In the days before the internet and foreign holidays people made their own entertainment and hiking between Youth Hostels was a popular and relatively inexpensive holiday for young people.

Seventy years ago, my father, who was then eighteen, and seven friends friends went on a hike in the Trossachs. They recorded their story for posterity and over the next eight days we will follow their route from Callender to Bridge of Allan.

The Trossachs

The Trossachs (Scottish Gaelic: Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the area, but is now generally applied to the wider region.

The wooded hills and lochs of the area may be considered to represent a microcosm of a typical highland landscape, and the woodlands are an important habitat for many species. Much of the Trossachs area is now protected by various different conservation designations, including the Great Trossachs Forest National Nature Reserve.

The Trossachs currently form part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, which was established in 2002. The area has long been visited by tourists due to the relative proximity of major population centres such as Glasgow and Stirling, and remains popular with walkers, cyclists and tourists. Scenic boat rides on Loch Katrine are popular with visitors: the steamer SS Sir Walter Scott, launched in 1899, remains in operation. The Great Trossachs Path, one of Scotland’s Great Trails, is a 48 km route suitable for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It runs between Callander in the east and Inversnaid on the banks of Loch Lomond in the west, passing along the northern shores of Loch Katrine and Loch Arklet.

The Route from Callander to Dunblane