CLASS ACT KEEPS EXERCISE SESSION RUNNING
Ladies in Plean have thanked the local primary school for helping to keep their weekly exercise programme moving.
Active Stirling is running a weekly strength and balance class in Plean as part of their Active Adults Community Fitness programme.
The popular class is regularly attended by an average of 20 ladies every week, ranging from ages 6994 years.
The vital sessions, normally held in the Balfour Centre, were at risk of being temporarily cancelled when the heating system broke down in the middle of January 2023.
But thanks to the partnership work and quick thinking of Laura Taylor, physical activity inclusion officer with Active Stirling, Sharon Mcgrouther, Stirling community development officer, and Sylvia Kettrick, health and wellbeing officer with Stirling Council, East Plean Primary school was thrilled to help.
The class was relocated to a much-appreciated temporary home in the school hall.
The heating was promptly fixed at the Balfour Centre and the class was moved to the school for two weeks on January 31 and February 7.
As a thank you to the ladies for continuing to attend during the
Work has started on an historic path to a Trossachs literary scenic viewpoint.
As part of a £1.5million package of works to improve visitor facilities at Loch Katrine, work is now underway to reinstate an important historic path above Trossachs Pier.
The path links the busy visitor hub with the famous Rhoderick Dhu viewpoint where Sir Walter Scott was inspired to write his epic poem Lady of the Lake, published in 1810, that led to the birth of Scottish tourism.
A helicopter recently made over 100 short round trips from a field beside Loch Achray to airlift bags of stone and aggregate, each weighing around one ton, dropping at points along the route of the pathway close to Trossachs Pier.
The helicopter flew by the beautiful and dramatic snow-capped peak of nearby Ben disruption, Active Stirling provided the classes free of charge, and the class participants decided to club together to make a donation to the school, as a thank you for letting them use the hall.
Two pupils, Alayna and Ava, were presented with the donation along with Sylvia Kettrick.
Laura said: “This is a great example of partnership working to find a solution to keep our strength and balance class running in Plean.”
Find out more about Active Stirling’s Active Adults programme at https://www.activestirling. org.uk/services/activeadults or call 01786 273555.
Venue to access the site.
The path winds its way through a Special Area of Conservation and great care is being taken by upland path builders, Hamiltons Environmental, to painstakingly hand build the pathway. It will be bordered by post and rail fencing to ensure safe and easy access for a wide range people to enjoy spectacular views of Loch Katrine and the surrounding hills and to assist with site visitor management.
The path is part of a project by Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust, which was awarded funding in a recent round of the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF), managed by Visitscotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. The award of a £231,000 grant is for a stunning landmark lookout tower and two high-quality viewpoints with linking boardwalks above Trossachs Pier.
James Fraser, CEO and trustee of the Steamship Trust, said: “We are delighted that work on this project is underway. When complete it will create a more accessible vantage point overlooking the loch for those unable to climb the surrounding mountains and allow them to enjoy a view that for many centuries has played an important role in the rich history of the Trossachs.
“Whilst Scott’s poem is credited with Loch Katrine becoming the birthplace of Scottish tourism, some years earlier, in the late 1700s, a new road was blasted out of the rock to access this viewpoint where there were two wicker huts for painters and writers like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Wordsworths to stay and be inspired by the stunning views of the Trossachs.
“This project is another example of the Trust’s commitment to celebrate and showcase the special scenic and cultural heritage qualities of Loch Katrine and the Trossachs, which will also include the return this spring of the much-loved Sir Walter Scott Steamship that first began sailing in 1900.”
The pathway and scenic tower and lookouts will open later this year and have been welcomed by many local community groups and individuals who provided strong support at the planning stage for the project.