Clova

The Hotel at the Heart of Clova

Milton of Clova is a scatter of buildings beside the River South Esk, in the broad floor of Glen Clova beneath steep corries. Glen Clova Hotel opened as the Ogilvy Arms in 1850 and remains a walkers' base. Its Climber's Bar has a log-fired stove and welcomes people returning from the hills. For supplies, stop in Kirriemuir or Forfar, the nearest towns, about half an hour away by road.

The Batchelor family bought the hotel in July 1922. It now belongs to Mrs Batchelor's great-grandson, Hugh Niven, and his family. There are three dining spaces under one roof: the walkers' bar, the Glen Logie main dining room and the informal Brandy Bothy. The kitchen uses local ingredients and changes its menus regularly; past menus have included Cullen skink, pheasant pakora, venison chilli, coronation pheasant and loaded home-grown chips.

Ales, Dogs and Mountain Walks

The house ale is Clova Ale, served alongside beers from Burnside Brewery. Two handpumps carry changing ales, usually from Scottish breweries. Dogs are welcome in the bar and bothy, and water is provided for them in the bar. Outside, the garden has plenty of tables, some beneath a heated marquee.

Many visitors come to walk. Loch Brandy lies at the end of a steep 5.5-kilometre return route starting beside the hotel. Farther up the glen, Glen Doll car park is the start of the 6.9-kilometre Corrie Fee Trail to a viewpoint over a glacial amphitheatre. The reserve has moraines, a waterfall and one of Scotland's largest natural areas of montane willow scrub. Golden eagles and peregrines may be seen overhead, and arctic-alpine plants grow on the crags. Fitter walkers can take a separate 14.5-kilometre circuit from the car park over Mayar and Driesh, two Munros, with navigation and hill equipment needed. The car park has accessible picnic tables, a fully accessible toilet available around the clock, and displays about the area.

Kirk, Castle and Jacobite History

The little Clova Parish Kirk was built in 1855 on the site of an earlier church, four bays of Aberdeen-bonded granite with red-sandstone dressings, a birdcage bellcote and lattice glazing. The community bought it in 2006 and still uses it for services and weddings. The churchyard is mostly nineteenth-century stones, with a few weathered eighteenth-century ones among them.

The glen carries more history than its size suggests. A turf-covered mound near the village is Clova Castle, a late-medieval ruin with about three metres of its circular stair tower still standing. In the glen, a Late Bronze Age hoard of two spearheads and a sword was found in a rabbit burrow, partly by a man from Tarriebuckle and partly by children who followed up his find. On 21 April 1746, five days after Culloden, Lord Ogilvy's Jacobite regiment was disbanded at Clova.

Jock’s Road and the Access Dispute

The historic drove route of Jock's Road linked the glen with Deeside. In the 1880s it became the focus of an important Scottish dispute over the right to walk. Walter Arthur Smith spent a night at the inn during the 1885 expedition to plant guideposts on the disputed line. He wrote of leaving in the morning: "The beautiful green hills of Glen Clova, which were covered with mist in the early morning, are becoming clear."

The Road into the Glen

The B955 leads up from Kirriemuir, mostly wide enough for two cars to pass slowly and with passing places where needed; watch for wildlife crossing. Dundee station is about thirty-five miles and an hour's drive from Clova. By the time you reach the walkers' bar, the drive feels like part of the day's outing.