Walk38 Morven Lodge



The Shooting Hut at Glenfenzie

Looking down on Morven Lodge

    It all started when James Keiller bought  a   shipload of Seville oranges which were  over-ripe because the boat had been delayed by a storm - the Keiller marmalade story started that way not the walk - but the shooting lodge which he built from the profits of that enterprise was the destination around which our route was planned.

Cloud covered Morven Hill

Morven Lodge Buildings

Four walkers and a dog set off under grey skies from a point on the banks of the River Gairn where Clan MacGregor mustered for the battle of Culloden. After skirting the A939 road we headed off up to Glenfenzie where we had a coffee break in a ruined cottage which seems to be maintained for use as a shooting hut. From there we walked along the base of Tom Liath before climbing up it's side to a viewpoint from where we could see a cloud covered Morven Hill in the distance and could look down on the buildings of Morven Lodge. We walked through the scattered group of buildings which had been built as a retreat and shooting lodge by the Keiller family before taking refuge from the wind for a lunch break close to the Lary Burn. We then passed the farm buildings of Lary before making a short detour to see the chapel whose construction had been started by the MacGregor's before Culloden but, because of the loss of the majority of their menfolk in the battle, had never been completed.
By Pete