Friday 28 August 2015

One of my Shorter Regular Routes

For the first three weeks of walking after we moved into town, I didn’t repeat a single route. It is fab, walking through Altyre Estate from my door every day, I love it. This is one of the six mile routes that I do.

I set off down the back lane before crossing the Grantown Road and walking through woodland, passed the quarry and then crossing a minor road and onto the estate.

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Setting off on the quiet back lane

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It briefly opens out on one side to farmland

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Views over to Mundole

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The avenue of trees leading to the Grantown Road

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Looking north along the road to Forres

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This little track looks like nothing

I wander along woodland tracks, around Loch of Blairs and then onto estate roads, passing Altyre church and the Big House. There are some incredible buildings which have been disused and falling into disrepair for quite some time, but it’s good to see there’s a project now to rebuild them and bring them back into use. After passing them, I walk by The Lake and along another estate road behind Garden’s Cottages before joining one of the main estate roads that leaves the estate and heads for Rafford. It passes the osprey nest site, the remains of the old church and the Cross Slab (Ogham).

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Fairyhills Wood quarry

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Pleasant track alongside the quarry

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Borlete

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From little acorns…

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Chanterelle

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The minor road

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Baby mushroom in front of a decaying stump

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Woodland track

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View across the fields to the Big House

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Loch of Blairs

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Lovely woodland

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Across the loch

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Pretty mushroom

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Another stump

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Oyster mushrooms

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Light through the leaves

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Decomposing fungi

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Leaving the woodland tracks to gain the main estate road

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Through the trees to Altyre House and Altyre Church

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Heather

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Soon to be magnificent again

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Altyre House

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I often take this track to go behind the house, but not today

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Across The Lake

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Field of golden crops

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Bridge on The Lake

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Twisted tree

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Another avenue of trees

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The estate is full of amazing trees, this one is huge

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This bridge looks okay, but I’ve seen the foundations…

At the junction, I take a track that was once a main road out of the estate, but now is almost unused and is quite overgrown and moss covered. Before the East Lodge, the track heads over the bank and drops me neatly onto the Rafford road, just by the Dallas Dhu Distillery. I pick up a Core Path here that takes the quiet country lane just passed Manachie Farm and I head back to the quiet back lane I headed out on.

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Old main estate road

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Golden grasses

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This tree has a story to tell

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No one at home today

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Cross Slab (Ogham)

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Once more onto woodland tracks

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Wood stack

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A less used track

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Another dodgy bridge

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Becoming mossy and overgrown

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Beechnut

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Over the bank…

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…down to the road…

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…just by the distillery

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Looking towards Califer Hill

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Picking up the Core Path

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Another quiet lane

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Back to the first quiet lane

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The last of the green leaves

Approximately 6 miles and 390 ft total ascent.