West Route to Tarland Show path on map

Start location: Easter Davoch ( NJ 466 074 )

End location: west of Newton ( NJ 424 109 )

Geographical area: Grampian

Path type: Drove Road, Rural Path

Path distance: 6km

Accessibility info: Suitable for pedestrians

Route Description

Go north from Tarland by minor roads to Easter Davoch where this route starts. Continue northwest passing the Lazy Well, north of Reinacharn Lodge. From here follow the track continuing northwest near the top of Gallows Hill to reach the public road at NJ424109. 

Heritage Information

This route is believed to be a very old one - and is thought to be that shown in Plate 55 of George Taylor and Andrew Skinner's Survey and Maps of the Roads of North Britain or Scotland (1776). It is shown on the 1920 Tourist Map of Deeside as a coloured public road under fourteen feet in width; on that map the private roads were uncoloured.

Tarland's market stance can be seen on maps dating back to at least the mid-nineteenth century, and although partly encroached upon it still exists as part of the village's open space. Droving routes approached Tarland from the west and the north, and to the south beyond Aboyne lie the Fungle Road and the Firmounth. As Tarland also had a feeing market and reportedly a fair too, it's likely these routes were formerly well-travelled by people as well as cattle.