirees group in Blackfriars.

It was a very pleasant walk of about 7km through urban parts of Glasgow not often visited by many, which had only very minor ascents and an excellent refreshment stop as long as you liked beer. Iris took her own coffee in with her!

Ian Moffatt