Stronachlachar, Loch Katrine, Stirlingshire within the stunning Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Sitting in a peaceful and secluded setting, Stronachlachar enjoys breathtaking views of Loch Katrine and the surrounding hills. The local area is renowned for its dramatic scenery and there are numerous beautiful walks in the area.

Stronachlachar Pier is the location for the SS Walter Scott steam ship that arrives every day during summer season.

Next to the pier you will find The Pier Tearoom which serves fresh food and drinks during the summer.

Factors Island, where Rob Roy imprisoned the Dukes factor because the rents were too high.

There are several self catering properties here most with water frontage onto Loch Katrine, these include The Old Smiddy Cottage. and Lochside House .

Kinlochard (about 7 miles) has a local Sailing Club and Hotel with Sports and Leisure facilities. Inversnaid (about 4 miles) is part of the West Highland Way a world renowned walk and has a highly regarded Hotel. Aberfoyle (about 12 miles) often described as the Gateway To The Trossachs has several Hotels and restaurants as well as The Wollen Mill Visitor centre and the Tourist Information Office. Callander (about 22 miles) is a place to visit via the Trossachs pass.

The historic county of Stirlingshire offers an enormous range of cultural and leisure opportunities. The local area is rich in Scottish history with the adventures of Rob Roy taking place in the surrounding Trossachs hills. There are some excellent golf courses at Aberfoyle, Callander and Stirling whilst the world famous courses at Loch Lomond, Gleneagles and St Andrews are all easily accessible. Loch Katrine is situated in the scenic Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park offering world famous scenery with a plethora of recreational and leisure opportunities including a wide range of water sports. The surrounding hills are also extremely popular with hill walkers and climbers and the County also offers excellent opportunities for cycling, sailing, pony trekking, shooting and game fishing.

Royal Cottage is a local attraction, situated in landscaped gardens in an isolated position on the southern shores of Loch Katrine. The property was built in around 1857 by the former Glasgow Water Works Corporation to accommodate Queen Victoria when she came to officially open the Loch Katrine Water Scheme in 1859. It had originally been planned that she would be accommodated in mobile accommodation but she demanded that a house be built for her use. It is believed that during the event, a 21 gun salute marking the occasion shattered the house windows and the Queen was only able to use the Cottage to shelter from the weather. In the more recent past, the property was used by Glasgow councillors as holiday accommodation. The property is constructed of attractive stone under a series of pitched slate roofs. Originally constructed as a single house, the property was latterly sub-divided into three separate dwellings.

The Trossachs have some of the most scenic beauty spots in Scotland and have been made famous by the stories of Rob Roy. Many of our properties at Loch Katrine overlook the Factors Island that Rob Roy used to imprison the Dukes factor.

The cottages are just a few miles from Loch Lomond and the famous West Highland Way which is a must for all keen walkers. You will be able to walk part of the West Highland Way and also visit the caves where Rob Roy hid.

Loch Katrine has become well known because of Walter Scotts Lady of the Loch. The Steam boat bearing his name conitues to sail the loch.

One interpretation of the Gaelic name Glasgow is 'the settlement near pure water'. Yet by the middle of the 19th century, because of its contaminated water, Glasgow had one of the worst health problems of any major town or city in the whole of Europe; Cholera and Typhoid were endemic. In 1855 the City Fathers went to Westminster and procured an Act of Parliament allowing them to take a water supply from the distant Highlands. Work began in the Spring of 1856 and forty months later a magnifi cently engineered system of aquaducts and pipelines brought fresh water 26 miles, from Loch Katrine, the so-called 'inland sea' in the picturesque heart of the Trossachs. The fi rst impact that the new water supply had on the city was quite dramatic. The sale of soap fell by 97%, a saving of some £300,000 on the annual shopping bill! It also attracted massive inward investment into the area. Industry fl ooded in, stimulated by the guaranteed constant supply of pure, soft water. By the 1890’s a second pipeline had to be constructed in order to meet the everincreasing demand which eventually peaked at 100 million gallons (500 million litres) every working day. Houses were built and a large community of Water Board workers became established on the Loch side – self contained in every aspect of daily life. There was even a dairy herd to supply fresh milk, along with butter and cheese. The Education Act of 1844 brought formal education to the local children – primary at Inversnaid and secondary at Callander. In 1895 a fi ne Presbyterian church was built to provide a place of worship. The Kirk was served by a succession of resident missionaries – an outreach from the Buchanan church at the south end of Loch Lomond, the massif of Ben Lomond dividing the parish neatly in half. By 1953, the minister, now the proud owner of a motorcar, began to make the long drive through four parishes other than his own, to conduct fortnightly services at the distant Inversnaid. Yet another Act of Parliament passed in 1919 gave Glasgow control of all the ground within their water catchment area – some 29,000 acres (11620 hectares). The compulsory acquisition of all the farms was completed by 1954, the same year that the steamer, Sir Walter Scott, was taken over by the water authority. The settlements of Stronachlachar, Royal Cottage and the outfl ow sluices at the east end of Loch Katrine were surrounded by well mown grass, neatly trimmed bushes and freshly painted railings. The well trimmed roadside verges passed neat farmsteadings with their carefully tended gardens. This area, one of the most beautiful in the Western Highlands, was long ago identifi ed as an ideal site for Scotland’s First National Park.

Looking for walks and walking route around Loch Lomond and Trossachs? www.walkhighlands.co.uk

The Lady of the Lake, published in 1810, marked the peak of Scott's poetic career and broke all records for the sale of poetry. Scott had intended to create a masterpiece that relied upon the strength of its characters rather than the romantic lure of Trossachs scenery and fast-paced action, but nonetheless Lady of the Lake put Loch Katrine firmly on the 19th Century tourist map.

Seven years later, Rob Roy burst onto the literary scene. The tale of Jacobite rebellion was based on the real life folk hero, Robert MacGregor, born at the head of Loch Katrine. Rob Roy Macgregor was a Jacobite soldier, turned cattle farmer, turned cattle rustler and eventual outlaw - a latter-day Robin Hood figure who first achieved fame thanks to Daniel Defoe's account of his life in Highland Rogue. Scott's work, Rob Roy, was an instant literary and commercial success, and created another upsurge in tourism in the Trossachs.

The S.S. Sir Walter Scott still sails on Loch Katrine as an enduring monument to the great writer.

The Legend of Loch Katrine

Many thousands of years ago, Loch Katrine was actually a dry but fertile valley - the home of farmers, villagers and black-faced sheep.

At the top of Mountain Ben Venue was a magical fountain which was guarded by certain villagers. The villagers selected a young girl, Katrine, to 'Keep the Watch' over the special waters which kept the valley below so green and lush.

One day, an evil water demon saw Katrine and fell instantly in love with her. She rejected his romantic advances and the water demon's love immediately turned to hatred.

Later that evening, a young and handsome Highlander approached Katrine as she kept watch at the fountain and offered her some mountain berries. Katrine saw no reason to fear the Highlander and eagerly accepted the berries. However, the Highlander was none other than the water demon in disguise; the berries were poisoned and Katrine fell into a deep enchanted sleep.

While she lay sleeping, the water demon cut holes in the side of the fountain and the pristine waters quickly overflowed and flooded the valley, killing the villagers in their beds.

As soon as she awoke, Katrine realised what must have happened and became overcome with guilt and grief. Unable to live with what she had done, Katrine plunged into the deep waters of the loch and drowned.

It is believed that Katrine's spirit lives on, continuing to 'Keep the Watch' over the loch.

WHATS ON LOCALLY

SEE www.trossachs.co.uk

July

Loch Lomond Shores Farmers Market Loch Lomond Shores, Balloch - Every Other Sunday 10am - 4pm

Tolbooth Stirling - Various events, click link to view website

Albert Halls Stirling - Various events throughout the year, click on link to view

The Lade Inn Kilmahog, Callander, FK17 8HD - Live Music on Fri & Sat from 8.30

An Afternoon's Highland History Tour Ledard Farm, near Kinlochard - Every Tuesday 2.30pm to 5pm

Winnock Hotel Ceilidh Drymen - Sunday night Ceilidhs - Open to All - April to Sept 2009

Hoolie Night in Balloch Desires Night Club in Balloch - Different guest band each month. Tel 01389 753305 for more info.

Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon Loch Tay, Saturday 11th July 2009 - Tel 01567 820409 for more info or email info@wildfoxevents.com

Loch Lomond Highland Games Balloch Castle and Country Park, Loch Lomond, Saturday 18th July 2009

Heelster Gowdie (Local Folk Band) David Marshall Lodge Aberfoyle, Sunday 19th April 2009 - Free Concert (Donations Welcome) - 2.30pm

Rob Roy Highland Games near Aberfoyle, Sunday 19th July 2009 to Sunday 19th July 2009 - fun afternoon for all the family.Traditional Highland Heavy Events, Shuttle bus from Aberfoyle. Evening family ceilidh.

Rob Roy Highland Games Kinlochard, near Aberfoyle, Sunday 19th July 2009 to Sunday 19th July 2009 - fun afternoon for all the family.Traditional Highland Heavy Events, Shuttle bus from Aberfoyle. Evening family ceilidh.

Inveraray Highland Games Castle Grounds, Inveraray, Tuesday 21st July 2009 - Running, Cycling, Heavy Weights, Solo Piping, Wrestling, Light Field, Highland Dance

Lomond Folk Festival Balloch, Friday 24th July 2009 to Sunday 26th July 2009 - 10th Anniversary

Balquhidder, Lochearnhead & Strathyre Highland Games Lochearnhead, Saturday 25th July 2009 - Running, Solo Piping, Light Field, Highland Dance

Callander World Highland Games Ben Leidi Park, Callander, Saturday 25th July 2009 to Sunday 26th July 2009 - A great day out for all the family

Luss Highland Games Luss Village, Luss, Sunday 26th July 2009 - Situated on the Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond

August

Loch Lomond Shores Farmers Market Loch Lomond Shores, Balloch - Every Other Sunday 10am - 4pm

An Afternoon's Highland History Tour Ledard Farm, near Kinlochard - Every Tuesday 2.30pm to 5pm

The Lade Inn Kilmahog, Callander, FK17 8HD - Live Music on Fri & Sat from 8.30

Albert Halls Stirling - Various events throughout the year, click on link to view

Tolbooth Stirling - Various events, click link to view website

Winnock Hotel Ceilidh Drymen - Sunday night Ceilidhs - Open to All - April to Sept 2009

Hoolie Night in Balloch Desires Night Club in Balloch - Different guest band each month. Tel 01389 753305 for more info.

WakeScot info@wakescot.com, Saturday 1st August 2009 - Scotlands leading wakeboarding event. All level of rider. All day BBQ, promotional giveaways and great wakeboarding

Edinburgh Military Tattoo Edinburgh Castle, Friday 7th August 2009 to Monday 29th June 2009 - Includes highlights such as Massed Pipes & Drums, the Massed Bands of the RAF and the Lone Piper

Atholl & Breadalbane Highland Gathering Atholl & Breadalbane, Saturday 8th August 2009

Perth Highland Games South Inch, Perth, Sunday 9th August 2009 - Heavy Weights, Solo Piping, Light Field, Highland Dance

Piping Live, Glasgow George Square, Monday 10th August 2009 to Tuesday 16th June 2009 - Hear the best piping music from around the world. A piping spectacular. Part of Homecoming event

Edinburgh International Festival Edinburgh, Friday 14th August 2009 to Sunday 6th September 2009 - The famous Edinburgh International Festival

World Pipe Band Championships Glasgow Green, Saturday 15th August 2009 to Saturday 15th August 2009 - Glasgow immerses itself in true Scottish Culture with pipe bands from all over the world fiercely competeing for that exclusive title

Heelster Gowdie (Local Folk Band) David Marshall Lodge Aberfoyle, Sunday 19th April 2009 - Free Concert (Donations Welcome) - 2.30pm

Laddie of the lake

The Sunday Herald, Jan 23, 2000 by Anna Burnside

After his last Bond movie, Robbie Coltrane hot-footed it home to make a documentary about Loch Katrine. Now nearing 50, he's making waves with some projects of his own

SHARING a sofa with Robbie Coltrane, there is no escape from his physical size. He is big. Mountainous. The bulk of the bit between his substantial head and the feet which, despite steel toe-capped Dr Marten's shoes, look incongruously small compared the rest of him, is unavoidable. He is wearing a chocolate brown moleskin suit, a dark shirt and tartan clip-on braces, one of which has come adrift. The sofa is in a tiny voice-over and editing studio where Coltrane, producer and friend Hamish Barbour and others are adding the final tweaks to their BBC Scotland documentary, The Lady of the Lake. The patter is awesome, the range of voices and mini-monologues of Rory Bremner quality.

Yet despite this unmissable physical presence, Coltrane does not feel like a big star. The people around do defer to him, discreetly, and laugh enthusiastically when he leaves the room and returns holding a bicycle bell. "Look," he says, tringing back and forward. "The props department." A cup of coffee appears, with solicitous questions about milk and sugar. Even so. This guy has been in two Bond movies.

His role in The Lady of the Lake does little to increase the stardust. Made for the Ex:S strand, it is a tenuously linked look at how Walter Scott's beloved Loch Katrine became Glasgow's main reservoir, and the pleasure steamer that puffed up and down her length in the summer. Educational, informative and, for those who are not hugely bothered about engines and aqueducts, enjoyable mainly due to Coltrane's intervention, it is hardly something to mention over lunch at Spago. Yet on the small screen he looks very comfortable discussing the pre-plumbing arrangements for the disposal of Glasgow's "night soil" with a learned professor, and even more at home in a navy boiler suit, fiddling around with a stank in Kelvingrove Park.

So perhaps this is the real advantage of being a star, being able to help a friend and say yes to a small-scale documentary shot on location in Stronachlachar and the reservoir in Milngavie. Coltrane, who by now is sitting behind a desk and fiddling with some paper clips, concurs.

"You don't have to twist my arm very far to do anything about steam ships. I used to go up to Loch Katrine with my dad when I was wee and funnily enough, by sheer coincidence ..." he switches seamlessly into one of his many other voices, "... by sheer coincidence I went for a walk there with my wife and Spencer when he was quite wee and they were taking the engine apart that day. It was the off season, this time of year, and they said come down and have a look and it was absolutely manky - it was filthy the engine room, a disgrace actually - but now you could eat your tea off the engine.

"So it was just something I wanted to do and it's near to home and it is very interesting, even if you're not interested in water supplies. And I must confess that water supplies have never been an obsession of mine."

He then explains the medical context, when cholera was rife and a wee man with a truck came round the streets and bought household waste for, Coltrane speculates, "a farthing a jobbie". He recalls that there was an outbreak of the plague in Glasgow in the early 1900s and marvels that "once you've got a healthy water supply and a good sanitation supply, 90% of contagious municipal diseases just disappear."

"The irony was," he continues without prompting, pulling the paperclips out of their container, "we started this, then I went off to do the junket for the Bond in LA." He assumes the appropriate nasal accent. "So Mister Coal Train, what is your next project? And," - he switches into Tony Roper Glesca-speak - "I'm going, I'm making a documentary about the Glasgow water supply." Back to his normal, almost gentle educated Scottish voice: "Whereupon they all went, who else is in this, and I'm going just me, me and a lot of water and engines and things. And they're all going uh huh ..."

At which point I suspect that a bemused 22-year-old from the Des Moines Bugle sent to cover the launch of The World Is Not Enough as a special treat had to sit through a colourful and variously-accented lecture on the golden age of Scottish engineering.

This passion for all things mechanical is anything but an act. Coltrane has already had a good look at my new chrome micro-cassette recorder, dismissed it on the grounds that it also picks up the hum of its own motor, advised the urgent acquisition of a minidisc and then warned me that although the little player itself is a thing of design excellence it needs many additional leads plus a powered microphone pack which will cost #25.

And he can't leave the paperclips, which pop out of their dish in an admittedly appealing way, alone. "It's brilliant." He beckons me over with an authoritative gesture. "See, that's what it does. That's a magnet," he gestures to the lid of the holder, "and this is pulled up." A paperclip emerges obligingly. "This has become magnetised, and pulls up the next one. Brilliant."

Scotlands Homecoming events - see link below

www.homecomingscotland2009.com

Come and VISIT LOCH LOMOND

Come and see the caves thay hid Rob Roy. See the Factors Island used by Rob Roy..

Walk part of The West Highland Way

There's a passenger ferry service across the loch between Inverbeg and Rowardennan, Tel. 01360-870273, 3 times daily (Apr-Sep). There are also ferries between Inveruglas and Inversnaid, Tel. 01877-386223. Ardleish to Ardlui ferry (Apr-Oct) summon from shore by raising ball up signal mast (0900-1900). Out of season by arrangement with Ardlui Hotel (Tel. 01301-704243).

For all your self catering holiday cottages and houses in the Loch lomond and Trossachs Park, Scotland. Great places for walking such as the West Highland Way. Hire a bike Cycling at Loch Katrine. Visit the tourist attractions of Aberfoyle and Callander. Sailing on the Sir Walter Scott or at Kinlochard Sailing Club. Try quad biking at Kinlochard or Go Ape at the David Marshall Lodge. Visit Loch Lomond at the Inversnaid Hotel just minutes away where you will find Rob Roys cave. Climb some of the local attractions like Ben Lomond Ben Venue Ben ann. Sail on the lasy of the Lake at Loch Katrine Enjoy Tea and Scones at the Pier Tea room Stronachlachar.

Welcome to VISIT LOCH KATRINE

Laddie of the lake

The Sunday Herald, Jan 23, 2000 by Anna Burnside