Inspirational Places to Spend New Year’s Day

The Kelpies at the Helix, Falkirk

The Kelpies in early morning mist

There’s something special about being outdoors when everyone else is inside. To do something quiet when all else is noise. Ask a runner what it’s like to pound the pavements before dawn on Christmas Day – their eyes will go misty and they’ll use adjectives like ‘magical’. The same goes for New Year’s Day. When everyone else is at home, eating too much steak pie and highlighting the last remaining pages of the Radio Times, why not head outdoors for fresh air and silence? It takes little more than a thermos and a sandwich to have a New Year’s Day with a difference. Here are four inspirational places to start 2015. Enjoy!

The Kelpies, The Helix, Falkirk: These two 30-metre high structures are the largest equine sculptures in the world, and they’re stunning. When you first lay eyes on them as you approach on the M9, or by boat on the Forth Clyde Canal, you will catch your breath momentarily. And they are the perfect place to spend New Year’s Day. The Kelpies are a beautiful tribute to Scotland’s industrial past: a past that was fuelled by the power of water, and of horses just like them. But more than that, the Kelpies also celebrate Scotland’s departure from that past, its promising future, and our new appreciation of nature, beauty, and sustainable industry. If you want a focal point to contemplate past and the future, you’ll be hard pushed to beat the Kelpies. Go as early as you can, as the mist rises, ghostlike, from the canal waters in the first morning sun. For more information:  http://www.thehelix.co.uk/things-to-do/the-kelpies/

The Wallace Monument

The Wallace Monument, Stirling, a historic landmark to see in the New Year

The Wallace Monument, Stirling: If there is one place in Scotland that crystallises what it is to be Scottish, it is, perhaps, the Wallace Monument in Stirling. Built upon the outlook where William Wallace and his small army lay the night before their unlikely victory at Stirling Bridge in 1297, the Monument gives an unparalleled view across the snaking River Forth to Stirling Castle and beyond. You needn’t enter the monument itself to get a spectacular vista, and indeed, the Monument is closed on 1 January anyway. Just park in the car park, follow the winding road up to the foot of the monument and look out. Breathe in the history – there are few more historically important views than this in the world. And its great exercise getting up there too.

The Birnam Oak, Birnam: Those who love literature might want to connect with the New Year and our literary history with a visit to the Birnam Oak, just outside Dunkeld. The 300 year old Birnam Oak and its neighbour the Birnam Sycamore are thought to be the sole surviving trees of a once great forest, celebrated in Shakespeare’s Macbeth as the famous Birnam Wood. The prophecy of Shakespeare’s three witches has origins in history: the branches of trees from great Birnam Wood were used nearly 1,000 years ago to camouflage armies advancing against Macbeth (See: http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Duncan-MacBeth/ for background!) . It is believed that Shakespeare got inspiration for this section of `The Scottish Play` during a visit to Perth, Birnam and Aberdeen in 1599 as one of a troupe of comedians. Visit these trees as part of the Birnam Walk.

The Falls from the Hermitage, or Ossian's Hall

The Falls from the Hermitage

The Falls of Braan, Dunkeld: Despite being one of Perthshire’s most popular beauty spots, the Falls of Braan, seen from Ossian’s Hall, also referred to as The Hermitage, is unlikely to be crowded on New Year’s Day. This Georgian Folly was built by the Duke of Atholl to face one of the most spectacular waterfalls on the River Braan. The balcony viewing area fills the senses with the sight and sound of the crashing water below, true to its origins in the Romantic era, when appreciation of rugged nature was first in vogue. While this spot is the ideal place to watch salmon leap in autumn, it’s an unbeatable place to contemplate the year ahead on 1 January too. Wear strong waterproof shoes after rains, as the path up to Ossian’s Hall can get muddy in bad weather. Happy New Year! Photo credits: