Fersit. Photo: Allan Williams CC-BY-SA-2.0
Walkers heading for the hills in the Highlands are being warned of a bridge closure affecting access.
The 10-day closure of the Inverlair Bridge on the road to Fersit will affect hikers making the ascent of the hills around Loch Treig.
Highland Council said the bridge replacement work is vital to ensure traffic can reach the hamlet, to the East of Roy Bridge. But senior engineer Ian Douglas warned it would affect visitors heading for the munros Chno Dearg, Stob Coire Sgriodain and Stob Coire Easain.
Walkers are normally able to use the public road to Fersit and park there, but the road will be shut from today, Saturday, and is planned to reopen on 7 March. A small car park has been provided for residents north of the bridge works, along with a shuttle bus service, but the parking will not be available for visitors.
Mr Douglas said walkers should make other parking arrangements. A footbridge will maintain access on foot to the Fersit road.
Tulloch station, on the West Highland Line, lies 1.5km (1 mile) east of Inverlair Bridge.
Mike Merchant
27 February 2011This reminds me what a shame it is that there is no easy way to walk from Tulloch Station to Fersit. I have seen a track on the right bank of the river shown on an old map, but never seen anything readily walkable on visits or from the train. If anyone has tips for access please post them; it would be a public service and of benefit to my favourite bunkhouse too.
R Webb
27 February 2011There is absolutely no path. It did not survive the replanting of the forest in the 1980s. Of course its use back then depended on the cooperation of the staff of Tulloch Station who would let you cross the bridge when the line was clear. (illegally of course, but those were the days).
The real scandal in the area was that it was once easy to cross the Laggan Dam and use forest roads to get to Fersit. One day, around 1988 I walked out that way as usual only to be faced with a locked gate. The gits have kept it locked ever since. I cannot find words to describe corporate bodies who are happy to flood a glen and then forbid the only remaining means of crossing it. The same thing has recently happened in Strathconon.
Charles Britten
28 February 2011The article incorrectly lists three Munros, but Stob a' Choire Meadhoin is adjacent to Stob Coire Easain so that will be affected too.