Work to improve the path through Acorn Dell in Crieff is planned to begin next week (on Monday 25 January), weather permitting. This section of path is the first part of the 200 year old Lady Mary’s Walk, starting at Turret Bank Road and running along the Turret Burn.

The work, by contractors Thomson Landscapes, will take approximately 2-3 weeks, and this entire section of the path will be closed to members of the public during the work period. There are also likely to be some delays to traffic on Turretbank Road to allow materials and machinery to be delivered to the site. Members of the public are asked to pay attention to warning notices and follow the signed diversion to Lady Mary’s Walk via Laggan Road.

This work is being undertaken as a joint project between Crieff Community Trust (CCT), Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust (PKCT) and Perth & Kinross Council (PKC). CCT was awarded grants totalling £22,000 from SSE’s Sustainable Development Fund and PKC’s Community Environment Challenge Fund. PKCT is managing the work on behalf of the partnership.

We know that this is a very popular footpath in Crieff, and we would ask all local residents to be patient and obey the diversion notices while these works are being carried out.

Background to the work

In 2012, a section of woodland along the Turret Burn, between Mungall Park and Lady Mary’s Walk was purchased for the people of Crieff. The purchase was led by a working group under the auspices of the Crieff and Upper Strathearn Partnership, and upon completion of the purchase, the title for the land was transferred to the Crieff Community Initiative to be held in trust for the people of Crieff. This area of community-owned land has now become known as Acorn Dell.

Following the purchase of the land, a very active group of local volunteers — the Friends of Acorn Dell — began to meet with the aim of improving the path through Acorn Dell.  This group has the vision of repairing this section of Lady Mary’s Walk so that it is of a similar standard as the rest of Lady Mary’s.  CCT has worked with the group, PKCT and PKC to raise the funds to make it happen. The work that is being carried out over the next few weeks is just the first phase of work.

Phase I of the Acorn Dell path repair project will run from Turret Bank Road to the end of the land owned by the community in Acorn Dell. In order to protect the path from frequent flooding in the section beyond the former railway bridge, some of the blackthorn trees will need to be removed so that the path can be moved onto the higher ground there. (See this map for details.)

For further information about Acorn Dell, look here.