Crieff: Laggan Hill and Tom a'Chasteil and another Monument

2 June 2017

Participants: Neil and Ben
Where: Laggan Hill, 154m/505', Tump, OS 52, NN 842223 and Tom a'Chasteil (Sir David Baird's Monument), Tump, 133m/436', OS 57, NN 825217

I had spotted what looked to be an interesting walk near Crieff and as it was another nice day, off we went again. I parked in the MacRosty Park car park; what a beautifully kept park this is! Crieff is one of these towns where walkers are obviously made very welcome, there were signposted walks everywhere! Our route was across the bridge over the Turret Burn and then a sharp left turn onto a path that ran alongside the water. The burn shortly joined the River Earn and the path widened to a track that ran through an avenue of trees- Lady Mary's Walk, named apparently after Lady Mary Murray whose family were local landowners in the early 19th century. I must come back here in the autumn when the old oak, beech and lime trees are bound to be a spectacular sight. Ben really enjoyed this part of the walk, he was in and out of the river on a number of occasions.

Torlum, a sub-2k Marilyn that I have climbed a few times.....

 

Did I mention signposts? There was a choice at this one but our route now lay in the direction of Laggan Hill.....

 

 

The broad track was replaced by a narrower path.....

 

with Laggan Hill in the distance.....

 

The upper reaches of the hill were covered in trees and thick vegetation so the views were a bit limited. The only real view of the big hills around Glen Turret was at a point just before we entered the forest....

 

There was a rusty old seat at the highest point of the track and the summit was said to be close to that. Ben had a look for it.....

 

From there it was all downhill. There were occasional breaks in the forest as we got lower; this is looking towards Crieff and the Knock.....

 

There was a choice of routes when we reached the houses but we carried on down to re-join our outward route at the beginning of Lady Mary's Walk.......

 

I could have extended the walk to take in the next hill on the day's list- Tom a'Chasteil, but I had read that the path between the two hills was rough and overgrown in places. And anyway, it was easier to take the car and drive round to Strowan and do the ascent from there. The attraction of this hill was the monument that crowned it- Sir David Baird's Monument. This is one monument that is well deserved.  http://perthshirecrieffstrathearnlocalhistor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/general-sir-david-baird-1757-to-1829.html

 

I would not have noticed this hill had it not been for the Monument and the story behind it. It is completely tree covered and there was no view whatsoever. Indeed, it was difficult to find a place from where to take a photograph! But worth it just to learn a bit more about this remarkable man.

 

 

 

So another good day- the Tumps are proving more interesting than I expected!