A Walk & Camp in Wind & Rain on the Burma Road & Kinrara Estate, formerly BrewDog's 'Lost Forest'

View across Strathspey to the Cairngorms from the Burma Road

Brew Dog’s ‘Lost Forest’, aka the Kinrara Estate, is no more. Last month it was sold to Oxygen Conservation. Brew Dog’s disastrous attempt at estate management is over. Will Oxygen Conservation be any better? That remains to be seen. So far all it has done is put up an attractive video and some nice pictures on its website along with some fine-sounding words.

Nick Kempe of Parkswatch Scotland, who has done detailed analyses of Brew Dog’s botched scheme, doesn’t have any faith in Oxygen Conservation being much, if any, better, as he says here. I hope he’s wrong but fear he’s right. Brew Dog started with fine words too. What is needed is some detailed planning.

A comfortable camp in wind and rain

I go walking at Kinrara regularly as it’s not that far away and I’ve written a number of posts about my trips, the most recent being in June, and have looked at what Brew Dog has done to the land. My most recent trip, and the first since Oxygen Conservation took over, was an overnight one on a wet and windy late autumn weekend. Just a month after the new owners took over I wasn’t expecting to see any changes.

Autumn colours along the lower Burma Road

There was still much colour in the trees along the lower reaches of the glen as I walked up the estate track known as the Burma Road. Higher up, as the scattered old pines grew fewer, the scene was one of boggy heather moorland. In places I could see tiny planted pines poking up. More dominant were the long high fences Brew Dog has erected to keep deer out of the new trees and the many new and ugly muddy bulldozed tracks.

Not so pretty 

At the crest of the road rain began. I descended towards the River Dulnain intent on stopping at the first reasonable site for a tent I found. This proved to be by the Allt Fionnaich (the stream of clear water). Soon I was inside my little shelter drinking warming hot chocolate. Outside the sky was grey, the cloud low over the hills.

A windy morning

I woke once during the night. A bright moon shone into the tent and there were stars. It didn’t last. At dawn the sky was a sheet of dullness. A wind rattled the tent, flicking condensation off the flysheet. I had thought of heading over Geal-charn Mor, at 824-metres the highest hill in the area, but the clouds wrapping the summit didn’t look attractive and the wind would be much stronger up there so I decided on a lower hill, a minor bump called Cnoc Beag (appropriately, it means ‘little knoll’. At 528-metres it’s actually lower than the top of the Burma Road at 690-metres, which I crossed twice, so that was the high point of the walk.

The old track up Cnoc Beag with the River Dulnain in the distance

The Burma Road led across the lower slopes of the hill. I left it for an old track up the broad north-east ridge that was fading into the heather and hadn’t seen a vehicle in a long time. To the side I could see unnatural-looking lines of disturbed earth where trees had been planted and a long fence that looked as though it would cut across my path just beyond where the track ended. It did but there was a gate. Before BrewDog put up these fences – which wouldn’t be needed if deer numbers were reduced - one of the joys of the area was the vast open space where you could wander at will. This was especially so when there was snow as it was superb for ski touring.

Plantings & fence

The fences didn’t appear to be keeping out the deer anyway. I had heard stags roaring earlier. Once through the gate and on the same side of the fence as the plantings I saw four hinds and noted many droppings and tracks. Maybe somebody left a gate open. (I didn’t!)

A welcome gate

Not far beyond the fence I hope to pick up a path shown on the map as running from the River Dulnain and across the steep northern slopes of Geal-charn Mor to the high point of the Burma Road. I did find the path but it was just an indentation in the heather and soon vanished into boggy ground. Heavy rain started falling. The wind grew stronger. The going was slow and rough, all tussocks and holes. Eventually I gave up trying to follow the line of the path and took a direct route to the Burma Road. There were some streams to ford. My feet were soaked anyway.

The faint line of the 'path' before it disappeared completely

Relieved to reach the smooth road I speeded up and soon felt warmer. As I crossed the high point four runners came up towards me, the only people I saw all trip. One was in shorts. Just the sight made me shiver.

Back to the view across Strathspey to the cloud-capped Cairngorms

Lower down I could again gaze across colourful bracken and woods to dramatic clouds swirling round the Cairngorms.

I made a little video of the trip. Much shorter than I intended due to the wind and rain.

Kinrara is Oxygen Conservation’s second estate in Strathspey. Earlier in the year it bought the Dorback Estate further to the north-east, where there is another Geal Charn. I went for a walk there in March. I must go back to see what, if anything, Oxygen Conservation has done.

A Visit To Brew Dog's "Lost Forest" - not much change!

A brief break in the rain

I didn’t see what I was expecting to see and this was good. For once. What wasn’t there was any tree planting or sign of tree planting on Brew Dog’s Kinrara estate which straddles the border of the Cairngorms National Park and includes Geal-charn Mor, a Corbett.

When I went there last summer I found long lines of fencing being constructed across the hillsides (see here). By this February the fencing was complete (see here) but nothing else had changed as far as I could see, though the land was snow-covered so I thought I might have missed something.

Trees returning

Late July and I did expect to see some signs of forestry activity but no, it looked much the same as last summer. Looking closely regenerating trees – pine, birch, rowan – were coming along nicely and a bit bigger than last year. Brew Dog’s “Lost Forest” is returning without any need for planting.

I walked up to the top of the estate track known as the Burma Road that runs from Strathspey to the River Dulnain. The top of Geal-charn Mor lies some 130 metres higher and a little over a kilometre away, an easy walk over mostly boggy heather moorland. The rain was beating down and cloud covered the top so on this occasion I didn’t go the top though. Instead I wandered a little way down towards the Dulnain to see if there was any sign of planting here. There wasn’t. Maybe there is lower down.

Purple time

Despite the rain and the lack of the forecast evening clearance (instead the rain got heavier) this was an enjoyable walk. Seeing young trees poking through the heather is always heartening. And the heather itself was turning purple and shining in the sombre light. There were other flowers too with bright blue Scottish bluebells standing out.

Scottish bluebells

Occasionally there were hazy views of the hills. Once or twice the sun broke through briefly, lighting up the land before the clouds closed in again. Lower down the birches, rich in their summer finery, looked glorious.

There are hills in the cloud

Will planting start soon? I hope not but probably. It’s unnecessary. The forest is coming back and should be left to do so. 

It rained

 

Mist & snow on Geal-charn Mor

Woods & hills fading into the mist

Storm Otto brought damaging winds resulting in thousands of power cuts (our electricity was out for five hours). The weather station on Cairn Gorm recorded a gust of 120mph. Otto was short though, over in less than 24 hours, and behind it came cold weather and a night of snow, the first at low level for several weeks. The next day I woke to a calm white world.

The forecast for the hills was simple – fog all day. Light winds though, a gift in this windy winter, before storms returned the next day. I went to Geal Charn Mor, a Corbett (Scottish mountain over 2,500 feet/762 metres and 3,000 feet/914.4 metres), in the Monadh Liath hills on the Kinrara estate where Brew Dog is creating its “Lost Forest”. I wrote about that ill-thought out project after my visit last August.

The sun not quite breaking through

My aim this time was partly to see if there had been any further developments since then though mostly to enjoy a hill walk in the fresh snow. As it was, not much had changed though the fencing I’d seen was now complete. There was a scattering of heavy machinery along the estate track known as the Burma Road I took into the hills, but that was it.

The unfriendly sign

I wasn’t impressed by the sign on the gate at the end of the public road though. Who are these "visitors"? Not hillwalkers I presume. I guess it means those going to the Brew Dog plantation in some official capacity. It could easily put off walkers and cyclists though and maybe that’s the intention.

Birch in the mist

Shaking off my dislike of the sign I headed up the Burma Road in soft slushy snow. Two sets of boot prints went ahead of me. The clouds were low, brushing the tops of trees high on the hillside. Distant views quickly faded into nothing. Two walkers passed me, heading done. Soon the edge of the mist envloped me and the views became even hazier.

Blue sky over the Dulnain glen, briefly

Above the trees the snow hardened and walking was less slippery. At the top of the Burma Road I peered down into the glen of the River Dulnain where I could see the old pinewoods that could regenerate and spread if Brew Dog wasn’t so keen on planting an instant forest. There was blue sky in that direction and the clearest views of the day. Two walkers were descending. I saw no-one else.

Not really sunny but the glare ....

Leaving the Burma Road I headed up the gentle slops to Geal-charn Mor. A faint sun was just visible in the mist. The glare still was enough for me to don dark glasses. The wind, gentle lower down, was stronger and colder so a jacket went on as well.

Once I left the Burma Road there was nothing definite in the world. Tips of grasses and heather and the tops of rocks gave me something to focus on, along with the occasional line of mountain hare tracks. It wasn’t quite a white-out but it wasn’t far off. Somehow walking in this enclosed insubstantial world was relaxing and calming. Just myself, the mist, the snow, and the wind.

The snow was deep enough to level out the boggy ground but not firm enough to support me, making walking quite hard work. Higher up I trod on hidden stones at awkward angles, lurching from side to side. Above were tantalising hints of a clearance that never developed.

Summit without a view

On the summit I stopped for a snack, a hot drink, and in the hope the mist might clear a little.  It didn’t. 

There's something in that cloud

However on the way back down hazy mountains, or at least crags dark enough to show through the mist, appeared across Strathspey, fading in and out but never sharp enough to be really clear. Phantom mountains hanging in the white air.

That's better!

Lower down as the first trees appeared the views cleared just slightly as bands of mist rose and fell. The snow was thawing fast now and the walking less slippery. I hadn’t seen much in the sense of grand views and vast panoramas but that didn’t mean I hadn’t seen or felt anything. The mist, the snow, the sense of remoteness, the ethereal distant cliffs, all part of the mountain experience.

The Burma Road winds down into the forest

A Visit to BrewDog's 'Lost Forest'

There is much woodland on the lower part of the estate

Earlier this year it was widely reported that brewing giant BrewDog had bought the Kinrara estate in the Monadh Liath hills just outside Aviemore with the intention of restoring a ‘lost forest’. This being a fairly local place and one where I’ve walked many times I decided to go and have a look at it with thoughts of a ‘lost forest’ in mind.

An estate track known as the Burma Road runs up the centre of the estate over the watershed between the rivers Spey and Dulnain. The smaller southern section is in the Cairngorms National Park and this is where I went, adding the short ascent of Geal Charn Mor to my walk and descending the same way.

I was just about to leave the parking area when a walker greeted me. It was Gary Hodgson of Tarmachan Mountaineering. He’d been up the hills photographing mountain hares, something he does regularly here. He posts great photos of these lovely animals on social media and on his blog, They’re well worth a look. 

After we’d chatted about the future of the estate and more, I set off, noting that under the old Scottish Rights of Society sign a smaller one had been added with a link to find out more about the proposed new native forest. At least the proposals aren’t being kept secret. 

A fenced forest along the Burma Road

Initially the Burma Road runs through healthy-looking birch and pine forest – no lost forest here. A network of fencing protects the trees, looking as though it’s been erected at different times over the years. In places one of the problems with this approach can be seen. Young trees crowd against the fence while on the other side is open treeless moorland. 

A lone pine on the hillside above the Burma Road. The pale area is old muirburn.

As the track climbs higher a pattern found in too many damaged Highland glens can be seen. Strips of woodland run down the sides of burns where the steepness of the slopes protects them from grazing. On the hillsides above a few old pines are all that’s left of what must once have been a magnificent forest. 

Young pines, old pines

 

There are signs though that the forest could return. All the way up I saw tiny pines, birches, willows, and rowans poking up through the heather and grass. Not many, but they were there. The forest is trying to return, and maybe is returning, albeit slowly. Even at the top of the road at nearly 700 metres there were a few little pines. Remove enough deer to stop overgrazing and cease heather burning – areas of dead white heather show this has taken place not so long ago – and the trees will return. The forest isn’t lost. It’s just waiting to come back.

How big will these little pines be able to grow?

It’s a steady pull up the Burma Road and it’s a favourite test piece for mountain bikers. Not for the cyclist who passed me though. He wasn’t pedalling, just sitting there letting his electric bike do the work. I plodded on, very briefly envious but not really. I prefer the world at walking pace. And I do wonder when an electric bike becomes motorised transport rather than an aid to cycling.

A tiny pine at almost 700 metres

From the top of the road I took the eroded path over the moorland to the summit of Geal Charn Mor. This is a splendid viewpoint for the Cairngorms but today clouds hung low over the tops, those over the Glen Feshie hills looking quite ominous. Rather here than there, I thought.

View to the Glen Feshie hills from Geal Charn Mor

Walking back down I pondered the future of the estate. Just what will BrewDog do with it? Whatever it is it’ll almost certainly be better than keeping it as a shooting estate. The potential for rewilding is exciting.

This forest could expand. Looking back down to Strathspey from the Burma Road

Back home I had a look at the proposals on the link from the notice and also read Parkwatch Scotland’s detailed posts on the subject. The first thing I noted is that the plans have been drawn up by Scottish Woodlands, which is basically a commercial forestry management company. As Parkwatch Scotland says BrewDog would have done better to talk to those with expertise in native forest regeneration and restoration such as Wild Land Ltd, who own the neighbouring Glen Feshie estate. As it is, the proposals do talk about encouraging natural regeneration and also about ‘expansion of ancient woodland sites through creation of appropriate woodland types and species mixtures’. However, Parkwatch Scotland has looked at the detailed proposals, not just those in the graphic from the link on the notice, and says the plan is for mass planting and fencing. This might do something quickly – look at all our new trees! But it’s not the best way to restore a natural forest. Regeneration may be slower but as the seed source and even some infant trees are there it might surprise BrewDog at how effective it is. A forest requires space to spread naturally too and not be confined inside a fence.

To really allow the forest to return deer numbers need to be reduced and heather burning and grouse shooting stopped. Then patience is needed. Just wait. The forest will emerge.