Edzell

The Burn is owned by a consortium of British universities and is used as a field study centre. The wooded path above the river, while in private grounds, is open to the public and a variety of wooden sculptures have been placed along the walk to enhance it.

At one point the river gorge narrows to a few feet and the torrent of water running through it, particularly when in spate is quite astonishing in its power and noise. A salmon ladder has been hewn out of the rock to enable the fish to overcome this natural barrier and swim upstream to spawn in the upper reaches of the river.

The path can be followed for some distance before it meets up with the public road running up Glen Esk, at which point it can be followed back down to the road at Gannochy Bridge.

Back in Edzell, the village is relatively unusual for Scotland in having a village green (although its called a Moor) and if you're a golfer the local course is spoken of in highly complementary terms.

Edzell was also for many years the home to a US Navy missile early warning base at RAF Edzell, to the east of the village. It seems incongruous that such a peaceful place should have played a role in the Cold War, but now the base has gone, although many Americans chose to settle in the area after completing their Naval service.








This 19th century planned village is one of my favourite spots in Angus. It lies at the foot of Glen Esk and on the edge of Strathmore and has an air of tranquility and contentment. Driving towards Edzell from the south the approach to the village is along a long straight avenue of forest with the Edzell Arch providing an attractive gateway to the main street. The arch was built in 1887 and commemorates the 15th Earl of Dalhousie. Once through the arch the main street opens out with the majority of the buildings being Victorian houses and villas. The Inglis Memorial Hall is the village hall and is a wonderful gothic confection in a sort of Scots Baronial style.



			Inglis Memorial Hall When I was a schoolkid, our class was taken away to Edzell for a week to a study centre. Being of primary school age it was a great adventure, but my abiding memory is of the bell in the clocktower of the Inglis Hall, chiming away every quarter hour through the night. I once had to be a temporary hall-keeper for the place when the BBC were using it as a base while filming on location for a screen adaptation of the Lewis Grassic Gibbon novel, "Cloud Howe". A night scene was being filmed and I had to stay on-hand at the hall on my own until the crew returned from filming...an eery place to be in the wee small hours!

A mile or two to the west of the village are the ruins of Edzell Castle. The partly ruined red sandstone keep and outbuildings are fascinating enough, but its the formal walled gardens which are the main attraction here. These gardens are an elegant expression of taste by their creator, Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell who succeeded to the estate 1558. He travelled widely on the continent during his formative years and built the castle and garden in their present form. The gardens are best seen when the beds of roses are in flower, surrounded by low box hedges, meticulously cut to read, "Dum spiro spero" (the Lindsay motto) and the alcoves in the walls are full of blue and white lobelia representing, with the red stone, the Lindsay colours.

			Sadly, when Sir David died, his estate was heavily in debt and the glories of Edzell faded and the estate was eventually sold then stripped of its assets. Since 1935, the castle has been in the care of the State and the gardens are maintained with meticulous care, making it a place of rare beauty and peace.

Just to the north of the village is the Gannochy Bridge which spans the river North Esk and on either side of the bridge are riverside walks of great charm. One path on the downstream side takes you back to Edzell along the southern bank of the river, eventually leading to a suspension footbridge locally called "The Shakky Bridge" on account of its "wobbliness" when you cross it. Not unnaturally, its a great favourite with kids and the river hereabouts is wonderful for swimming, paddlng and exploring. At the other side of the Gannochy Bridge, on the northern bank of the river, a doorway in a wall leads into the grounds of "The Burn", and a walk which takes you further up the gorge of the North Esk, across the Highland Boundary Fault and eventually to what are known as "The Rocks of Solitude".

			The Burn is owned by a consortium of British universities and is used as a field study centre. The wooded path above the river, while in private grounds, is open to the public and a variety of wooden sculptures have been placed along the walk to enhance it. At one point the river gorge narrows to a few feet and the torrent of water running through it, particularly when in spate is quite astonishing in its power and noise. A salmon ladder has been hewn out of the rock to enable the fish to overcome this natural barrier and swim upstream to spawn in the upper reaches of the river. The path can be followed for some distance before it meets up with the public road running up Glen Esk, at which point it can be followed back down to the road at Gannochy Bridge. Back in Edzell, the village is relatively unusual for Scotland in having a village green (although its called a Moor) and if you're a golfer the local course is spoken of in highly complementary terms. Edzell was also for many years the home to a US Navy missile early warning base at RAF Edzell, to the east of the village. It seems incongruous that such a peaceful place should have played a role in the Cold War, but now the base has gone, although many Americans chose to settle in the area after completing their Naval service.
For a map of the area, click here.