Aberfeldy & District Indicator - Perth & Kinross, Scotland.
Posted by: 
creg-ny-baa
N 56° 35.761 W 003° 49.553
30V E 449287 N 6272723
Plinth with panel, in a car parking area on the A826 road south of Aberfeldy, showing the view over Upper Strathtay, northwards to the mountains beyond.
Waymark Code: WM12B5H
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/18/2020
Views: 1
This viewpoint can be found in a car parking area two miles to the south of the Perthshire town of Aberfeldy on the A826 road as it climbs up the high moorland to the south of Upper Strathtay. The view depicted is of the mountains on the north side of the valley, with the peak of Schiehallion and Farragon Hill being the most prominent.
Apart from the indication of the view, the panel's text also reads as follows:
'The landscape of Upper Strathtay is made up of four main elements :-
HAUGHLAND
The flat valley bottom and its associated river terraces where relatively fertile soils support crops of cereals, turnips, hay and silage to feed cattle and sheep in winter.
BRAES
The rocky benches and patches of hummocks which flank the valley floor, here variable soils and slopes give poorer grazing ground - a battle between bracken and scrub. The hummocks were created by rock and sand deposited by melting glaciers at the end of the Ice Age some 10,000 years ago.
GLACIALLY OVERSTEEPEND SLOPES
Rough pasture, much afforested with coniferous trees. Patches of semi-natural oak and birch woodland remain, with larger areas behind Weem, and below the Birks o'Aberfeldy where a nature trail is laid out.
OPEN PLATEAUX AND SUMMITS
Uplands with peaty soils and heather moor. On Weem Hill opposite, an outcrop of Loch Tay limestone brings sweeter soils and bands of greener vegetation at a surprisingly high altitude. Barytes - a heavy crystalline material - is quarried from the plateau between Meal Tairneachan and Farragon Hill. Barytes is used as a dense drilling mud in the North Sea oil fields.
INDICATOR - 392 metres above sea level. The plinth for this indicator is constructed with layers of different stone quarried or collected locally.
Top Course :- Schiehallion Quartzite with some Barytes.
Second Course :- Chlorine Slate.
Third Course :- Banded Mica-Schist.
Base Course :- Loch Tay Limestone.
The earth banks of General Wades Military Road, which ran from Stirling to Dalnacardoch, and was built in 1730, are visible just north of the entrance to the car park. The old road follows a more direct route to Gatehouse than the present A826.
This car park and Indicator were provided by the Rotary Club of Aberfeldy and District with the support of the Countryside Commission of Scotland, Tilhill Forestry Ltd., and Perth and Kinross District Council. It was opened in 1985.'
Unfortunately the surrounding forest has grown to obscure the view of the mountains to the north-east.