Location: Rumbling Bridge, Clackmannanshire
Distance: 4 miles/6km
Time: 2 hours
Grade: Moderate countryside walk with some steps
The centrepiece of this walk is a dramatic gorge in which the River Devon rushes on a tumultuous course, crashing and thundering over huge rocks as it forces its way through. Such places have an inevitable association with magic and mystery and this one is no exception.
Partway down the gorge is a particularly narrow section known as the Devil’s Mill. An 1838 guidebook called The Scottish Tourist provides a vivid description: ‘the river descends into a cavity where the water is whirled about with great violence and, constantly beating against the sides of the rock, produces a sound like that made by the machinery of a mill’.
On the first part of the walk as you stroll beside the river, there is no hint of what lies ahead. The Devon is tranquil and calm, and there are wide views across to Seamab Hill, an outlier of the Ochils. The walk then passes through an extensive area of woodland, part of the policies of Lendrick Muir, an activity centre run by the Scripture Union. At one point you get a glimpse of its main building, Naemoor House, a neo-classical mansion designed by Adam Frame.
The path through the gorge is well maintained and there are several diversions to viewing platforms which offer excellent views of the narrow, vertiginous gorge and the seething mass of water hurtling through whatever gaps are available. It is a place to be respected, and sadly there have been fatalities here in the past.
The gorge is crossed at Rumbling Bridge itself. You can in fact see two bridges. The lower one dates to 1713; the upper, still in use today, was erected in 1816 some 40 metres above the river.
That particular year was long remembered in the area. There was a major flood in March; an earthquake in August; and a late, wet harvest interrupted by unseasonal snowfall.
The return walk up the east side of the gorge stays mainly at a higher level. After this the river is followed upstream, a very pleasant walk, back to the outskirts of the small village of Crook of Devon – ‘crook’ here referring to the sharp bends the river takes as it enters and leaves the village. At the centre of the village is St Serf’s Church, built in 1729 on the site of previous churches dating back to the 14th century. Rumbling Bridge has been on the itinerary of eager tourists for a long time. The poet Robert Burns was here in 1787 and wrote of ‘the clear winding Devon’ and the coming of a railway branch line in 1863 brought more visitors keen to see the gorge.
The railway has long gone but the gorge remains as an exciting and easily accessible walk, especially dramatic after rain has swelled the waters of the river.
Roger Smith
ROUTE PLANNER
Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 58 (Perth & Alloa) or 1:25,000 Explorer sheet 369 (Perth & Kinross).
Distance: 4 miles/6km.
Time: 2 hours.
Start/Finish: Crook of Devon (GR: NO036004). Park considerately in the village. There is usually room by the tennis courts in the road opposite Naemoor Road.
Public transport: Stagecoach East service 23 (Stirling-St Andrews) passes through Crook of Devon (no Sunday service). Details from www.travelinescotland.com or www.stagecoachbus.com
Information: Stirling TIC (01786 432003) or www.discovercllackmannanshire.com
Take Naemoor Road and in about 400m TR as signed on narrow path between fences. Follow to River Devon. Do not cross footbridge but TL on riverside path. In about 800m TL as signed into woods. Follow clear path then track for about 1.5km through woods to reach gate. TL on surfaced lane. At junction TR on minor road. In 300m TL as signed for Rumbling Bridge Gorge. Follow path through gorge, diverting to viewing platforms. TL on road over bridge and TL on path at end of layby. Follow path above gorge and then at riverside for 1.5km to reach A977 road. TL to return to start.
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