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The Geography of Gartmore and District
The village of
Gartmore is built on Devonian Lower Old Red Sandstone. This sandstone was formed in an
arid climate some 400 million years ago, when Scotland had a desert landscape. The
hard red desert sandstone has provided excellent building material for the village, and is a
feature of the architecture of the main street and Gartmore House. A small natural
sandstone outcrop, known locally as the Fairy Steps, can be seen at the
side of the road
leading north from the village to Aberfoyle. The use of the sandstone in drystane dyking
is an indication that large sandstone boulders are readily available. They are indeed a
considerable problem to the farmers at ploughing time!
Slate from local
quarries also features prominently in the architecture of the main street. The slates are
much older than the desert sandstone, and come from the Dalradian metamorphic rocks
of the Highlands. The Highland Boundary Fault extends south-west to north-east
through Aberfoyle and may be clearly seen from the grounds of Gartmore House. This major
geological fault marks the southern edge of the Highlands, which shelter Gartmore
from northerly Arctic winds during the winter months.
Winds from the
west and south bring depressions and frontal rain throughout the year. Gartmore has an
average annual rainfall between 60 and 80 inches. After several days of persistent rain,
flooding can become a problem on the lower ground to the south-east of the village. The
surface water from Gartmore drains to the river Forth and its tributaries the river Kelty
and the Glen Burn. These can flood the fields during the winter, as their flow is held back
by the high tide in the lower reaches of the Forth. Looking east from Gartmore on a
winter’s
day, one can often see areas of floodwater and the road to the
village from the
A81 can be impassable due to flooding. Winter gales are also a feature of the village
climate and it is not uncommon for some minor structural damage to occur.
Trees are
occasionally uprooted, blocking roads and causing damage to overhead electricity
cables. Sometimes the wind is in the east and Gartmore can experience the damp chill of an
east coast haar, as it is blown inland along the Forth valley. Such days
in winter are dreich
and can be bitterly cold, with air frost persisting all day.
 How different
Gartmore is on a glorious day in late spring! The sun can be seen rising over the Ochils
in the early morning, and the village basks in sunshine for up to sixteen hours before the
sunset lights up the foothills of Ben Lomond. The southerly aspect which
Gartmore enjoys makes it a sun-trap, although the wind is often blowing.
The lower ground
to the south and east of the village has been improved considerably with the
installation of field drains and regular applications of fertiliser and
lime. In spite of these
improvements, the soils remain heavy to work and are best suited to
pasture. About one third
of the local farmland is ploughed on a regular basis, the majority of the fields are
pasture and farmers continue to graze cattle as they have done since the
droving days of the 17th
century.
During recent
years, the number of working farms around the village has decreased. Several old farm
steadings are now isolated dwellings, the land having been bought by nearby landowners
to make their farms into larger, more economical units. All the farms around Gartinore
concentrate on livestock rearing; sheep and cattle are bred and fattened for market.
Sheep are in the
fields for most of the year and are given fodder, including turnips, during the winter
months. Ewes which lamb early are kept inside for several weeks to give them shelter
and extra nourishment. The lambing season begins in early January and continues until
the last lambs are born outside in early May. Beef and dairy
cattle spend the long dark winter months in the byre. The farmer needs to provide fodder
and bedding for up to seven months of the year. To this end intense cultivation of
fodder crops is practised, with the fields around the village being used
to grow barley,
oats, turnips and silage. The slurry that accumulates in the byre over the winter is a
valuable fertiliser. It is regularly sprayed onto the fields, with an
aroma that is easily recognised
around the village! The growing
season is short and it is often late spring before the land has drained sufficiently for
the soil to be worked. During April and May there is much activity in the fields around the
village, as the soil is ploughed and prepared for seeding. Barley, oats or turnips may be
sown in a field for two or three years, after which the field is seeded
with a productive
grass that will be cut for silage. Barley and oats mature during
September, when combine
harvesters can be seen at work in the fields collecting the grain, which will be used for
cattle fodder during the long winter ahead. The straw is baled for winter bedding. Two cuts
of grass are usually taken each summer for silage. Once the grass has been cut, it may
be left lying in the field to dry a little before being collected and
taken to the silage pit
where it is rolled and stored until required for winter fodder.
The farmers need
a spell of dry weather for successful harvesting and silage making. The summers in
Gartmore are often damp and the weather is not always suitable for cutting
crops. Late on a
summer’s
evening when darkness has fallen and rain is forecast, it is not
unusual to see a
tractor or combine harvester with powerful headlights working in the fields.
 The shallow
acidic soils of the hilly areas north and west of the village have been
planted with coniferous
trees. Many villagers enjoy exercising their dogs in the woods of Wester Cow Park, Easter
Cow Park and Sow Park. Once areas of grazing land, these are now forestry
plantations adjacent to the village and provide access to the Queen
Elizabeth Forest Park.
Waymarked rambling and cycle routes take villagers and holidaymakers many miles into
the forest, which extends north to the Trossachs and west to Loch Lomond. The
forest is very popular with visitors to the area, some seek bed and
breakfast accommodation in
Gartmore, others stay at one of the two caravan and camping sites adjacent to the
village.
As we approach
the end of the 20th century, farming and forestry provide
minimal local employment. Most
people living in Gartmore commute daily to work, many of them to Glasgow. A
minority find employment in Stirling or in villages closer to home. The
main Glasgow road, the
A81, passes within a mile of the village and is busy with day-trippers and
holidaymakers, especially at weekends. This has encouraged the expansion
of a local garden centre and
a holiday park which sells mountain bikes. Both provide some local employment, as
does the village shop which is also the post-office.
In many Gartmore
homes, one or more family members commute to work and there has been a rapid rise
in car ownership. Gartmore was built as an estate village long before cars were
invented; as a result, hardly any of the houses in the main street have a
garage or rear access.
Car parking is now a problem in the village during the evening and at weekends, when
cars are closely parked on both sides of the main street. The community has an excellent
bus service with five buses a day to Glasgow via Balfron, four to Stirling and the afternoon
postbus to Aberfoyle.
The village has a
Community Council which is a democratic body elected to discuss local issues and bring
them before the District Council. Gartmore Community Council is responsible for
an area which includes nearly 200 homes with a total population of around 400. One
third of the homes in the Community Council area are outwith the village; there
are a number of isolated dwellings and two small hamlets at Dalmary and Crinigart. The
population of Gartmore includes about 75 children and approximately the same number of
residents are retired. The movement of families in and out of the village has become a
regular feature of village life, more than half the population has moved
into the community
since 1980. |
