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WILDCAT TRAIL 5
"SPEY BANKS"
From the village square head along
the Main Street towards Kingussie till you reach the sign pointing to
the right down the minor road leading to the golf course and the River
Spey. At this junction you will find a plinth describing the Wildcat
Trail and the Highland Folk Park. If you have time to spare the Folk
Park is well worth a visit. Follow the path across the Railway bridge,
and along the burn till you reach a bridge over it. |
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| For your own
safety and the convenience of the golfers, please do not cross the golf
course fairway, but follow the signed path. Before crossing the stepping
stones to the Eilean na Cluanaich (Eilean na Cluanaich - the island of
the pasture land) look up to your right where you will see the area
where there is a reconstruction of a 17th century township, Baile Gean.
Continue along the river bank for about 1 ¼ miles (2 kilometres) to the
western end of the golf course where a sign points to the railway
station. You may continue along the trail or cross the line by a level
crossing and proceed up Station Road to the village. The river section
of the trail goes through the River Spey - Insh marshes SSSI (Site of
Special Scientific Interest). The Spey is one of the largest, least
polluted and unmodified river systems in Britain. It is a dynamic river
which during high flows carries large sediment loads from the
undercutting of the old river terraces and recycling of flood plain
deposits. Much of the river bed is mobile and the position of shingle
banks, riffles and pools constantly changes. The full length of the
river is designated a SAC (Special Area for Conservation). This is a
European designation and will reinforce the aim of ensuring that the
habitat requirements for four key species (salmon, sea lamprey, otter
and freshwater pearl mussel) are safeguarded. The river meanders across
the flat ground and has, from time to time, carved out a new bed for
itself. It occasionally eats away the sloping sand banks, causing minor
landslides, which if big enough can cause a dam that will divert the
river into a new course. Herons, sandpipers, wagtails, dippers,
mergansers and goosander can be seen on or near the river. In the
neighbouring fields oystercatchers, lapwings and ringed plovers
congregate. The river bank trees support an abundance of insect life
that evolves throughout the season and on which trout thrive. Patience
may be rewarded with a glimpse of voles, an otter or red squirrel. The
vegetation is generally sparse and weedy due to the frequent floods,
with scrub birch along the banks but there are conifer plantings on the
golf course. The Dale of Newtonmore, the flood plain on which the golf
course is situated and on which the crofters have grazing rights at
certain times of the year, has a large and rare concentration of native
orchids and other wild flowering plants.
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