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Blair
Atholl,
Glen Banvie walk
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Atholl Estates Blair Atholl
Walks – Glen Banvie Trail – 9 miles or 14km
Another lovely walk, along
good Atholl Estate roads
throughout,
no steep hills to climb although there is a gentle rise from the
lower ground in Blair Atholl to the moor land above. If you
prefer gentle climbs we recommend that you go round the walk in
the anti-clockwise direction that the Atholl Estates ‘Way-marked
Trails from Blair Atholl’ suggests. The clockwise direction
around the walk has some steeper parts (none of this walk is
particularly difficult).
The route through out is on quiet Atholl Estate roads. The
walk offers some great views over the farmland, moor land and
distant views of Highland Perthshire hills. Good stout walking
footwear is recommended. (The day we walked was middle of August
and the conditions were excellent). If you have a dog, most of
the route is fine for the dog to run off the lead other than if
there are farm animals around when the dog has to be on lead.
 How
long did it take us? I would estimate 4 hours or something like
that. We stopped whenever something of interest caught our eye,
from birds, to butterflies, ruined villages, red deer rubbings
on trees and more.
We parked our car in the Glen Tilt car park, and walked
along the Atholl Estate tarmac road through Old Blair (with its
quaint cottages) to the junction with the dirt road that runs
through well established trees along the Banvie Burn.
The first part of the walk is through the mature
woodland, if you are quiet, you might be lucky enough to see a
Roe Deer grazing on the grass in these woods. We saw a variety
of bird life fluttering around the trees, some butterflies and a
whole lot of bee hives, that had been put out in a sheltered
wood clearing, for easy access to the heather, which was in full
bloom on the moor- land above.
 Passing
over a substantially constructed style beside the Atholl Estate
farm gate, we found ourselves on open moorland with the Banvie
Burn flowing below us to the right. A very different environment
and feel to the closed in woods. The walks leaflet tells us that
we are now in the domain of the Red Deer, and we are more likely
to see them here in early spring and during the winter (not this
August day).
 We
came across scores of Meadow Pipets (that’s what we think they
were) on the heather plants, flying around and chattering to
each other (fascinating to watch). The road climbed gently
higher and higher up on to the moorland, until the ruined
settlement or village
 came
in to view. The walks leaflet tells us it was deserted 150 years
or so ago in the 1850s. You can see what 150 years of time has
done to these homes. The people who lived here would have made
their living from cattle in the ancient highland traditions.
 The
walks booklet also tells us that we were passing along ancient
drove (herding) roads or tracks, where the highland cattle were
collected and herded each year to the trysts (markets) at
Amulree, Crieff and latterly Falkirk for centuries. Many of
these cattle found their way down to Smithfields Market in
London having been herded all the way down through England.
 The
route eventually takes us through some well-established pine
trees. It is here that we see a number of trees that have been
ring barked by the deer rubbing their itching new antlers around
the tree trunks to rid the antlers of their soft outer coating
(velvet).
Each year the Red Deer grow new antlers, by the evidence we saw
August is the time that these new antlers are reaching full
growth, hence the tree rubbings. Alas no red Deer were seen, I
suspect we came too late in the day (late afternoon).
The road now takes us to the south and we start dropping gently
 down
through mature pine trees. We can see the top of Glen Bruar, and
the high pastures. The woodland is all very open, ideal for wild
life. We saw a number of bird boxes on the trees, no doubt put
there by the Atholl Estates Rangers.
 As
we make our way south down the estate road, we come to a
junction with a sign telling us we can go to the Falls of Bruar,
made famous by Rabbie (Robert) Burns, Scotland’s national poet.
Having visited this many times in the past we declined this
route and continued down along the route through the heavier
tree plantations. It was along here that we saw a young Roe Deer
pop out on the road ahead of us and disappear back into the
under growth.
 We
eventually come out of the woodland on to open farm pastures,
full of swallow and martins flying around catching insects. The
route continues along good farm roads with farm fields either
side of us.
 The
Atholl Estate ponies with a whole lot of holidaymakers returning
from a ride, made their way in front of us. There can be no
better place for a pony ride, in these magnificent surroundings with
lovely fresh clean air and Highland scenery. We get
glimpses of the castle through the farm fields and trees,
turning left back along the tarmac road, through Old Blair to
our car at Glen Tilt Car Park.
The Banvie
walk offers a great day out.
The Clunie walk - Pitlochry / The Craigower walk - Pitlochry / Drummond Hill walk - Kenmore / Falls of Acharn walk - Kenmore / The Fungarth walk - Dunkeld / Glen Banvie walk - Blair Atholl / Glen Tilt walk - Blair Atholl | 
