The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Hidden gem’ Reekie Linn sees tourist boom after project.
For those fortunate enough to be regular visitors, a change was obser ved at Reekie Linn this summer. This special stretch of water hidden behind the B954 at Bridge of Craigisla – four miles north of Alyth and 10 mi l e s we s t of Kirriemuir – contains one of S c o t l a n d ’s finest waterfalls.
A pair of linked falls on the River Isla, with respective drops of 6m and 18m, in spate the two falls merge to create a single drop of 24m, sending up a fine mist to give Reekie Linn its name.
Reekie roughly translates as smoky, or misty, and Linn means a deep or dark pool.
A 10-minute walk from the car park to a viewing area perched on a canyon some 45m above the waterfall offers an awesome, if slightly unnerving, spectacle of raw nature in action.
Reekie Linn’s iconic status is confirmed by links to royal mythology and the registered Scottish country dance named after it.
Howe ver, it remains something of a hidden gem – until now.
The modest car park that used to c at e r for the occasional vehicle became routinely filled up, with overspill vehicles flooding on to the main road.
While Reekie Linn has enchanted local people for generations, for C lare Cooper the discovery of the “dramatic” gorge came a little later in life.
In 2012 East Anglianborn Clare, 62, moved to Alyth from London having previously lived in Tanzania and Kenya.
She was so entranced it inspired her to co-found a groundbreaking museum.
With three other people, in March 2018 she set up the Cateran Ecomuseum, a “museum without walls” covering some 1,000 sqkm of eastern Perthshire and western Angus.
It formally launched a year ago and its website boasts 18 pre- designed itineraries to help explore the area – the rectangular stretch of land encompassing Glenshee, Kirkmichael, Coupar Angus and Kirriemuir.
Reekie Linn is one of its most dramatic features.
Clare said: “A couple of the ecomuseum’s itineraries come past Reekie Linn and you can stop off and enjoy this incredible River Isla and the enormously deep and terrifying gorge that is the Reekie Linn waterfall.
“There are six rivers that run across the ecomuseum geography. The River Isla is one of them and is the biggest tributary of the River Tay from this part of Scotland.
“It varies significantly in water level. So when there is a lot of rain in the glens you will find it probably rises six or seven feet – if not more – quite rapidly and then it also goes down rapidly as well. So coming to Reekie Linn after a storm, you have to be quite courageous.
“It’s also a very important water source for Strathmore farmers who rely on it during very dry periods, such as we have had this year.
“The drop of the Reekie Linn waterfall is significant and it is certainly the biggest waterfall in the eastern part of Scotland. It’s up there as one of Scotland’s most dramatic waterfalls.
“It’s very loved. If you talk to people who have visited the area and don’t necessarily live here, as well as to local people, there are many memories of people coming here, the first time they came here, bringing special people here. Pe o p l e h av e an enormous affection for this place.”
Reek ie L inn ’s breathtaking beauty attracts visitors from far and wide, which has caused problems with congestion that were amplified during lockdown.
Clare said: “We are mindful it is a working landscape. Reekie Linn has had issues with people walking over the fence into nearby farmland.
“Immediately after lockdown I noticed that people were parking on the adjacent road on a big bend. If you come here and the car park is full, please don’t park on the road because it’s dangerous.
“You also have to be conscious because of how steep the gorges are. We don’t want to put people off from visiting but to encourage them to be mindful of the dangers.”