THE COUNTRYSIDE ROUND ABERFOYLE

Aberfoyle is a popular holiday village, an ideal base for exploring the purple peaks, sparkling lochs, forests and wooded glens of the Trossachs. Set in the heart of the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, it nestles at the foot of Craig Mhor while to the west, Ben Lomond dominates. Its facilities include a post office, bank, newsagent, mini market, delicatessen, butcher, garage/filling station, health centre and a selection of restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, pubs and gift shops.

The name Aberfoyle comes from the Gaelic obar Phuill - confluence of sluggish stream - which may refer to the river Forth which passes through the modern village, but more probably to the Pow burn which flows through the heart of the old village on the other side of the river. It is this older village or clachan of Aberfoyle which was made famous by Sir Walter Scott's classic novel 'Rob Roy'. Sir Walter himself spent a holiday at the old manse (minister's house) of Aberfoyle where he wrote a large section of 'The Lady of the Lake'. The old manse lies a short distance from 'Dunardry'. A famous former resident of the Manse was the Reverend Robert Kirk who wrote 'The secret Commonwealth of Elves and Fairies" and who is reputed to have disappeared after climbing the Fairy Knowe close to the manse. You can do it too, but you probably won't disappear!

Rob Roy is reputed to have marched his clansmen through the old clachan of Aberfoyle en route to the battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, being cheered by the local people as they passed.

In 1791 and 1845 the Statistical Account of Scotland gave an account of the parish of Aberfoyle which makes interesting  reading and gives the opportunity to compare then with now! [click on the dates to read it or click here to read about other parishes].

The coming of tourism in the nineteenth century brought hotels and the railway and a new village was constructed on the north side of the river Forth. The railway ran along the north bank of the Forth, terminating in a small station where the car park now lies. A cycle path now runs along the course of the old railway tracks.

From the 1820s until the 1950s the town was a centre for the quarrying of slate used in Scotland on roofs. At it's peak this was a huge operation in the hills north of the town. Up to 1.5 million slates were produced annually and shipped by railway to the centres of population.

The Duke of Montrose paid for the construction of the new road over the hills to the north, hence its name - the Dukes Pass. The Forest Park Visitor Centre lies on this road just to the north of the village. In the village is the Scottish Wool Centre and just to the east is Aberfoyle golf club.

Close to the entrance to the golf club is the famous Braeval restaurant formerly run by TV's Nick Nairn and if you want to hire bikes, there is an excellent hire centre at the Trossachs Holiday park on the Glasgow road about 2 miles from the village - they have one or two places in the area where they also hire bikes, including Aberfoyle.

There are many beautiful places to visit within a short distance including