Oot O' The World and into Kippen.
A day's walking in and around Kippen.
The other week I spent a lovely day in Kippen, I had been planning to volunteer in the cemetery but it was such a nice day I came early and went up into the hills and round the village. This blog is my route and what I visited and discovered! Its all quite easy if you are not that confident but boots, waterproofs, a map and compass are always recommended. But before we go on the title is from a poem written by Stewart Alan Robertson, M.A., English Master at The High School of Stirling, (1896-1904), and are supposed to be spoken by a husband to his wife, both natives of the " Kingdom," dwelling in New York, its quite long but here is the final stanza!
Oot o’ the world and into Kippen,"
Far from the rough worId’s din,
May your spirit come o’er the saut, saut sea
To rest with your kith and kin.
So any trip to Kippen must always for me begin with the Woodhouse and its delicious buns, plus parking and toilets.
The current road to Kippen is relatively new and a previous blog explored the Cuthbertson Bridge and the older millennia old hollow way, which was the original route.
A rendering of the Kippen Vine…the largest in the world in the church.
Parking is easy in Kippen and if you only want a short and very interesting walk, start at the cemetery and walk south along the old original road: Rennies Loan and onto Back Road. This is the original medieval core of Kippen and there are great views to the north. Plans are underfoot to allow visitors to the medieval cemetery and kirk…watch this space and search for Kippen Heritage.
If you do as a loop (perhaps a 30 minute walk) you can pop into the church which has a small but very nice set of grounds full of sculpture and mosaics.
If your not filled up by the Woodhouse there are a more lovely cafes and pubs in Kippen after your stretch.
Now if your feeling more adventurous head south up Burnside and then turn right toward Redgate Hill. Now again there is an option to walk back to the village through the wood, which is great path, but if you are a bit more adventurous keep reading!
The more interesting route is south, so find a gate and head towards the ruins of Limpithill, an abandoned farm.
The stone cold hearth at Limpithill.
From Limpithill head east towards Dugalds Tower
This along with the Hole of Sneith are wonderful gorges associated with 17th Century Church of Scotland Minister and Covenantor James Ure, who undertook illegal preaching and was on the run in these hills. There is probably a little bit of Victorian romancing and exaggeration here but the gorges were regular tourist spots in the 19th century and are well worth the trip.
The waterfall at Dugalds Tower.
Graffiti at Dugalds Tower.
On the south of Dugalds Tower on my way to the Hole of Sneith I spotted a un-recorded farm and road. Now this is not on either the 19th or 18th century maps so may be medieval in origin.
An unrecorded road at Dugalds Tower.
A previously unrecorded house at Dugalds Tower. The tree is growing out of the wall!
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Proceed south from Dugalds Tower to The Hole of Sneith is a waterfall within a gorge, the gorge is very hard to get into so don’t try it unless your confident,
The eastern side of the waterfall is far more accessible and also pretty exceptional!
On my way back I walked past the primary school and spotted another wee trace of the Kippen Vine….
Now all of this is 20 minutes from Stirling…both walks took about 3 hours and I took my time…what’s stopping you?
Thank you Murray. I must go for a look.