Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Road trip to Coupar Angus is anything but Dull

The beautiful Falls of Dochart. at Killin.
The beautiful Falls of Dochart. at Killin.

Taking a road trip in Scotland during a pandemic was always going to be a little different.

At the time of our jaunt to Coupar Angus in between lockdowns, restrictions had eased enough to allow travel, hotel stays and restaurant visits, so long as you provided details for contact tracing, wore face masks when required and stuck to the rules.

But, with many venues still closed, we took along picnic equipment including a wee gas stove, flasks and chairs – described by one of my kids as a “pensioners on tour kit”.

Very funny, but we loved the picnics and estimate saving around £100 with our DIY lunches during the trip.

Our destination was Coupar Angus, but keen to make the most of our trip away, we took the scenic route which included an overnight stay in Pitlochry.

Zig-zagging our way from Inverness to Coupar Angus we stopped at many wonderful locations, among them, the hamlet of Dull, simply to get a photo of ourselves at the sign for the village, which is paired with Boring in Oregon, and Bland in New South Wales in Australia.

Susan Welsh and her partner Andy visit the village of Dull.

Great to see officials with a sense of humour…

Looping around Loch Tay we stopped at several places including Fortingall Church, near Dull, which has, within its grounds, what’s thought to be the oldest living thing in Europe – an ancient yew tree.

It’s quite a thing looking at a tree, thought to be 5,000 years old, while thinking about all the world-changing events it has lived through.

Rumour has it Roman baddie Pontius Pilate was born locally, which also sent a shiver down the spine, thinking about his role in world events…

Another excellent stop was the village of Killin, which has at its heart the Falls of Dochart – stunning waterfalls you can view up close if you’re happy to scramble over rocks, or enjoy the view from the safety of a historic stone bridge.

Equally nice is the picture-postcard village of Kenmore, at the head of Loch Tay.

Then it was on to the Red House Hotel, Coupar Angus – you can’t miss it as it’s a big building dating back to Victorian times, situated on the edge of town.

The Red House Hotel, Coupar Angus.

It’s been owned by members of the Bannerman family for more than 40 years, and has been upgraded and refurbished to ensure it has plenty to keep today’s guests happy.

Every bedroom is en suite, while three rooms are suitable for the less able. It has a large function suite which makes it a popular venue for weddings, and has a surprisingly large amount of leisure facilities including a squash court, gym, snooker and pool hall, darts areas and two saunas.

The facilities and hotel’s location make it a popular choice with sportsmen and women making the most of local sporting attractions such as golf, fishing, shooting and hill walking.

We checked in and, as per the style now, made our own way to our room clutching a sealed bag containing sanitised keys.

The Red House Hotel has a range of amenities.

Inside our large room we found items such as the TV remote bagged and sanitised, while cushions and throws had been removed to reduce risk of contamination.

After enjoying a wander round the town, we found a really beautiful park about a 20-minute walk from the hotel. The beauty of Coupar Angus is that it’s a good base for visiting the Perth and Kinross area, with places like Blairgowrie within easy reach.

It was there we enjoyed a walk called Cargill’s Leap, alongside the River Ericht, which passes several old mills.

The spectacular Cargill’s Leap walk, at Blairgowrie.

The river tumbles over rocks and is surrounded by fabulous trees, which were showing off their superb seasonal colours.

Before leaving Blairgowrie we swung by The Dalmore Inn, a sister hotel to the Red House Hotel, for coffee and scones. Impressed by the stylish, on-trend venue, it’s a place we’ll revisit, stopping next time for dinner.

After a day in the countryside, we headed back to the hotel to chill out and be looked after by the friendly, super-efficient staff.

We dined in the hotel restaurant which had tables well spaced apart. Appetites whetted by fresh air, we ate well and particularly enjoyed the pork medallion, vegetable curry and yummy warm raspberry frangipani.

Food with a flourish at The Red House Hotel.

After a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed, we tucked into a nice, full Scottish breakfast, served in the hotel’s airy conservatory, overlooking colourfully planted gardens. A perfect start to a day which was spent, rather reluctantly, returning homeward.

TRAVEL FACTS
Red House Hotel
Station Rd, Coupar Angus, Blairgowrie PH13 9AL
Call: 01828 628500
Visit: www.red-house-hotel.co.uk
Visit: www.dalmoreinn.com