Killin in the Scottish Highlands.

Gypsy Rover at Maragowan camp site, Killin.

We have not seen much improvement in the weather but we headed off into the village anyway. What we thought was the local war memorial was a memorial to a local vicar (1700-1782) who transcribed the New Testament into Gaelic. One side of the memorial was in English the other was Gaelic. At the other end of the village was another memorial which we had assumed was to Rob Roy as it had a statue of what you would assume was Rob Roy. Wrong, this was the local war memorial which was something completely different to anything we had seen elsewhere.

Rooster sculpture in a garden in Killin.

McLaren Hall Killin.

Old Scottish cottages in Killin.

Walking through the village with it’s many shop’s, many of which you would be hard pushed to find in most towns these day’s. Fish monger, Fruiterer, Grocer, Hardware, Baker and a CO-OP all seemingly surviving with the tourist trade around here. Of course, that was the other noticeable thing, the amount of hotels, B&B’s and self cater cottages in the village many displaying No Vacancy signs. Tourism is big in this part of the country.

Typical stone built house in Killin.

We had to drive over this bridge over the River Dochart in the centre of Killin.

Clan Macnab burial grounds in Killin.

Flowing through the village are the Falls of Dochart which are a mass of flat rocks which you can walk all over getting right up close to the actual waterfalls. The power of the water was very impressive but I would hate to see it in times of flooding. To see how some of the rocks had worn with the water flow was hard to comprehend as you would have sworn that holes and grooves were man made. On the far side of the river is an old mill which has had it’s water wheel renovated to working condition and is now the local tourist information centre.

The old mill in Killin, complete with a restored water wheel, now an Information centre.

The old mill in Killin. The waterwheel and associated gear have all been restored.

The old Loch Tay branch line on the Callander to Oban Railway.

Walking up a lane we found what had been bridge supports to an old railway line. The bridge would have been removed due to the low height (possibly under 10ft) and a bit further up the road is the old track bed which is now a cycle way. A bit of research revealed the line closed to passenger’s at the outbreak of WWII but the line stayed open until 1965 as the engine shed was at the end of the line at Loch Tay. The line was due to close in November but a land slide on Glen Ogle pre-empted the situation by 2 month’s and the line never re-opened.

Breadalbane Mill now an information centre.

Falls of Dochart.

Gaelic Cairn in Killin.

We managed to return to the camp before the rain arrived. Now we are catching up on the laundry and the sun has come out, wouldn’t you just know it. Still I might just break out the fishing rod and try for a trout as river fishing within the camp is free.

Killin's War Memorial.

Memorial to Rev James Stewart 1700-1789 who translated the New Testament into Gaelic.