HILL SAFETY 1
HILL SAFETY 2
GLEN PROSEN
There are a number of routes in the top of the Glen Prosen which will take you over into Glen Isla without too much effort but the best routes are onto the hills on the east side of the glen. Park your car at the end of the tarred road near the entrance to the inappropriately named Glenclova Forest and make a choice. Take the continuation of the road towards the Kilbo ruin at the top of the glen, passing what used to be the shepherd's house at Old Craig, cross the young Prosen water and follow the Kilbo path through the trees on the side of the hill. This path emerges onto open hillside and soon reaches a saddle between the Munros of Mayar (Beautiful Hill) and Driesh (Hill of the brambles). Turn westwards to bag Mayar and then retrace the route before climbing a steep (but short) hill to Little Dreish then continue on to Dreish with its trig point. Carry on past Dreish for a few hundred metres then pick up the path running alongside a fence which descends quite steeply in a southerly direction before becoming a Land Rover track which, if one continued along it would eventually take you to Old Craig and back to the tarred road. I prefer to cut off the track down the northerly edge of Glenclova forest, cross the Dead Water at the bottom of the hill and then return on the Land Rover track through the forest.
At the bottom of the glen there are two "Sunday afternoon" walks.
If you park about half a mile north of Muir of Pearsie farm (a small lay-by
on the west side of the road) then walk a further half mile northwards you
will find a gate on your left. Climb this gate then follow the Land Rover
track up over Long Goat then onwards to the
summit of Catlaw.
You will pass the remains of an old shepherd's bothy on the right on this
final climb and at the top you will be rewarded by extensive views over the
valley of Strathmore to the Sidlaws and beyond into Fife. Follow
the fence line to the west and you will soon pick up another Land Rover
track which will take you, eventually, out onto the glen road opposite Muir
of Pearsie farm - a three hour walk for the reasonably fit.
At the foot of Catlaw (and the starting point for another route up
Catlaw, is the ruin of Balintore Castle - built in 1860 by
David Lyon who, at that time, was a member of parliament.
JM Barrie wrote of Catlaw - "Nowhere else is the heather quite
so blue, nor do the burns flow quite so pleasantly". The other walk is on the opposite side of the glen. Drive to
Dykehead village and take the left fork in the road (signposted
"Glenprosen"). After half a mile you will see a house set back off the road
on the right. This is where Captain Scott stayed while planning
his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole and it was on the hills running
northwards in the glen that he tested the sledges and other equipment that
were to be used in Antarctica. It was while Scott stayed here
that he met James Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) and they became such close
friends that Scott asked Barry if he would look after his son
Peter (The
well-known naturalist) if he (Scott) did not return. About one
mile further up the glen, on a very sharp corner, there is a memorial to
Captain Scott. Drive about 50 yards past this memorial and
(off-road) at the bottom of a Land Rover track. Follow this
track up hill for three quarters of a mile and you will be at the Airlie
Monument. This memorial was erected in 1901 to
commemorate the death of
Lieutenant-Colonel David Stanley William Ogilvy
of the 12th Lancers (the 9th Earl of Airlie) at the battle of
Diamond
Hill in South Africa during the Boer War. In 1886 he had married
Mabell Frances Elizabeth Gore (a lifelong friend of Queen Mary and a close
friend of the Bowes-Lyon family at Glamis Castle) who looked after
Airlie
estate, on her own, through two world wars and who counted among her
acquaintances such as Harry Lauder, Margot Fonteyn and Lloyd George.
She was also said to have been instrumental in bringing together the Prince
of Wales and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon! It is said that
Mabell felt a great deal of guilt over the Earl's death as she had given him
a beautiful white charger before he left for South Africa and, in hindsight,
felt that this made him more of a target than any of the other officers!
It is interesting to note that the 9th Earl of Airlie is also the 11th Earl!
The reason for that is one of his forebears fought on the Jacobite side at
Culloden and, as a punishment for that, an Act of Attaintment was
subsequently passed whereby he was not allowed to inherit his father's title
when he died. This Act affected two Earls but was revoked in the
1826 so that he is actually the 11th Earl of Airlie (obviously no one told
the stonemason who put the inscription on the tower!)
There is a brazier on top of the tower and this is one of the line of fires which stretch up and down the country and are lit every time a new Monarch is crowned. Again there are extensive views in all directions. Having enjoyed the views you can simply re-trace your footsteps or you can carry on northwards along the ridge for about half a mile to pick up a dry stane dyke which, if it is followed westwards, will take you down on to the glen road then back to the car park.