Around The A9
509 views · Published 12 June 2014 · 14:32 · Indexed 11 October 2026
Channel: Simon Douglas · 2014 · Comedy
This video details my day trip up to Calvine, Dalnamein, the Falls of Bruar, the Old Bridge of Tilt and the Killiecrankie Viaduct. I quite often go on big drives like this where I spent short amounts of time at a large number of places and a lot of these drives involve the A9 in some way. I started off my adventure at Calvine as I wanted to have a look at a double viaduct which I hadn't seen before. It was a brilliant location with plenty to see. I'll have to return in better weather so I can get some good photos from the riverside. Between Calvine and Dalnamein is around four miles of former A9 which has been abandoned but there's not a gate preventing vehicular access. I've recorded my drive along this stretch of road, which still has some of it's markings remaining but vegetation has reduced it to one lane. It felt weird driving along the white lines instead of to the left of them. At the end of the drivable section of former A9 are three bridges, the oldest is General Wade's Bridge which is your standard stone arch affair but it's far more interesting than the 1980's modern A9 bridge which most people will cross without realising it's even there. The crowning structure at Dalnamein is the 1930's Owen Williams concrete bridge which is unfortunately in a state of disrepair, although it's still strong enough to host a footpath. Heading south again, I took a look at the Falls of Bruar, which have been on my to-do list for years. There are some stunning falls up there, although I didn't bother climbing to the Upper Bridge as I heard from a few people I stopped and spoke to on the path that you can't see much due to excessive foliage. The next stop on my tour was the Old Bridge of Tilt. I don't have much to say about this place. The namesake bridge wasn't all that interesting but the area itself was really pleasant with loads of paths to explore. Perhaps I'll need to dedicate a day to properly looking around Glen Tilt? Finally, I called in at the Killiecrankie Viaduct which hundreds of thousands of people will have driven over but how many of them have taken a walk underneath and seen the forest of pillars that holds up the A9? It's one of those grand, yet brutal structures that imposes on the landscape but falls mostly unnoticed by the driving public. Overall, it was a great day out, it's just a shame the weather wasn't as good as the forecast suggested it would have been.
