The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Ann Fotheringham wraps up warm to bring you the best places to enjoy the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.
FROM LOCHS TO BEACHES AND FOREST FORAYS, ANN FOTHERINGHAM LOOKS AT WHERE BEST TO SAVOUR AUTUMN IN SCOTLAND
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me; Fluttering from the autumn tree.
IT’S hard to pinpoint exactly where the joy lies as autumn takes hold of our landscape. It is in the crackle – of leaves underfoot, of flames in an open fire; it is in the air – cool and still; it is in the colour – crisp coppers and crimsons, rich berry reds … Whatever your vision of autumn in Scotland, enjoying this season’s myriad offerings is simple as there is so much going on around the country. Winter is waiting in the wings, but it is not here yet – so go see, savour and celebrate autumn.
RURAL SOUTH LANARKSHIRE
Wild deer roam in the fields, bramble bushes line twisting singletrack roads and leaves fall on villages. It’s not the first vision that springs to mind when you mention East Kilbride, is it? But on the edge of Scotland’s largest former New Town lies a collection of clachans and peaceful scenery, stretching all the way from the southern edge of East Kilbride to the market town of Strathaven.
Wrap up for a stroll along the Avon Water to a ruined mill above the Spectacle E’e falls in Sandford, then enjoy coffee and cake at Broadlees, a driving range and associated children’s activities centre, in Chapelton. If all that walking has given you more of an appetite for lunch, the best homemade soup and warmest welcome for miles can be found at Pauline O’Donnell’s The Lost Lamb restaurant in Auldhouse. Yellow birch leaves fall like flakes on rooted rutted forest tracks rain splatters on plastic hoods among the woods. Tawny oaks and bronzy bracken beech leaves thickly dark and molten as we walk in single rank along the bank. The living river far below a dark brownish steady flow then shower of sun gently catches golden larches. Autumn at Kincraig by Tessa Ransford
ARRAN
“A ring of yellow sand runs round the greater portion of the island, behind which rise up sloping green braes and dark fir forests. Behind these again are the rugged group of mountains, which form the north and centre of the island, the whole culminating in the majestic Goatfell, which towers up to nearly three thousand feet. The mist of morning was still rising, and the sunlight upon it gave the mountains that peculiar purple tinge which is characteristic of Highland scenery ... It might have been some enchanted island which floated upon the calm azure sea.”
In 1885, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article entitled Arran in Autumn for the British Journal of Photography. Despite concerns about the lack of decent food and a decidedly odd incident involving a man on the roof of his house, the author was full of admiration for the island. Today, Arran’s mix of dramatic scenery and friendly shops and restaurants continues to attract visitors.
Beat the chill and invest in a cosy Aran sweater from the Old Byre Showroom in
Machrie on the west side of the island; enjoy lunch at Creeler’s, known for its slowroasted salmon, cooked in an oven full of whisky smoke; and clear the head with a stroll along the most beautiful beach on the island, Silver Sands at Kildonan.
PERTHSHIRE
Fiery, fabulous foliage – it is what autumn is famous for, and nowhere captures the shifting shades of the season better than Perthshire.
With more than 200,000 acres of woodlands, this is Big Tree Country, bursting at the seams with towering, timeless, other-worldly forests, groves, gorges and woods.
Highlights include the Hermitage, a conifer and deciduous wooded gorge at Pitlochry, which is home to the River Braan, the restored Georgian folly Ossian’s Hall and giant Douglas fir trees; and the Birks of Aberfeldy – “birks” is Scots for birch trees – made famous by Robert Burns, who loved to rest and find inspiration here while listening to the roar of the nearby falls.
Stop for hot chocolate at the Glenlyon Tearoom at the Bridge of Balgie, near Aberfeldy, and listen to Becky’s tales about the area (she’s so knowledgeable about the glen and surrounding areas that she is known as Beckipedia). From The Fall of the Leaf by Robert Burns The lazy mist hangs from the brow of the hill, Concealing the course of the dark-winding rill; How languid the scenes, late so sprightly, appear! As Autumn to Winter resigns the pale year.
EDINBURGH
In autumn, Edinburgh’s tree-lined streets and parks turn a delicate golden-brown and the city, quietening down after frantic festival time, offers up its sedate parks for quiet contemplation and gentle strolls.
Crisp leaves underfoot at the Meadows on the south side and a kaleidoscope of flaming red and amber overhead at Princes Street Gardens are good for the soul. Spend an hour feeding the ducks on Figgate Park’s pond, against a backdrop of craggy Arthur’s Seat – this pond used to be a claypit, supplying clay to the potteries in Portobello, and is now home to an impressive array of wildlife, from goldfinches and greylag geese to kingfishers and otters. Try pumpkinpicking at Craigie’s Farm, a few miles from the city centre on the way to South Queensferry. Originally a dairy farm, the Sinclair family started growing fruit in the mid-1980s and it has a cafe and a deli too.
If the autumn weather takes a turn for the dreich, head indoors and marvel at the beauty of other landscapes at the Scottish National Gallery. Inspiring Impressionism, which runs until October 2, includes works by Monet, who was fascinated by the ephemeral effects of light and weather, and Daubigny, who moved towards a more subjective interpretation of nature in his later sunsets and nocturnes.
Finish off with hearty comfort food at MUMS on Forrest Road – an eye-popping variety of sausages, catering to both meat
lovers and vegetarians, served up with mashed potato and gravy. Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise … Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Eliot
THE TROSSACHS
Rivalling Perthshire in its breadth and beauty of woodland, the Trossachs is also home to sparkling lochs and rugged mountains, history and mystery, picturesque villages and sprawling forest parks.
Cycle the gently undulating tracks of the Great Forest of Loch Ard, which stretches between Aberfoyle and the foothills of Loch Lomond, around the silvery loch at its heart, watching out for sculpture trails and wildlife.
Pause for breath in Aberfoyle, considered the gateway to the Trossachs, and wander the wooded trails to find out more about the village’s mysterious past. Local minister Robert Kirk wrote a book called the Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies in 1691, and legend has it the fairies were furious he had revealed their darkest secrets. They took their revenge by stealing Kirk’s soul one dark night on Doon Hill and he was found dead on the mound, dressed in his nightgown. At the top of Doon Hill stands a single Scots pine among the oaks, which locals claim contains Kirk’s imprisoned soul …
Take a steamship trip on Loch Katrine beneath chilly harvest skies, following in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott, or escape the autumn chill with soup and scones at Mhor Bread in Callander, a bakery and tearoom run by the Lewis family, the people behind acclaimed restaurant Monachyle Mhor in Balquhidder.
Relax and find peace all around watching the sunset on beautiful Loch Lubnaig, where the still, deep water reflects the fiery hues. Apples on the bending bough, Berries on the thorn, Wheeling gulls behind the plough Where stood yellow corn. Pungent petals, gold and white, Bronze and winey-red, Blow in cottage gardens bright Tho’ the rose is fled. From Autumn Compensations by Helen Cruickshank
ST MARY’S LOCH
The Border lands are wild lands, rich in history and rugged beauty. The area around St Mary’s Loch is particularly atmospheric – as you walk the paths and tracks up hills and around lochs, it is easy to imagine those in whose footsteps you follow – the Border Reivers, literary giants such as James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott, and William Wallace.
Take a bracing walk around the loch and its sister Loch of the Lowes, or climb up to the Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall – the fifth highest in the UK – and admire the views; then enjoy coffee and chocolate
brownies at the little wooden Glen Cafe as you watch osprey dive into the water, and smile, and feel the pace of life slow down. Autumn … the year’s last, loveliest smile. William Cullen Bryant
THE SOUTH SIDE OF GLASGOW
Kicking leaves to make them dance in the air, creating clouds of swirling scarlet and saffron as sunlight streams through the tall trees – pure joy for children and the young at heart.
Pollok Park, on the south side of the city, with its meandering network of woodland walks, is the place to do it, too.
Once you have had your fill of fun, take tea and scones at the cafe – the original Edwardian kitchen – inside elegant Pollok House, or wander around the parterre gardens and along the river, which shimmers in the autumn sun.
The Burrell Collection, home to more than 9,000 objects amassed by Sir William Burrell, is a cultural highlight – spanning more than 1,000 years of history it includes art, tapestries, stained glass, sculpture, arms and armour, architecture and furniture. This far north, the harvest happens late. Rooks go clattering over the sycamores whose shadows yawn after them, down to the river. Uncut wheat staggers under its own weight. Summer is leaving too, exchanging its gold for brass and copper. It is not so strange to feel nostalgia for the present; already this September evening is as old as a photograph of itself. The light, the shadows on the field, are sepia, as if this were some other evening in September, some other harvest that went ungathered years ago. September by Dorothy Lawrenson
AYRSHIRE BEACHES
Autumn is a season of new beginnings, even as the year ends; of clearing away the cobwebs after snoozy, slow summer days; of fresh air and fresh starts – the new school term, back to work, moving house before winter creeps in.
Bracing beach walks are a staple of this season – head for Ayrshire’s finest at Troon (don’t forget fresh, melt-in-the-mouth fish, handcut chips and homemade tartare sauce at The Wee Hurrie before you leave) or at Culzean, with magnificent Culzean Castle perched above and the surrounding country park to explore.
Culzean’s monthly market is an excellent place to pick up seasonal food, flowers and craft – the next events take place on October 2 and November 6.
If you have more time on your hands, head to the Ayrshire coast and make the short Cal-Mac ferry hop across from Largs to Cumbrae, and soak up the friendly atmosphere in Millport.
This weekend is one of the busiest of the year in the town as autumn colours take hold and the Festival of Light dazzles, lighting up historic buildings including Garrison House – built to house revenue agents tackling smugglers on the Clyde – and the Cathedral of the Isles, Britain’s smallest cathedral.
The town’s traditional fireworks display and bonfire-in-the-bay tonight mark the start of autumn in all its flaming glory.