Our Garden in Birnam

Let it Snow

I love the snow. I fear the snow. In 2011 the snow piled up against our car-port gates and before I'd had a chance to clear it away (again) it had turned to solid ice. I couldn't get the gates open for a couple of months – until the sun can clear Birnam Hill there's no sunlight to melt the ice on our dirt-track street – and by then the car battery, having frozen in the meantime, had to be replaced. Ouch!

Still, I love the snow. It transforms the view and deadens the noise from the traffic on the A9. Here's a movie I made of our garden in the snow on the 22nd of January. The music, by my friends Tracing Arcs, works marvelously well with the visuals, I find. Enjoy!

Christmas Day in Birnam and Dunkeld

Genie and I had a quiet Christmas at home in Birnam. Very quiet. It's probably the only day of the year that the pubs are shut, and either folk are away visiting family and friends or they are celebrating at home. The streets are deserted.

Unusually for the time of year there was no snow to be seen here. The heavy rains of the previous days had melted it all. We decided to walk to the Hilton Hotel (Dunkeld House) in the afternoon for a couple of drinks, and I took the new Sony HDR-CX730 video camera – my Christmas present from Genie and myself. In this short film you can see the River Tay from Telford Bridge, The Cross in Dunkeld High Street, Dunkeld Cathedral, and the river walk from the cathedral to Dunkeld House.

The River Braan and Rumbling Bridge

We often visit Rumbling Bridge, sometimes on the way back from a trip to Aberfeldy or Crieff with our little Nissan Micra packed with visitors; other times on one of the many walks that can be taken from Birnam. You can get there from The Hermitage following the River Braan upstream, or from Birnam via Birnam Glen and the Inchewan walk.

Like most places of natural beauty, the Braan looks different every time we visit. The waterfalls change their appearance not only according to season but also according to time of day and recent weather. They are at their most dramatic after a heavy rain.

Just upstream of Rumbling Bridge there are pools of still water which are popular with bathers. I tried to fish there once but didn't catch anything. Later I was told that it was a rubbish place to fish. "That's okay," I explained, "I'm a rubbish fisherman."

The name Rumbling Bridge needs no explanation if you just stand on the bridge and listen to the deep sounds of the river crashing down the falls. What impresses me more is to lay my hands on the stone wall of the bridge and feel it vibrate.

The Inchewan, Birnam Glen

Walks in Dunkeld

I'm lucky to be living in Birnam, Dunkeld. Within five minutes of leaving the house I can be far enough up Birnam Glen not to be able to hear the A9 traffic. This valley walk follows the winding course of the lovely Inchewan Burn and is the starting point for many other walks including the Birnam Hill ascent. You can also choose to walk a short loop through the forest or go further afield – Rumbling Bridge and The Hermitage on the River Braan can both be reached from here.

The Inchewan

My wife and I walked up Birnam Glen one evening in late August after hours of torrential rain. The Inchewan looked fit to burst its banks – brown water crashing down the glen, completely hiding even the larger rocks on the burn's bed. The light was fading fast, otherwise I'd have nipped home to grab a video camera, and I decided instead to come back the next day. In the morning the Inchewan was at its most beautiful – a vigourous stream of pure, clear water dancing over and around the rocks. I walked as far as the footbridge with my Canon XL1, recording all the way. Here are the edited highlights.



See also Inchewan Falls (the next post).