In 2016 there was a proposal to build a 26-turbine windfarm in Glen Dye. I’d never been there and I thought that I should have a walk there before the monstrosity was built. I’m in favour of renewable energy and wind farms have their place in this. However, I think they should be built in areas of low amenity - not in wild land.
I decided to do a round trip over Clachnaben then from there drop down into Glen Dye. I parked at the Clachnaben parking space on the Cairn o’Mount road then headed up the hill. It was late February and there was still a bit of snow on the ground.
From the summit, there were good views all round to the Angus hills.
From Clachnaben, I headed to the wonderfully named Hill of Edendocher then looked for the path that dropped down to Glen Dye. It was completely choked with snow which was a bit crusty so walking was ‘interesting’.
As I got lower, I looked up Glen Dye and imagined this landscape covered in windfarms. Thankfully, there has been a lot of opposition to the windfarm and this hasn’t happened yet. I can’t find anything recent on this development so hopefully the developers have abandoned the idea.
Further to the east, the estate were burning heather. This is a grouse shooting area and estates believe that burning the heather encourages new growth that provides food for the grouse. Studies have shown that muirburn as it is called in Scotland kills many birds and mammals and has little real benefit for grouse. I think that it is environmentally damaging and should be banned.
As I descended, I could see Charr bothy - my intended lunch spot. I sat outside to eat my sandwiches. As winter was coming to an end, there was a wee bit warmth in the sun.
From the bothy, I headed down Glen Dye, with (for me) an unfamiliar view of Clachnaben.
From the lower glen, there were views to Mid Hill wind farm. You can see how turbines dominate the landscape - the Fetteresso forest is certainly not wild land and it’s harder to argue against a wind farm there. But I don’t like them.
The path ends at the Bridge of Dye but there’s no need to walk on the road back to the car park. There’s a path parallel to the road and I followed this back to the car park.