Dollar Glen. Bank Hill. King's Seat Hill. Dollar Academy.

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A view of the moon on a cold winter's night. Normally it has been grey and bleak this month but a rare fall of snow over the Scottish mountains and a couple of clear nights transformed the landscape.

As Saturday was the first day after Friday's dump of snow we didn't fancy floundering up a big mountain with no one ahead in previous day's to break trail through the new lying white stuff as these day's I'm into making life slightly easier for myself. Enjoyment not unnecessary sweat and toil. This is myself, Alan, and his dog passing through Alva and Tillicoultry in the car  with the Ochils gleaming white above then stopping for breakfast rolls and sausage in the latter town. Very tasty.

All the Ochil towns used to have mills in them during the industrial revolution and before as most of the glens on this side of the Ochil chain have fast running streams pouring down deep sided glens which was a handy source of power generation for industry. The Mill Trail runs along the bottom of this side of the Ochils visiting the necklace of small towns under the hills which still have the remains of  castles, old restored mills, and building infrastructure dating from those times. Dollar and Dollar Glen, (seen above) is probably the poshest of the five villages/ towns scattered out a few miles apart and the last in the line heading east. While the rest have comprehensive schools Dollar has 'an academy ' and very nice it is too. One of Scotland's largest independent schools. This is just the oldest building, seen two photos below, as it has several more modern extensions out of frame taking up room nearby in the grounds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_Academy
 How I first became aware of Dollar Academy was through the writing of Hamish Brown, who along with fellow hill walker Tom Weir introduced most of my age group in Scotland to the delights of the outdoors through numerous books and magazines in the local library when I was an excited teenager just getting into the hills. These two were the mountaineering superstars of that era with exciting adventures and photographs all over Scotland and abroad at a time when hill-walking over the Munros was an obscure and little known pursuit. Both contributed a lot to the popularity of Munros today with Hamish Brown being the first to complete them all in a single trip with his dog, which was also a mountaineering record breaker.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamish_Brown.

Dollar Academy and grounds.

The view from the school over the Ochils.

Once away from the town Dollar Glen turns into a steep gorge but a good path leads up both sides. We took the right hand one leading into the Burn of Care as I remembered it being impressive with several boardwalks and a nice deep trench higher up.

Path climbing higher with deep chasm below.

And nice waterfalls.

And boardwalks spanning the awkward sections.

This used to be my favourite, the deep slot leading up to the Burn of Sorrow which had a similar and more exciting boardwalk curving under steep cliffs but it was shattered by rockfall from above and never replaced due to health and safety issues about 10 or 15 years ago. The left hand path now climbs through the woodland slopes above the gorge but is not as much fun as the old route through the deep slot which was epic. A touch of danger is always more exciting.

At this point Castle Campbell comes into view, looking very much like the sinister monastery in one of my favorite films ' Name of the Rose.' An atmospheric and creepy classic detective crime thriller with thoughtful reason and logic up against blind faith in the eternal battle for truth. Still relevant today. Well worth seeing.... but fear not this is just a short clip that gives nothing away.




Castle Gloom was the old name for this remote stronghold of the powerful Earls of Argyll, later renamed Castle Campbell with the Burn of Care and The Burn of Sorrow flowing out from under its flanks so a good match for the film.

The castle from above.

From Bank Hill.

Fresh snow on King's Seat Hill.

Heading for King's Seat Hill.

Knock Hill motor racing circuit. Professional Scottish racers first learn the moves here on this popular upland track.

Looking across at Grangemouth.

West Lomond near Auchtermuchty and Falkland in Fife. An enjoyable day out. Around 5 hours as we came back to the car via a farm track and the Dollarbank balcony trail.