MARCH HAS BEEN A FUNNY MONTH
WITH the advent of spring we've experienced all sorts of weather in the countryside; the month of March provided us with nothing if not variety.
The Monday Walkers have been out towards Mt. Battock (2567 ft). Having set off from Millden on a fine, breezy morning a few of our athletes went for the top while the majority opted for more leisurely exercise in the foothills.
Experience tells you that a lower level breeze is usually translated to a gale force wind on the tops; "gie draughty" was how someone put it.
It was muddy underfoot but signs of spring were there; daffies in bloom around the hillfarms, lizards weaving among damp heather and we came across the first frogspawn of the season. A buzzard flew overhead with sticks in its talons; nest building?
Deciduous trees still in winter bareness have a certain charm; it's something to do with the tracery of twigs and branches that is lost once foliage appears. How isolated trees survive the arctic blasts of winter on exposed hillsides is a source of wonder.
Sannies were taken at the stalkers' hut on the side of Mt. Battock and some way above where the Black and White Burns converge. We made our way back along the side of Allrey. (OS Landranger Sheet 44).
The following day I was out with the Laurencekirkers rambling near Dunkeld. The Hermitage is a National Trust property providing a selection of waymarked routes in wooded glens.
We walked for six miles on paths that initially took us along the banks of the Tay and stopped for coffee beside Neil Gow's Oak.
Neil Gow (1727-1807) was a renowned local fiddler and composer who played many a tune beneath this ancient tree. Further along we heard the laughing call of a Green Woodpecker but, frustratingly, didn't see it.
They're bonny birds of almost tropical hue. The warm sunshine and peaceful surroundings, despite proximity to the A9, made this outing a delight. (OS Landranger Sheet 52).
The following Monday signalled a return to winter and thwarted, yet again, our attempt to get up Cat Law (1250 ft). We parked the minibus near Ballintore Castle which you get to via Kirriemuir off the B955.
There had been intermittent snow showers en route and the sky was leaden with the promise of more. The forecast for the summits was not good so we chose instead to follow a road along the line of the Quharity Burn. Quharity is a secretive glen which twists and turns its way from Balintore to Easter Lednathie in Glen Prosen.
Even as we set off a blizzard accompanied by a high wind which, at times, gusted to storm force vindicated our decision not to go higher. Fortunately the snow squalls didn't last long and the sun even appeared.
Passing Clinking Cauldron we made our way between Milldewan and Tarpetmile the tops of which were concealed by the heavy weather. The route takes you over plank bridges and cattle grids.
There was little sign of wildlife; it knows when to keep its head down. We turned near the foot of Cornwharn and arrived back in sunshine after seven windblown miles. (OS Landranger Sheets 44 and 53).
Over the last week I've been down in Worcestershire. Jean and I walked for several miles along the banks of the Severn.
Swans and Canada Geese were out on the river in force and we came across squirrels, grey ones of course, in the trees along the river bank. Stuff tends to be further on down there at this time of year; blossom well out and the hawthorn in leaf.
Incredibly though, although it was mostly sunny, the southern temperatures were lower than in Brechin.
At the risk of repeating myself, March has been a funny old month.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Brechin
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
