Andrew Carnegie’s favourite walk and picnic spot
The millionaire industrialist and philanthropist bought the Skibo Estate and its Ledmore & Migdale woods in 1897, returning every year to spend the summer holidays with his family until the outbreak of the First World War.
Fairy Glen
- Migdale & Spinningdale area
- 1.96 km
- Constructed path track/earth/grass. Suitable for walking.
- Easy to moderate difficulty.
- The nearest public parking is the Woodland Trust’s Torroy car park, on the Fairy Glen Road about 0.3 miles north (7 min walk). The walk can be combined with the Birch Loop or the Achue track.
The Carnegies built a path across the woodland and named their favourite walk and picnic spot ‘The Fairy Glen’. The woodland walk opened to the public in 1907, with a stone marking the occasion, that reads: ‘FAIRY GLEN. Opened By Mr, Mrs and Miss Carnegie. 10th September 1907.’
At the time, there were a number of bridges crossing the Allt na Eun, and a cabin at the top, with drinking water supplied by a well. The cabin burnt down after the war and only one bridge, rebuilt at a later date, remains, although the foundations of some of the original bridges can still be seen.
(Left) The Allt na Eun flowing east to west to join the Spinningdale burn. (Centre) Entrance by the Fairy Glen road. © Silvia Muras (Right) Waterfall. © Saddhavati Monahan
Historylinks Dornoch has photos of the cabin and bridges. There is a lovely waterfall towards the end of the path, before branching out to join the Achue Track and the burn disappears into the steeply sided gorge.
This atmospheric and peaceful path across broadleaved trees, ferns, and moss-covered stones is part of the 2.5ha Fairy Glen, which was purchased by Woodland Trust Scotland in March 2020. It joined the nearly 700 hectares of Ledmore and Midgale woods, one of the Woodland Trust’s largest sites, and its most northerly wood in the UK.
