Our favourite short walks – Strathspey Cairngorms

Strathspey – the valley surrounding the River Spey in the Cairngorms National Park is home to the Wilderness Scotland office. Options for walkers here are abundant! The Cairngorms is home to some of the highest peaks in the UK. For low-level walking we are blessed to have ancient Caledonian pine forests and a myriad of lochs and rivers to meander along.

One of our Wilderness Guiding team, Emy Macleod has put together a few of her favourite low-level walks in Strathspey.

A section of woodland in Glen Feshie is home to many wooden sculptures carved by artist Frank Bruce. The sculpture trail is easily accessed from nearby Aviemore and is a great option to also take in the natural beauty of the nearby River Feshie.

How to find it:

The sculptures were crafted with the knowledge that one day they would return to the ground with nature reclaiming them. Originally they were displayed near Banff in Aberdeenshire, however when the opportunity arose to have them here in the Cairngorms, a place that Frank and his wife had grown fond of, they were moved to their current location. The trail & sculptures are cared for and maintained by the Forestry Commission for Scotland. You will discover that some of the sculptures are carved in stone. This is to ensure that some of the artist’s work remains permanent as a record of his skills.

The design of some have them weakening before others, an intention by the artist. These sculptures are magnificent to look at. The sculptures take one on a journey through Scottish culture and can question our place in the world, both as individuals and as a society. You can spend a great deal of time looking at the sculptures, asking yourself questions and interpreting meaning through reflection of what your life is and what your life can be. The first sculpture on the trail is the Archetype. An archetype is a typical example of something. It can also be a mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors that is supposed to be present in our unconscious mind and which affects our behaviour and emotions. Examples of archetypes that people can relate to are those of “The Mother”, “Hero”, “Outlaw” and “Trickster”. A person can look at these sculptures and see if they can identify with a particular archetype. It may not be one that is positive and it might ignite a need or drive for change. On the other hand one may identify with a positive archetype and that person may feel confidence and a sense of accomplishment in their life.

The largest stone sculpture, The Millennium, is Frank Bruce’s visual display of what creation is. The hand represents the force man has over destiny and what can be reached. It is a representation of he who created it all and gave man opportunity and skill to build and grow. Within the stone a pyramid and sphere are carved, also a face and hands. Man made the pyramids, man visited the moon, what is next for the human race?

A sculpture that focuses on Scottish Culture is “The Man’s the Gowd”. This work, inspired by the works of Robert Burns has two men standing facing each other, one a working man and the other a knight. Both have carved crowns of skulls upon their heads. The meaning that can be drawn from these is that no matter where one sits on the society ladder, rich or poor, we all die one day.

‘The Man’s the Gowd’

The Uath Lochans are one of the must see woodland locations in the Cairngorms National Park. They are sometimes known as the paw lochans as from the air the 4 lochans make the shape of an animal’s paw print.

How to find them:

The lochans are found in the Inshriach forest area in Glen Feshie. Surrounded by Caledonian Pines, heather and marsh/bog land it is home to an abundance of wildlife and plant life. It is a popular site for bird watchers with a number of hides in situ and in the month of July, the waterlilies (Nymphaea Alba – white rose) that flourish on the lochans are certainly a sight worth seeing.

Covering a 10kmsq section of the River Spey floodplain is Insh Marshes, a protected area of wetland that is home to species of breeding waders including Snipe, Lapwing, Curlew and Redshank.

How to find it:

The Curlew is identified by its long curved bill. In Springtime it is easily identified by its call, a song starting with a deep whistle of notes then quickly turning into a long bubbling sound.
The Redshank has long orange/red legs and a white rump which can make them easy to pick out in the marshlands. The call is of a yip-yip-yip or yodelling sound, a noisy call adding to its easy to spot markings.
The Lapwing is a common wader with a wispy mohican style haircut and pees-weep or pee-wit song making it easy to spot. When breeding they are particularly protective of their chicks, more so than other birds and will perform aerobatic flights and dives to ward off predators.
The Snipe is a more secretive wader most likely to be spotted in flight than on the marshland itself due to its camouflage colouring. Its call is of a chip-per chip-per sound and like the Curlew can be identified by its long bill.

The RSPB works with the local farmers to conserve the area of protected marshland. Historical draining of marshland areas and the reduction in grazing caused deterioration to the habitat. The area of grassland became too widespread so now with help of local farmers the land is maintained and monitored with grazing of sheep, cattle and ponies. The conservation extends to regeneration of local woodlands including Loch Insh wood, with Aspen grown to benefit the flora and fauna of the area as well the removal of non-native conifers.