Lifelong adventure on woodland trail
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Frank Bruce’s giant sculptures adorn the beautiful woodland at Feshiebridge and offer visitors an interesting and unusual way to enjoy a stroll in the forest.
The artworks, carved impressively out of wood and stone, were created over a period of 40 years by the artist, who was originally from St Combs, near Fraserburgh, but later settled in Aviemore.
He was a lover of the outdoors and his works certainly sit better in their natural environs than in any indoor space. Make what you will of the artworks themselves – but for me the woods here are enhanced by their inclusion and the wonderful trail that now links them.
It was certainly appreciated by my two-year-old daughter Clara, who had a great time walking and running on the fantastic all-abilities path through the Sculpture Trail and looking at the giant carved faces.
We began our stroll at the Forestry Commission car park just south of Feshiebridge, where there’s a £2 charge for all-day parking.
It’s a walk of two halves – the first being a one-mile circuit of the Sculpture Trail and back along the riverside; the second being a riverside walk with a return through the forest above Glenfeshie.
Take the path at the far end of the car park, beside the notice boards, which is signed to the Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail. Keep right onto the vehicle track then turn left onto the trail itself, where there’s another notice board at the disabled parking area.
You can’t miss the first sculpture – “The Archetype” is a huge carving of a very old tree trunk with large branches protruding from near its base. The serious-looking figure stares out at you as you begin the walk.
Clara loved pointing out the eyes, nose and mouth on the figure before happily bounding along the easy path, which passes a pond before coming to “The Walker”, a bizarre three-legged sculpture which you can walk underneath.
Continuing along the simple-to-follow trail, you pass another few artworks before going left to enter a former walled garden, where there are a number of places for picnicking as you explore the sculptures within.
We kept left inside the wall and followed the path all the way down to the bottom. At a wooden gate near the bottom right-hand corner, exit the enclosure and turn left onto a track – now part of the East Highland Way which links Fort William with Aviemore.
Take a path marked by an orange marker post down to the right to meet the River Feshie, then go right onto the riverside path. This interesting little route – while not suitable for buggies like the official trail – is in a lovely setting as it crosses a couple of rickety wooden footbridges on its way back to the car park.
We took advantage of yet more picnic tables here to enjoy an alfresco lunch before continuing on the second part of the walk. This exits the car park at the opposite end to the Sculpture Trail, instead following a yellow and orange marker post that initially leads you high above the river before dropping to reach the old stone road bridge.
Unfortunately this fine piece of engineering – another Thomas Telford classic, I presume – is currently covered in scaffolding, so its beautifully built arches over a narrow stretch of fast-moving water are difficult to appreciate.
The path rises to cross the road just to the right of the bridge, following a track opposite marked by a right of way sign to Deeside and Glen Atholl by Glen Feshie. Keep straight ahead past the houses and stick to the track – the river visible down to the left much of the way – all the way to a stone wall.
Turn right here, following the yellow marker up a narrow path along the edge of the wall. It soon bends right towards a nice little area of planted pine and emerges at a forestry track. Turn right here and keep going until a narrow path strikes off to the right, marked by a blue and yellow post.
Take this path which leads down to the road opposite the entrance to the car park.
This is a lovely spot for a day out, with options for longer walks as well as plenty to keep the children interested on these shorter strolls.
