Invergowrie & Balgay Hill - 19th July

By the end of the day we had achieved 2 walks and survived a monsoon!  Ok, a bit of an exaggeration on the "monsoon" front but boy did it rain!

Luckily, we started off with a sunny walk in Invergowrie and saw various delights - Hagrid's Summer Home (we suspect!); a felled tree cut into sections like a swiss roll, displaying the tree's rings and then we passed the Scottish Crops Research Institute where the Tayberry was created by cross-breeding a blackberry with a raspberry. 

While we were waiting for a bus to get us to Balgay Hill in time to meet the Ranger Service for a tour of the area, the heavens opened.  At Balgay we were shown the Paupers Grave where 10,000 people were buried from 1870 - to a shockingly recent 2004.  The views from the top of the hill are breathtaking - we recommend you have a look for yourself! We also saw red and grey squirrels foraging and finally we ended up at the Mills Observatory.  The dome of the Observatory is made paper-mache and is the only one of its kind left surviving in the UK.  Not a lot of people know that!

Loch Leven - 12th July 2012

We came, we saw and we didn’t get rained on! (Halleluiah) We enjoyed a lovely walk of approx 7-8 miles through Kinross town and alongside Scotland’s largest lowland loch where we met several other walkers, cyclists and midges.  Thankfully we only encountered the latter when we were enjoying a cuppa at the end of our walk.  Below are our thoughts about the day:

“First walk (I’ve been on) in a wee while, nice and dry, bit cloudy.  Lovely company, fab walk”

“Really enjoyed walk.  First time I’ve been to Loch Leven.  Bus didn’t break down – Bonus!” 

“We put off 2 groups from coming in bird hut but 1 group waited for us to leave.  I rescued 2 snails from possible destruction”

“Great company, good weather and Bonnie Scotland too  Thank you."

“One of the best parts of the day was lunch time in the bird hut.   It was so peaceful there and we had a great view of the hills and the loch where fishermen were trying to catch trout or the Loch Ness Monster on holiday?” 

Tayfield Estate, Newport 9th July

One of our group members led us on a lovely walk around Tayfield Estate in Newport. He pointed out some of the historical features of the estate, including where the old mill used to be. The group had a relaxed wander around the paths and saw lots of wildlife. The peaceful lake, surrounded by beautiful white and lilac foxgloves, was home to many ducks. The ducks were lucky enough to enjoy one of the group members tuna mayo roll! One of the ducks must have liked it because he started to follow us. We thought we were going to have to take him home to Kandahar!

We also saw a couple of teeny weeny frogs, still with their tadpole tails attached, this made Laura very happy as she is always determined to see frogs!

After this we walked along the old railway path which is very pretty and peaceful with the trees bent over the path like a natural green tunnel. The group felt miles away from everything.

We retired to the local pub for a refreshment and filled out a Visit Woods checklist of the facilities available at Tayfield Estate. Keep your eyes peeled as we will soon be posting our review of the walk on the Visit Woods website.

Only complaint of the day- walk not long enough! Don't worry troops, will walk you harder next time!

Arbroath Cliffs - 5th July 2012

Six Ramblers eagerly departed sunny Dundee and arrived in not so sunny Arbroath to enjoy a walk along the cliffs, which were shrouded in fog when we arrived. Thankfully the sun quickly burnt away the fog as we ate lunch.

Along the cliffs we enjoyed views of the Needles E'e, Mermaid's Kirk and the Deil's Heid and watched seagulls soaring in the breeze and seabathing on the red sandstone rocks. Plants covering the cliffs were vibrantly coloured. In some places the purple, pink and white foxgloves were taller than any of us.

On our return, we walked along a deserted beach and sat and watched the sea before heading back for an ice cream. We returned home glowing sightly pink after a day in the sun. Bliss!

Welcome to our blog!

Dundee Mutual Support Group members take part in a variety of outdoor activities and are keen to draw attention to the benefits of greenspaces on mental health and wellbeing. Group members take part in a range of different activities including, walking, gardening, team building, sketching, Qi Gong and cycling. The purpose of this blog is to raise awareness of our activities and the benefits of time spent in wilderness for everyone in the community. Stay tuned for further posts!