Stirlingshire Waterfalls
As I’ve written of many times before, having visitors has been one of the best parts of Glasgow life. Not only to see our lovely friends and family, but because it always encourages us to find new and different parts of the city and surrounds to explore.
An unexpected dry day saw Sam and I looking for a morning adventure. The Stirlingshire area is filled with rolling and rocky hills, forests and fields. It makes sense too, that the rivers than run through are known for their impressive waterfalls. We explored two on this Wednesday.
Our first stop was into the Pots of Gartness. Accessed via a private road and field, the short but special waterfall at Endrick Water is said to be one of the best locations to see the salmon running in late Autumn.
After almost 20 minutes of standing on the small bank, after no fish in the heavily flowing water, Sam spotted a salmon. I was jealous as ever and we stayed for another 20 minutes, willing the unsuccessful salmon to try again. Finally another, then two more tried and failed to make the giant leap up the falls and into the upstream spawning grounds. Hopefully they had more luck after we met.
With only four fish spotted in our long-ish visit, we were excited, but also a little worried that perhaps this was less salmon than expected. A fortuitous meeting with the former owner of the property taught us that it seemed as though the numbers of salmon running here had been steadily declining for many years.
I am so pleased that I got to witness this amazing feat of nature, but am of course concerned about where the fish have gone. I can only hope that they found an easier way to make it upstream, but my gut tells me it is probably something more to do with the changing climate.
Waterfalls on the brain, our next stop was Bracklinn Falls, located 30 minutes drive away on Keltie Water, just outside of Callander. After only a short stroll through the felled forest, we reached the Bracklinn Falls and their amazing bridge.
The falls are beautiful, tumbling over a deep gorge, framed by Autumn colours and black rocks. But for me, the draw of this place was the Bracklinn Falls Bridge. Built in 2010 out of Douglas Firs from Dunkled and capped by a copper roof, it is truly stunning.
The beautiful design, effortlessly spanning the distance of the deep, dangerous gorge, won an aesthetic award at the ‘International Footbridge Awards’. I didn’t know such an award existed, but I do know this is one of the most truly beautiful bridges I have walked across so I guess I would make a good footbridge judge.
We opt to stay with the bridge, admiring it and the falls for longer instead of walking the longer route up the river. I will one day bring another visitor here – perhaps in the blossom of spring or a cover of snow, to explore this beautiful place some more.
