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Finnich Glen

Glens of ScotlandStirling (council area) geography stubsValleys of Stirling (council area)
Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen (from above)
Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen (from above)

Finnich Glen in Stirlingshire, is a short, steep glen up to 70 ft deep which runs east from Finnich Bridge on the A809. It was carved from the red sandstone by the Carnock Burn. It features a circular rock known as the Devil's Pulpit and a steep staircase known as the Devil's Steps, built around 1860. Following its use to depict the fictional St Ninian's Spring in the time-traveling romance TV series Outlander in 2014, the site has seen an explosion in tourism, with an estimated 70,000 visitors now coming to the site each year. This has caused stress on both the location itself, and to tourists and local officials, as visitors have trampled fences to access the site and then scrambled down the crumbing, broken 200-year-old stone steps used to access the bed of the gorge, damaging the site and on numerous occasions requiring mountain rescue teams to be dispatched to the gorge for rescues. There being no parking facilities, the large influx of tourists have additionally left large numbers of vehicles parked along the side of the adjacent narrow rural road, blocking access for local residents and first responders. Under a £2 million development plan, landowner David Young has proposed to develop the site as a tourist attraction, including a visitor centre and restaurant, toilets, a 150-spot parking lot, formal "footpaths, viewing platforms and bridges above the gorge, and a new wood-and-metal staircase". The plan requires approval from the local council.It also featured as a location in The Nest.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Finnich Glen (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Finnich Glen
Finnich Glen Trail,

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Wikipedia: Finnich GlenContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 56.034 ° E -4.413 °
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Finnich Glen Trail

Finnich Glen Trail
G63 9QJ
Scotland, United Kingdom
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Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen (from above)
Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen (from above)
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Killearn
Killearn

Killearn (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Fhearann, from orig. Ceann Fhearann, "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory" – until the 15th century when Ceann was replaced by Cill; denoting the presence of a house of worship) – is a small village of approximately 1700 people in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The village has its own primary school, a local Co-Op store, a pre and post school club - The Little Outdoor Classroom, and two nurseries - Mulberrybush Montessori and Heron HouseThe village is approximately 15 miles (24 kilometres) north of Glasgow, 7 miles (11 kilometres) east of Loch Lomond, and sits on the northwest flank of the Campsie Fells, most predominantly in the shadow of the volcanic plug of Dumgoyne, overlooking the confluence of the Endrick Water and Blane Water. The Glengoyne whisky distillery, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and West Highland Way long-distance walking route are situated close to the village. The residential special school of Ballikinrain is also located in Killearn Parish, and caters for boys with special needs from throughout Scotland. (The school has been earmarked for closure in July 2015). The Church of Scotland congregation at Killearn Kirk falls under the Presbytery of Stirling, within the Synod of Forth. Within the Roman Catholic Church, Killearn falls under the Parish of Saint Anthony within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh; although the Catholic community in Killearn is served by St. Anthony's Church in the neighbouring town of Balfron.