Go wild in Dufftown These paths could seriously:

● Improve your health and well being● Bring you close to nature

● Let you see some beautiful countryside● Bring local history to life

● Unravel the delights of whisky● Be fun

About the Area

Dufftown, acknowledged as the maltwhisky capital of the world, is situated onthe edge of the newly createdCairngorms National Park. Home toseven operating whisky distilleries,including the famous Glenfiddich brand,the town nestles between heather cladhills where the River Fiddich and DullanWater meet.

Established in 1817 by James Duff, 4th

Earl of Fife, the town is a fine example ofa planned settlement. Nature abounds inthis beautiful corner of old Banffshirewhere numerous species of animal andplant life thrive in a variety of river,woodland and moorland habitats. Thearea has a rich history displayed by thepresence of Balvenie and AuchindounCastles. Mortlach Kirk lies near the siteof Mortlach battlefield where the Daneswere defeated in 1010.

Annual events include two whiskyfestivals, (Spring and Autumn), with the‘Spirit of Speyside’ walking festival inAugust. Dufftown Highland Games areheld on the last Saturday in July, a featureof which is the massed pipe bands.

There is a whisky museum in Fife Streetrecalling illicit distilling and smuggling inauld lang syne (days gone by).Glenfiddich Distillery has a visitor centre.The Keith and Dufftown railway is run byvolunteers. The Golf Club welcomesvisitors and is claimed to have the

highest green in the country fromwhere the views are magnificent.

Recommended Walks

All the featured walks in this booklet,(except to Auchindoun Castle), start atThe Clocktower in the Square. This wasoriginally a jail, which now houses theseasonal Tourist Information Centre.The clock originally housed in Banffclaims to be the one used to hang JamesMcPherson, a notorious freebooterfamously recalled in the folk song,‘McPherson’s Rant’. Note the plaquecommemorating George Stephen whoemigrated from Dufftown to Canada andwas co-founder of the Canadian – PacificRailway. Outside the Clocktower thereis a map board showing the walks.Dufftown is well connected to Elgin andAberlour by a regular bus service with aheritage rail connection to Keith run byvolunteers.

An occasional bus service runs to Huntlyand Aberdeen Contact Traveline (Tel:08706082608) for further information.

Many of the walks are short in distanceand generally have good surfaces in thetown with rougher sections in thecountry. For the more ambitious severalroutes can be combined to create alonger walk. Most routes are hilly inplaces and stout footwear andwaterproof clothing are recommended.

All the walks explore the countrysidearound Dufftown and give good accessto all the natural attributes the area hasto offer throughout the four seasons.You can be guaranteed that somewherealong whichever walk you choose aspectacular viewpoint will unfold.

Some, but not all, of the routes aresigned. The Local Speyside FootpathsNetwork Group is working towardscontinual improvement of the LocalPaths Network. Details of the walks canbe viewed on the computer terminallocated within the Whisky Shop in Fife

Street.

WWaallkk:: 11 TThhee GGiiaanntt’’ss CChhaaiirr

Distance: 2 Miles

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Terrain: Mixture of tarmac, gravel andgrass paths. Relatively level with someminor gradients. Sections of the pathnear the Giant’s Chair are uneven andrough.

Users: Suitable for walkers. There is akissing gate at the far end of this walkand some flights of steps.

The route starts along Church Street,following the road down past the Kirkand up the steep brae with DufftownDistillery at the bottom, Pittyvaich at thetop. The derelict farmhouse is a listedbuilding.

Continue on this minor road until alovely green road (as featured on thisbooklet’s front cover) is seen on theleft, signposted Giant’s Chair. Onceacross the River Dullan footbridge theGiant’s Cradle is on the left, just off thepath – great care is needed here, also atthe Giant’s Chair by the shelter. Both ofthese are natural rock features carvedby the power of Dullan Water. Furtherdownstream the path passes thebeautiful Linen Apron Waterfall, which

only earns its namewhen the burn is in

spate. After a

tranquil stretch of water a weir, knownlocally as “the intak” is reached; beyondlies Dufftown Distillery, on the far bank.Further on you can cross the river by apedestrian brig opposite Hardhaugh, orthe brig between the old and the newgraveyards. The old graveyard and Kirkare well worth a visit.

Mortlach Kirk, is the site of one of theoldest places of Christian worship inthe country. St Moluag, from theMonastery of Lismore established a cellat Mortlach in AD566. It is said to havebeen the seat of a bishop until the 12th

Century. In the vestibule is a fine Pictishsymbol “elephant” stone. The chancelhas three lancet windows dating fromthe 13th Century, although the glass ismuch later.

In the Kirkyard, there is a weatheredBattle Stone with a cross on one side,on the other a serpent, bullshead and aman on horseback. Here is evidence ofthe coming of Christianity and theabsorption of the old Pictish symbolism.

Mortlach was the site of a battlebetween the Scots and the Danes in1010. The story goes that the Daneshad encamped in the haugh, either sideof Dullan Water. The Scots led byMalcolm II dammed the Dullan by theGiant’s Chair. Then, while the Danesslept, the Scots breached the dam,followed the water down and routedthe enemy. To commemorate the victoryMalcolm extended the Kirk by threespears’ length.

Leave the Kirkyard by the front entranceand return to the Clock Tower via

Church Street.

WWaallkk 22 MMeegg’’ss WWiidddd((PPrriinncceessss RRooyyaall PPaarrkk))

Distance: 1 1/4 Miles

Time: 1 hour

Terrain: A route combining roadwaypaths and grass/gravel paths throughwoods and fields. Steady inclines inplaces with a few rough, wet sections.

Users: Limited to able-bodiedpedestrians along rougher paths in thevicinity of Meg’s Widd where a short setof steps requires to be negotiated, alsoa kissing gate.

Best started along Conval Street, thiswalk travels through Meg’s Widd fromwhere fine panoramic views of the area– even Ben Rinnes can be glimpsedbetween the Convals at one point.

Follow the signs through attractivepasturelands to descend to ChurchStreet, Mortlach Kirk is in theforeground with its near neighbour,Dufftown Distillery. In the backgroundis the hill of Macalea, which can bereached from the Huntly road. Theborder with Aberdeenshire lies justbeyond.

WWaallkk 33 MMaaiisstteerr’’ss WWiidddd

Distance: 1 Mile

Time: 30 minutes

Terrain: Good surfaces throughoutwith short inclines within the wood.

Users: A short amble suitable for a widerange of users. Narrow paths and somesteps within the wood.

This very short walk is a goodintroduction to the town’s attractionsincluding Maister’s Widd, a fine stand ofdeciduous trees linking, Church Streetwith Fife Street via Cowie Avenue.

Note the Maister’s Well incorporatingan inscribed stone originally situated inthe town square.

WWaallkk 44 TToommnnaammuuiiddhh WWiidddd

(Gaelic: Tom – thicket; knoll, Na – of,Muidh – front beam in a weaving loom.)

Distance: 1 3/4 Miles

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Terrain: Smooth, level roadside path inthe town. Some steep and unevensections of paths to be negotiatedwithin the woodland.

Users: Suitable for able-bodiedpedestrians. No barrier features to benegotiated but there are steps on thesteeper sections.

Tomnamuidh Widd, locally referred toas the ‘Toon’s Widd’, is best accessedfrom Balvenie Street by means of theMemorial Garden, a pleasant spot toreflect on the sacrifice made by thissmall community in two world wars. As

Fiddich for a short way throughattractive glades and woodland in anatural setting…a tranquil haven by thewater’s edge. Cross Crachie roadbridge and turn left to make your wayback up Fife Street to the Clocktower.

WWaallkk 55 GGoorrddoonnss’’ CCrroossss

Distance: 2 Miles

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Terrain: Fully surfaced roadside pathsin the built up areas. Rough grassy andgravel paths in country sections. Someshort steep inclines to be negotiated byflights of steps.

Users: Suitable for able-bodiedpedestrians. Several gates require to benegotiated near Gordons’ Cross andbeside the river Fiddich where there aresome steps.

Travel along Church St. and down pastthe Kirk. Cross the river to Hardhaugh,turn left onto the track between the oldkirkyard and new graveyard. Branch offto the right and follow the trackthrough two gates, and straight on towhere a bench is situated on the pathbetween the fields. Alongside is a largestone, the base of the “Gordons’ Cross”,or gibbet, where the Gordons held thepower of “Pit and Gallows”. Note thefine view northwards over the townwith Mortlach Distillery in theforeground

Continue on the track, cross the Huntlyroad and follow the signs for the ‘Riverside Path’. This follows the RiverFiddich for a short way throughattractive glades and woodland in anatural setting…a tranquil haven by thewater’s edge. Cross Crachie roadbridge and turn left to make your wayback up Fife Street to the Clocktower.

you climb through the wood look toyour left to see the extent of Wm. Grantand Sons enterprise, GlenfiddichDistillery in the foreground. Justbeyond lies the ruined Balvenie Castle,which is open to the public seasonally.This can be reached from the wood byfollowing the field path down to thecottage.

Balvenie Castle is thought to date fromthe 13th Century, when Black Comyn,the Earl of Buchan, ruled over thisCeltic province until their overthrow acentury later by Robert the Bruce. The“Black” Douglases were then inpossession until they too were wipedout in 1455 by James II who gaveBalvenie to a kinsman. The title, Earl ofAtholl, was later bestowed upon one ofthis family who entertained Mary Queenof Scots at Balvenie in 1562. By 1720the castle was abandoned. The nameBalvenie originally encompassed thetown until in 1817 James Duff, 4th Earlof Fife, founded Dufftown, but Balveniesurvives as a distillery and in the nameof its famous product.

Once back in the Widd, continue downand round to the right to reach TininverBrae. Cross the play park and headstraight on to return to Balvenie Streetand the Clocktower.

not to scale

N

LEGENDbus stop

car park

public telephone

Tourist Information

toilets

museum

viewpoint

distillery

Route9 miles return to Aberlour

on Gownie path

12 miles circular using

Speyside Way

SPEYSIDE WAY

OTHER PATHS

Walk 7 Gownie Circular Walk

Keith

A 9

41

SpeysideWay

A 95

A 9

5CRAIGELLACHIE

ABERLOUR

DUFFTOWN

MeikleConval

Tomintoul

Ben RinnesSummit

B 9009

Burnhead

GownieSpeysideWay

Grantownon Spey

A 95

River S

pey

Blue Hill

Wardhead

Speysid

e Way

River Fid

dich

The Gowniepath

GlenfiddichDistillery

Little Convalfort

Glach-en-ronach

Dul

lan

Wat

er

Glack H

arnes

Beatshach

EDINVILLIE

Cabrach

A 9

41

A 940

Huntly

Keith &Drummuir

RailwayStation

Route start atClock Tower

Path toDrummuir

To Archiestown

To RothesB

M

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

PP

B

B

M

A 947

P

to Dufftown3 miles

informalparking

to Cabrach

AuchindounCastle

ParkheadFarm

A941

A9

41

Inset map

walk 6

Glenrinnes

Giant’sChair

Giant’sCradle

Linen Apron(waterfall)

Intak

DufftownDistillery

PittyvaichDistillery

Burn Brae

Kirkton ofMortlach

MortlachKirk

TheGordon’s

Cross

AuchindounCastle andCabrach

A9

41

A 920Huntly

A920

RiverFiddich

DullanWater

MortlachDistillery

Mount St

ClockTower

Fife StConval St

MarketLeys

MegsWidd

B9009

Hill St

Stat

ion

Rd

WarMemorial

TomnamuidhWidd

TininverPark

Toon’sWidd

BalvenieCastle

GlendullanDistillery

A941

B9014

Keith andDrummuir

DrummuirB9014

ParkmoreDistillery

Glenfiddich DistilleryVisitors Centre

KininvieDistillery

RailwayStation

toCraigellachie

ConvalmoreDistillery

Aberlour

not to scale

N

LEGENDbus stop

car park

public telephone

Tourist Information

toilets

museum

hospital

viewpoint

distillery

Walk 1 The Giant’s Chair 2 miles

Walk 2 Meg’s Widd 11/4 miles

Walk 3 Maister’s Widd 1 mile

Walk 4 Tomnamuidh Widd 13/4 miles

Walk 5 Gordon’s Cross 2 miles

Walk 6 Auchindoun Castle 11/4 miles

Other Paths

DUFFTOWN

toMaggieknockater

BalvenieDistillery

Sp

eys

ide

Way

Railway K.D.R.

Tininver StAlbert Pl

START OFALL WALKS

Maister’sWell

Hardhaugh

B9009 toTomintoul

Crachie RoadBridge

Short Walks AroundDufftown

B

M

H

P

P

PP

P

B

M

H

Ch

urc

hSt

Th

eG

ow

nie

Path

RiverFiddich

not to scale

N

Craigellachie

KininvieDistillery

ConvalmoreDistillery

RailwayStation

BalvenieDistillery Parkmore

Distillery

Drummuir

Keith

TheGordon’s

Cross

DullanWater

MortlachDistillery

ClockTower

Fife St

Ch

urc

h S

t

MarketLeys

MegsWidd

B9009 toTomintoul

Stat

ion R

d

WarMemorial

TomnamuidhWidd

TininverPark

Toon’sWidd

BalvenieCastle

GlendullanDistillery

A 9

41 B 9

014

GlenfiddichDistilleryVisitorsCentre

Aberlour

DUFFTOWN

GlenrinnesGiant’sChair

Giant’sCradle

Linen Apron(waterfall)

Intak

DufftownDistillery

PittyvaichDistillery

Burn Brae

Kirkton ofMortlach

KirkAuchindounCastle andCabrach

A 9

41

A 920Huntly

LEGENDbus stop

car park

public telephone

Tourist Information

toilets

museum

hospital

viewpoint

distillery

Sp

eys

ide w

ay

suspensionbridge

lay-by forviewing of

4 distilleries

Walk 8 Dufftown Dramble

WALKSTART

Sp

eys

ide w

ay

to Maggieknockater

to Drummuir

JubileePath

Route 4 1/2 miles

Alternative Route

B

M

H

P

P

P P

P

B

M

H

Railway K.D.R.

Hardhaugh

RiverFiddich

WWaallkk 66 AAuucchhiinnddoouunn CCaassttllee

Distance: 1 1/4 Miles return fromA941

Time: 1 hour

Terrain: A wide rough surfaced accesstrack with a steady incline.

Users: Suitable for able-bodiedpedestrians. Gates require to benegotiated near the castle. Access isfrom the Cabrach road, 3 miles south ofDufftown, where there is informalparking at the side of the road. Do notdrive up the uneven track, which isprivate.

A fairly steep, rough track takes you towithin sight of the Castle. At thejunction take the track on the right andcut across the field to the entrance gate.The view up Glen Fiddich from the topis particularly pleasing. The Keep,standing three storeys high is encircledby Pictish earthworks. It was built byRobert Cochran, a favourite of James III,later hanged by the Scottish Barons atLauder Bridge in 1482. The Ogilviesowned it at one stage, then theGordons. A popular ballad recalls theburning of it by Willie MacIntosh in1592. Return by the same route to theA941 Cabrach Road.

WWaallkk 77 TThhee GGoowwnniiee CCiirrccuullaarr

Distance: Dufftown to Aberlour returnis 9 miles with the full circular route viaCraigellachie being 12 miles long

Time: Dufftown to Aberlour return -around 4 1/2 hoursFull circular route - 6 to 8 hours

Terrain: Mostly surfaced access tracksparticularly in lowland section withsome grassy paths through fields.Rough in places with considerablegradients to the summit of the GowniePath at a height of around 1000ft.

Users: A route for the more energeticwalker and cyclist. There are somestiles and gates to be negotiated.

A circular walk via Craigellachie andAberlour for the more enthusiasticlooking for some adventure. Initiallyfollow Balvenie Street, past GlenfiddichDistillery and the Railway Station andtravel along the Speyside Way Spur.

Going along the old railway line(Speyside Way Spur), the going is easyalthough take care at one section asconsiderable slippage has occurred, theresult of heavy rainstorms. The trackfollows the River Fiddich on its way tojoin the Spey at Craigellachie, home tothe hotel of that name which hasbecome world renowned for hostingsensitive international summit talks.But the name had been whispered (wellshouted anyway) in the United StatesSenate long before this. When GeneralUlysses Grant, U.S. President 1868 –1876 held office it was wagered that no-one could trick his poker face to showemotion but, during a debate in thesenate a fellow clansman called out“Stand Fast Craigellachie” and thePresident’s face was completelytransformed by smiles. “Stand FastCraigellachie” is the slogan (battle cry),of the Clan Grant…. an easily wonwager for someone who knew hiskinship!From Craigellachie, the Speyside Waycontinues to Aberlour. Leave it by The

Square, just before the playpark, crossthe road into Queen’s Road and turnleft into Allachie Drive.

The route over the Gownie Path is quitea stiff climb; (you could cheat and get alift as far as the metalled road end). Theviews across Strathspey from thesummit are spectacular.

The path is waymarked as a right of waypassing through different terrain fromconifer wood to moorland and pastureon the Dufftown side. As you descendfrom the path summit the views overDufftown are extensive and the town’s‘seven hills and stills’ can be clearlyseen. Wildlife abounds, but you needto proceed quietly to glimpse it. Thepath joins Hill Street connecting withBalvenie Street, or climb Steepie Braereaching Conval Street to get back tothe Clocktower.

WWaallkk 88 DDuuffffttoowwnn DDrraammbbllee

Distance: 4 1/2 Miles

Time: 3 hours

Terrain: A mixture of tarmac, gravel andgrass paths, some sections traversepublic roads so care should be takendue to the proximity of traffic. Thereare short gradients and sections ofuneven paths.

Users: Suitable for able-bodiedwalkers, sections of the route can alsobe cycled. There are a number of gatesand steps to be negotiated.

The route starts from the Clock Towerlinking all Dufftown distilleries in onewalk. The tower is known to have hadan illicit still working away in thebasement during the early part of the20th century.

Excisemen on their way to work wouldpass through The Square and get theodd whiff of a fresh mash or a fiery

point in the Distillation cycle and put itdown to legal production at one of theseven operational stills in the village.Talk about cocking a snook atofficialdom! The story of illicit distillingis recalled in the Whisky Museum in FifeStreet.

Follow Church Street, to Mortlach Kirkat the bottom of the hill. In thegraveyard there are many formerdistillers and workers alike. WilliamGrant for instance has a large familygrave there, not a stone’s throw fromHardhaugh on the other side of theBurn where he used to reside duringhis “Mortlach Days”. In the grave nextto William Grant and perhaps only acoincidence is a certain “McGregor”who was a brewer at Mortlach aroundthe time that William Grant wasmanager; indeed there is a photographat Mortlach with both gentlemen in thepicture.

Cross the River by the Footbridge andturn right for a view of DufftownDistillery, which was built in 1896 in atight hollow alongside the DullanWater. It was owned at that time byPeter McKenzie and was eventually soldon to ‘Bells’, the UK best seller duringthe 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Uphill from theKirk, Pittyvaich Distillery was built toproduce additional volume for thesuccessful Distiller (1974). Alas thedistillery has long since closed (2000)and was recently demolished.

Bells merged with Scottish MaltDistillers back in the 1980’s and with somany other distilleries the need to keepPittyvaich in production reduced. Backin the mid-1990’s it was being used forexperiments, one in particular was theproduction of Gordon’s Gin. At thattime all the neutral spirit for Gordon’sGin was produced at CameronbridgeDistillery and tankered down to Londonwhere United Distillers had their GinPot Still by the name of Old Tom.Financially this was madness, tankeringthe neutral spirit to London and

where Glendullan Distillery can beseen on the right. A new GlendullanDistillery was built alongside the olddistillery in 1972-1973 and for someyears both produced whisky. Eventuallythe old distillery closed due to the highrunning costs. Glendullan used to havean association with McDonald andGreenlees Distillers and the “Old Parr”whisky. Most of the productionnowadays is fed into many of the very

tankering the feints (low alcohols) backup to Cameronbridge. It wasconsidered to be much cheaper tomove the whole operation north toCameronbridge in Fife and produce thefinal Gin product there. This proved tobe difficult for some of the UnitedDistillers hierarchy to accept that theycould still produce a quality Gin inScotland so they set up a trial atPittyvaich. A water jacket was installedround the outside of the finaldistillation still, the neutral spirit wastankered north from Fife, the botanicalswere added to the still to provide theGin flavours and hey presto – pureGordon’s Gin was produced. This wasenough to convince the board that Gincould be made north of the border andGordon’s Gin is now wholly producedin Cameronbridge.

Follow the Dullan downstream toMortlach Distillery. Dufftown is in theparish of Mortlach, a name found onthe Canadian Pacific Railway, asfounded by Dufftown “loon” (boy)George Stephen, later Lord MountStephen. Mortlach was the firstdistillery to be built in Dufftown back in1823, the same year as the first distillinglicences were issued. Mortlach was athriving distillery and like many olddistilleries it had its own railway sidingwhich was then routed off the mainKeith – Dufftown track at Parkmore,running along the back of Glendullan.Mortlach was purchased by JohnnieWalker in 1923 and was swallowed upwithin the Scottish Malt Distillersempire around 1935.

Return to the River Dullan, cross thebridge and follow the sign towards theGordons Cross. Beyond, cross the A920and follow the Riverside Path by theRiver Fiddich. This water once served athriving Mill at Auchindoun producinglarge quantities of grist for Distillerieslegal and illicit. Cross the CrachieBridge and follow the B9014 Keith Road

successful blends in the Diageoportfolio.Alternatively, from Mortlach Distillerycontinue to Fife Street, cross to the farside and walk uphill to the steps signedto Tomnamuidh Widd. Once in theWidd take the bottom path from wherea view of Glendullan Distillery can beenjoyed. Follow the path to the bottomcorner of the wood to join the KeithRoad.

Just the other side of the RailwayViaduct lies Parkmore Distillery, builtjust before the turn of the last Century.Parkmore was produced on and offuntil 1931 when Scottish Malt Distillers,who had purchased it the previous year,closed it. According to a Scottish MaltDistillers journal at the time it wastemporarily closed due to a high rise induty that year. It never re-opened butthe floor maltings continued to workthrough until the late 1950’s when itclosed with many other floor maltingsdue to the introduction of largepurpose built Drum Maltings whichcould produce vast quantities of qualitymalt at a much reduced cost.

Taking the minor Maggieknockater roadyou eventually reach a lay-by on theright, which overlooks William Grant’sfour operating Distilleries, all on theone site, (see interpretation board onGlenfiddich, Balvenie, Kininvie andConvalmore Distilleries). The mostfamous of these is GlenfiddichDistillery, built by William Grant andhis family during 1886-1887. The firstspirit flowed from the Spirit Safe onChristmas day 1887. William had leftMortlach Distillery , where he hadlearnt his trade, after twenty years. Heused his hard-earned cash to purchasethree stills from Cardhu andtransported them back to Dufftownwith horse and cart. William Grant’sGlenfiddich was a commercial successand five years later he went on toestablish Balvenie Distillery in 1892.The water source was off the same hill

but the Robbie Dhu spring, whichsupports all Glenfiddich needs , provedto be much larger than the springs nota mile distant just round the hill.Indeed in the present day there arearound thirty different springs neededto keep Balvenie and Kininvie inoperation. Balvenie has the onlyworking floor maltings on the Scottishmainland. Kininvie Distillery wasbuilt beside Balvenie in 1990 and thedistillery was opened by Mrs JaneRoberts who is the granddaughter ofWilliam Grant. Mrs Roberts’ husband,Eric, was a former Chairman of theCompany. At the time of writing MrsRoberts is in reasonably good health fora lady who was 103 on 13th August2004. Kininvie was named after theEstate on the other side of the RiverFiddich and next to the house whereMrs Roberts resides. The distillery wasbuilt primarily to produce a differentmalt for the fast growing Grant’s blend.Glenfiddich is quite a light malt andBalvenie quite heavy, so Grant’s werelooking to produce something inbetween to add to their blend recipe.

The last of these distilleries isConvalmore which can be foundtucked into the back of Glenfiddich andBalvenie and best seen from the pathbetween Dufftown and Craigellachie onthe old railway track, known better asthe Speyside Way. Convalmore was alsobuilt in 1896 but burned down in 1903,it was rebuilt in 1907 with a column stillfor distillation, (column stills are usedalmost exclusively in Scotland in theproduction of grain whisky). This didnot last long as the whisky was not of agood quality and so they returned toPot Stills made from copper.Convalmore was a fairly middle of theroad malt and the water supply was notthe best, two of the reasons for itseventual closure in 1986. The distillerywas purchased by William Grant’s in1994 and only the warehouses are nowin use for maturing Glenfiddich,Balvenie and Kininvie.

From the lay-by follow theMaggieknockater road northwards untiljust beyond the sign for Tullich Houseon the right and turn left down a trackto cross the Fiddich by a footbridge.Join the Speyside Way by the JubileePath and return to Dufftown pastGlenfiddich Distillery where you canhave a restorative dram at the Visitors’Centre.

Thanks to Ian Millar of GlenfiddichDistillery who supplied the text for thiswalk and also to Wm Grant and Sonsand Diageo for their continuedsupport.

OTHER WALKS

Dufftown is located at the end of theSpeyside Way Spur linking the town toAviemore and the Moray Coast, aseparate publication details this route.Many other walks exist in the area otherthan those featured including the pathto the summit of Ben Rinnes and avariety of woodland and moorlandwalks. These can all be used subject toyou responsibly exercising your ‘right ofaccess’ established by the Land Reform(Scotland) Act 2003.

Photos: Ian M. Douglas. Distillery shots sourced from Wm. Grant and Sons

Design: John Tasker, Drybridge 01542 832282 Print: Lossie Print & Design 01343 812175

NATURE

Just some of the species to look out for:

FLORA

Alder Blackberry Blaeberry

Bird Cherry Ferns Fungi

Gean Hackberry Heather

Honeysuckle Mimulus Primrose

Rowan Scots Pine Silver Birch

Sweet Cicely Stag Horn Moss Violet

Wood Sorrel Woodrush Wych Elm

FAUNA

Badger Big Cats Brown Trout

Buzzard Capercailzie Dipper

Deer Fox Heron

Otter Owls Pied Wagtail

Red Squirrel Ring Ouzel Rook

Salmon Sea Trout Stoat

Water Vole Wild Cat Wren

USEFUL NUMBERS

Stephen Cottage Hospital 01340 820215

Dufftown Medical Group 01340 820888

Speyside Footpaths Network Group 01340 821245

Traveline Public Transport Info 0870 608 2608

ACCESS

Since February 2005 you now have a

‘right of access’ to all the paths

featured. You are required to act

RESPONSIBLY in accordance with the

new Scottish Outdoor Access Code

(SOAC). Know the code before you

go!

To acknowledge landowners &

farmers co-operation in making these

walks possible leave the area as you

find it, respect property and take care

to stay away from farming and timber

operations. Please keep dogs under

control at all times and on a lead near

livestock.

COUNTRY CODE

To help conserve this special place and to ensure

that these paths will continue to be enjoyed by

everyone, please take CARE:

Courtesy for others

Awareness of the environment

Respect for people who live and work in the countryside

Enjoy!Note:

Please do not pick wild flowers,

this is a criminal offence