Petite pyramids and biddable collies

These days we are all about preserving the past. Back in the 19th Century, however, they took a rather more pragmatic view on abandoned rural castles and mansions. If slate and stone could be better used elsewhere, it was duly removed and recycled.

Such a fate befell Whitefield Castle, a 16th Century ruin and benevolent donor of building materials to farm cottages, steadings and boundary walls in the locality.

The former stronghold lies off the beaten track, at least a mile from the nearest road, so a visit offered the perfect excuse to don my boots and head into the hills.

Setting out from Enochdhu on the right of way to Spittal of Glenshee (now part of the Cateran Trail), I hiked up past Dirnanean House, where the gardens are open to the public during the summer, and on by Dirnanean Farm.

Passing through a steading further on, I was joined briefly by a very biddable collie. With frequent backward glances, he guided me up the track towards a cluster of stone pens and sheds.

Here, sheep caught his eye and I continued alone, skirting below Calamanach Wood where I left the Cateran Trail and branched east below a timber observation tower.

Ahead, I could see my first summit of the day, the petite pyramid of Menachban.

A bridge conveyed me over the steam at the base of the hill and, some boggy ground safely negotiated, I made a beeline for the top, a natural line of grass dotted with occasional boulders cutting through the heather, easing my progress.

Pausing briefly to watch a herd of red deer traverse the slope above me, I passed over Menachban and descended through heather and grass to an estate track in the dip below.

With Whitefield Hill dead ahead, I dismissed the track and ascended a slim grassy trail by a wall, this stony spinal cord leading up to the summit and then down the southern flank to Whitefield Castle. A makeshift metal gate in the wall to the rear offers access and, negotiating armies of stinging nettles, I ventured in. On the ground floor there are two well preserved barrel-vaulted chambers while, with care, I mounted remnants of the main staircase to the now rather airy first floor hall. Greater feasts than my humble sandwiches were doubtless consumed here in the past, but ham was the best I could muster and it was sustenance enough for my onward march to Ashintully. These castle grounds are private, a signed right of way skirting the policies en route to Kirkmichael. The path is initially easy to navigate, marker posts and ladder stiles guiding walkers over the valley of the Allt Menach and up to a copse of Scots pine and larch bordering a fenced plantation. Here the right of way becomes less distinct but, aiming directly for Kirkmichael, I descended the rough grassy slope to a gate and stile, crossed farmland beyond and, at a little metal gate, picked up a short and rather overgrown path down into the village where I joined the Cateran Trail for the return to Enochdhu.

Left: the derelict Whitefield Castle that sits above Kirkmichael and Enochdhu. Above: Off the beaten track is Whitefield Hill in the background as a winding wall leads the way to the summit.