A Spring Daunder Through The Hermitage

A Mindful Woodland Walk Near Bridge of Allan for 

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week is a good time to encourage folk to take a daunder through The Hermitage woods while the bluebells are still with us. They won't hang around much longer, so this is your nudge.

Bluebells are Scotland's national flower. We can already hear the keyboards warming up in the comment section. We'd ask for a little restraint and, like the walk we're about to suggest, invite you to take a breath and enjoy the calm. The thistle is Scotland's national emblem, not the national flower . . . honest, it's the truth.

Where Is The Hermitage Woodland Walk?

You can park at Logie Kirk cemetery and walk up past the ancient ruins on the east side of the woods, or approach from the Bridge of Allan side to the west. We took the path of least resistance and made use of the free parking up past Airthrey Castle on the University grounds, at the golf facility car park, after 5pm.

Bluebells, Birdsong & The Joyce Dunn Walk

The rainbow of rhododendrons and azaleas surrounds you the moment you arrive, but it's when you open the car door that you're smacked in the nose with an assault of floral scent. We were accompanied musically by the soft cooing of wood pigeons and the lyrical notes of wrens, blackbirds and song thrushes drifting through the trees as we strolled up along the exotic plants of the Joyce Dunn Walk, before slipping out of the university grounds and disappearing into the woods proper.

Massive chestnut and beech trees filter the May sunshine, letting ferns flourish and giving the place an almost tropical feel in patches. A steep climb past some utility works and suddenly you're surrounded by a carpet of bluebells, taking time to allow your eyes to adjust a bit further through the trees, you notice these purple plants cover every spare piece of woodland real estate.

A couple of months ago it was pure angelic snowdrops. Soon it'll be rich summer emerald foliage. But right now, it's swathes of wee violet flowers.

Why Woodland Walks Support Mental Wellbeing

The Hermitage has never felt like an ordinary woodland walk. It feels older than that. Wilder round the edges. A maze of paths twisting through steep banks, hidden corners and old stone walls, where every route seems to lead somewhere different. Don't worry — you can't really get lost. The woods are walled along the east and west with a fence along the upper edge. Head downhill if in doubt and the university grounds will find you.

Some trails climb sharply before flattening out beneath silver birch. Others disappear into darker pockets where the sounds of the town vanish completely. You can wander for an hour and still find paths you've never taken. 

The Hidden History of The Hermitage Woods

Hidden amongst it all are reminders that these woods held far more than dog walkers and daunderers.

Deep in the trees sits the abandoned Hermitage building itself, easy to miss, and in summer the rhododendrons almost swallow it whole. It was built in the late 18th century by a family whose wealth came from the East India trade, designed not just as a viewing point across the estate but as an immersive folly. And the builder, in a moment of magnificent eccentricity, actually advertised for a real hermit to take up residence. The one applicant turned the job down flat — apparently the restriction on walking into Bridge of Allan was a dealbreaker.

At the other end of the woods, an old chimney still rises unexpectedly above the canopy. It's a remnant of the copper mine that once operated in these hills — silver and gold came out of here too, back in the 1500s. You catch glimpses of it through the trees, and it gives the whole place a feeling that something old still lingers quietly beneath the surface. Which, it turns out, it does.

One of the Best Quiet Views Around Stirling & Bridge of Allan

There is also a small hidden viewpoint where the trees suddenly open across the university grounds below, with the Wallace Monument standing above the landscape beyond. On a clear evening, when the light begins to soften, it's one of the finest quiet views you'll find anywhere around Bridge of Allan.

A Seasonal Nature Walk Worth Experiencing This Spring

The Hermitage changes with every season. Right now, for a week or two, it belongs to the bluebells.

Go and find them.

Barry 

Wellbeing Activities & Nature-Based Experiences in Stirling

The Wellbeing Circle runs a range of events and experiences designed to support your mental and physical health — from yoga, swimming and 1:1 therapies and more. Have a look at what's coming up and come and join us.