Comrie – A Level Round to the Earthquake House
About 4 miles on foot.
Comrie sits on the Highland Boundary Fault, and the ground here has trembled for centuries.
People call it the Shaky Town. The Earthquake Walk is a level round of four miles from the village, over an old stone bridge to the weavers' hamlet of the Ross. In a field there stands a tiny stone house, built to hold an instrument for measuring the tremors.
- Time
- Two to two and a half hours: a round of 6.4 km (4 miles) from the village, quite level, on country roads and paths.
- The path
- Quite level, on country roads and paths, with a field path and a stile near the Earthquake House.
- Where to start
- The council's free car park in the middle of Comrie.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 1pm to be back in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January, set off by 1pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control, and on a lead near farm animals.
- Children
- Level and not too long. Some of it is on quiet country roads.
- Toilets
- A free public toilet in the village.
- Before you set out
- The Earthquake House is kept locked: look in through the window.
The walk
Park in the council's free car park in the middle of Comrie. There's a free public toilet in the village too. The Earthquake Walk is one of the village's own paths, a four-mile round for which the Comrie Walks leaflet allows two to two and a half hours. It's quite level all the way, on country roads and paths. It crosses the River Earn into the Ross, the old weavers' part of the village, where a mill once turned bobbins for the local thread makers.
Then it comes to the Earthquake House, a tiny stone building with a pointed slate roof on a grassy knoll in a field. Comrie lies on the Highland Boundary Fault. Tremors were first written down here in 1579, and in 1789 there was a run of seventy shocks. The leaflet says local people set up the world's first seismometer in the village in 1840, and that the one in the field took its place in 1869. The house is kept locked, but you can look in through the window at the instruments.
From there the walk goes on through Ross Wood and returns beside the river. Farm animals graze beside parts of it, so keep a dog on a lead near them. From November to January, set off by 1pm to be back in daylight.
If it rains
A level walk on roads and paths that goes well enough in light rain with a waterproof on. There is no shelter at the Earthquake House.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Cromlix, 10 miles away.
Then The Old Farmhouse, 13 miles away. Sleeps 8.
Where to eat
Hansen's Kitchen, a restaurant in Comrie.
For further reading, before you go.