02/03/2021
Congratulations on yet another amazing achievement!!!!🌿
We are delighted to announce that the next phase of the River Walk, from the end of the current path, right through to Drimsyniebeg is now open to pedestrians*.
Lockdown restrictions mean that although we can’t celebrate the opening, we can at least take this opportunity to thank those involved:
• Guy Keating of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park - for his encouragement and support and for sponsoring our project
• Forestry and Land Scotland - for working with us to deliver on Forestry land and for their generosity and technical support throughout the project
• Gordon Baillie Contracting Ltd - who once again worked tirelessly throughout the depths of Winter to create another wonderful community path
• David Jackson at Pole Farm - for allowing us to renovate the path across his land and for commissioning extra drainage work which will help to keep the path dry
• Andy Russell of CamKat Excavations - for getting the project off to a flying start and for helping us to tackle what initially seemed a daunting task
• Drimsynie Construction - for their logistical support throughout the project, moving machinery and materials to where we needed them
• Anna and Matt Wynne - for accommodating a construction project on their doorstep, just as they were moving house!
• And of course, a special thank you to everyone in the community for your support, particularly our hard-working volunteers and all those who donated so generously to the project.
Although the path is open, work will continue for some time yet. Livestock fencing and gates still need to be installed where the path passes through the field at its’ Northern end. Dogs MUST be kept on a lead through this section and alongside livestock fields, even when fencing is in place. Signage has also yet to be installed, but please remember that the path runs on Forestry land and is intended for pedestrians and cyclists only. Unauthorised vehicles, e.g. quad bikes and motorbikes, are not permitted. The initial few hundred metres of the path at the village end is still a forestry harvesting road, which will eventually be resurfaced and extended for a short distance by Forestry and Land Scotland.
This low-level path opens up access to a network of forestry tracks and routes beyond the village. We’ll soon start work on a series of linked nature trails and a third project phase leading to a replacement bridge across the River Goil near Pole Farm. We hope to see you enjoying the path soon and, when restrictions permit, we’ll welcome new volunteers to help us keep it in good shape.
* The path will need a spell of dry weather to fully firm up, so please avoid cycling on it for the time being. We will let you know as soon as the path is also open to cyclists.
