Struan and Bruar – The Chiefs' Kirk and the Clan Museum
A few hours.
The route
This corner of Atholl is the old land of Clan Donnachaidh, the Robertsons, and a morning here is full of their story.
There's a quiet country kirk, a woodland path above the River Garry and the clan's own museum, with lunch in Blair Atholl to finish.
The day
Struan
A morning of history and a short walk, all within a few miles of Blair Atholl.
A morning, with lunch afterAbout 1.5 miles on foot
Struan Church
Struan Church stands where the Errochty Water runs into the River Garry, and parking by its gate is limited. The name comes from the Gaelic sruthan, a place of streams. The church of 1828 was built beside an older and larger kirk, and many chiefs of Clan Donnachaidh are buried here, the Jacobite Poet Chief, Alexander Robertson, among them. In the middle of the churchyard stands an early medieval stone cut with two crosses: look closely to make them out. The Cairngorms National Park's Struan Kirk walk, which the park grades strenuous, is a loop of 1.5 miles (2.5 km), about an hour. It starts at Calvine, where you park with care in the side roads, follows the River Garry above its gorge to the church and comes back by road beside the Errochty Water. The going is grass and earth with tree roots, a short rocky section to climb over and places where the bank falls steeply to the river.
6 min by car
Clan Donnachaidh Museum
It's about 6 minutes' drive east to the House of Bruar, where the Clan Donnachaidh Museum stands just inside the free car park. The clan society built it, and the Duke of Atholl opened it in 1969. Its great treasure is the Clach na Brataich, a charm stone of rock crystal which, the story goes, was found stuck to the foot of the chief's standard one morning on the march to Bannockburn. From the Jacobite risings there's a gold portrait badge of Bonnie Prince Charlie, dated to 1745, and the fiddle taken from General Cope's captured coach after his defeat at Prestonpans. It opens every day from 10am to 5pm.
6 min by car
Atholl Arms Hotel
Lunch
Lunch is about 6 minutes' drive further east, at the Atholl Arms Hotel, which stands at the north end of Blair Atholl beside the railway station. Food is served all day in its Bothy Bar, from soup and sandwiches to pub classics, and the hotel has log fires. Ring 01796 481205 to check the kitchen's hours.
If it rains
On a wet day the museum and lunch are under a roof, and the churchyard can be visited without the walk.
On the way
- Falls of Bruar
The path to the Falls of Bruar leaves from the House of Bruar, by the museum. It's an easy walk on gravel to the lower falls, and the full circuit, steeper and rougher on the far side, is 1.5 miles (2.5 km), about an hour.
Where to stay
Photographs by Adrian Research, Ashley Maguire and Atholl Arms Hotel via Google