Let's Go Outside: Follow the Tay estuary on this easy Errol walk

Jul 18 2008 by Felicity Martin

IF you don’t like hills or stiles, this is the walk for you. It crosses the pancake flat agricultural fields to the southeast of Errol and meanders through woods beside the reed beds of the Firth of Tay. The only climb is near the end, when you go back up a short incline into the village. Although I’ve always thought of the Carse of Gowrie as being completely flat, the village of Errol is actually built on a low hill – a fact that becomes apparent when you see it from the perspective of the Tay.

Until Medieval times, the fertile fields that this walk takes you through would have been marshland. The creation of a deep drainage ditch – the Pow of Errol – lowered the water level so that cultivation was possible.

The route follows the Tay estuary south as far as Port Allen before returning to Errol. This is where the man-made watercourse meets the Firth and historically it was called Pow of Errol.

The tiny settlement has one of the finest remaining orchards in the area, which has been surveyed as part of the Carse of Gowrie Orchards project. The orchard is large in area and still has approximately 80 veteran trees, including apples, pear and plum, which produce fruit of a good quality.

The Carse of Gowrie Group has identified this route as part of its Paths Project to develop a comprehensive network of paths in the area. Already Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust has helped to improve the route with some new surfacing. In the future, there are plans to install an interpretation board about the Port Allen Orchard and to develop a path around it.

You can see more local routes on the Carse of Gowrie Group website at www.cogg.org.uk and learn more about Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust at www.pkct.org.

1. Mercat Cross – From the unicorn-topped Mercat Cross on Errol High Street walk down Gas Brae, to the left of the Old Smiddy. At the end of the houses, keep straight ahead. Go round a barrier that blocks access for cars and down a narrow lane. If you look carefully, you may spot some apple trees planted on the banks, which are currently thick with summer vegetation. The lane slopes downhill, soon flattening out on the flood plain of the Tay. At this point the tarmac ends, but it continues as a well-surfaced track. Immediately after going over a bridge with low parapets, you come to a crossroads of tracks.

2. Pow of Errol – The walk is the shape of a sausage on a stick. You have just walked down the stick and will return to this crossroads on the way back, having walked round the sausage outline. To cut the distance, you can do just the northeast half or the southwest half. (To do the southwest half, keep straight on to Tay Lodge (point 4).

For the full route (or the northeast half), turn left to walk beside the Pow of Errol, which flows at the bottom of a deep cutting. Ahead you will see a line of poplars with Dundee off to their right. Pass a sewage pumping station and continue to a junction level with the poplars where you keep straight ahead. Eventually, the track curves right towards the tree-lined estuary.

3. Into the woods – Where the main track bends left towards a sewage works, go right on a newly surfaced path beside the trees. After 100 yards it enters the trees and becomes a beaten earth path. You now walk through a tunnel of green for nearly a mile with an earth bank on the left dropping down to the Tay reed beds. Many grey squirrels inhabit this linear wood of oak, beech, sycamore, birch, cherry, aspen and other broadleaved trees. Where you glimpse the red roof of Tay Lodge, the path bends right to the outer edge of the trees and runs to a junction.

4. Tay Lodge – At the junction by Tay Lodge, you could go right to cut short the walk. Otherwise go round another barrier then right on a path that continues through the trees bordering the estuary (left takes you into the reed beds). You pass Daleally Farm, which is barely visible through a hedge, and later get a view over the Tay.

As you approach Port Allen, there is a lagoon on the left that provides a haven for ducks, coots, herons and gulls. In the final section of wood, there is a drop off on either side – to the Pow and to the lagoon. The path emerges from the trees, giving good views over the water, then bends right across a bridge over the Pow.

5. Port Allen – Follow the path up a grassy rise and straight on between Port Allen Cottage and the adjacent farm steading. Once beyond the buildings, look left to see the orchard across a field. Walk along tarmac away from the Tay then turn right at the first track (opposite a cottage). Keep on to a T-junction and turn right towards Daleally Farm. Before the buildings, fork left and skirt the farm then go left again to walk beside the Pow of Errol once more. Continue to the crossroads of tracks and turn left to return into Errol village.

Grade

C – Easy

Distance

3 or 5 miles (4.8 or 8 km)

Time

1 to 2.5 hours

Terrain

Well-surfaced farm tracks through flat farmland and narrower woodland paths along edge of reed beds.

Map

OS Explorer 380 or OS Landranger 53 or 59.

Start/parking

Park in the High Street in Errol (avoiding double yellow lines) or at the Park beside the church, at GR: NO252229. The walk starts at the Mercat Cross in the High Street GR: NO251227.

Public transport

Bus service from Perth to Errol, details from Traveline: 0871 200 22 33 or www.travelinescotland.com.

Refreshments

The Old Smiddy pub, Errol.

Suitable for

The farm tracks are suitable for wheelchair, disabled, pushchair, bike and horse, but the woodland paths are uneven with overhanging branches. The riverside woods and reed beds are sensitive for bird life, so keep dogs under close control.