Skye of Curr

Croft Origins and the Speyside Centre

Behind the houses at Skye of Curr the fields still run in long narrow strips, set out in 1796 when Sir James Grant offered leases along what was then the main road between Grantown and Aviemore. The houses face a minor lane running south from Dulnain Bridge; the strips run back from them towards Curr Wood. The old road is gone, superseded and abandoned, but the crofting pattern is still there to read on the ground.

The centre of daily life is the Speyside Centre on Skye of Curr Road, a family-run garden centre that also runs a restaurant, a gift shop and an information point, and keeps a set of toilets. You come for hardy shrubs, alpines, trees and heathers, or for wildlife feed and feeders, and end up staying for the café: the own-recipe clootie dumpling and home baking are reported menu highlights, alongside waffles served with bacon and maple syrup or with berries and yoghurt, soup and toasties, and scones — worth checking what's on before you go. There is a viewing area for birds and red squirrels, and shelves of Speyside malts, local gins, gifts and fashion accessories. The restaurant is dog-friendly, with a couple of indoor tables you can reserve.

Village Services and Woodland Routes

For the rest, you cross the granite bridge into Dulnain Bridge, where there is a convenience shop, a Post Office and a garage. Grantown-on-Spey, about three miles by road, has the fuller range of shops, and the museum sits behind its Town House.

The Skye of Curr Trail is a mile-long forest loop on firm gravel, about forty-five minutes, with a good chance of red squirrels; the Curr Wood Trail climbs gently through pines to views towards the Braes of Abernethy and Castle Roy. The short Old Laundry Path loops down through woodland to a view across the River Dulnain to Muckrach Castle, with roe deer sometimes in the trees. If you want the whole picture, the Dulnain Bridge and Curr Woods circuit is eight and a half kilometres, two and a half to three hours, and takes you past the croft strips, the Speyside Centre, the line of the old main road and Curr Wood, with Strathspey and the Cairngorms opening up along the way. Curr Wood itself matters botanically for its twinflower and creeping lady's-tresses, and it holds red squirrels and capercaillie.

Older Stones and Getting Here

The wood has older tenants too. A burial cairn here gave up two Stone Age stone coffins, and Pictish carved stones have been found nearby. The bridge that carries you across the Dulnain is a high single-span granite arch attributed to Joseph Mitchell around 1830; its 1791 predecessor, the Bridge of Curr, was carried off in the floods of 1829. The former church in Dulnain Bridge, a plain stone building with a slate-spired bellcote, was raised in 1904 for the United Free Church and held its last service in November 2021.

Getting here means the A938 near its junction with the A95, then the minor road south. Carrbridge appears to be the nearest railway station, unstaffed and with six parking spaces, and the Stagecoach Bluebird 37 and X37 call at the Dulnain Bridge Post Office Monday to Saturday, linking Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Nethy Bridge, Grantown and Carrbridge; there is no Sunday service at the stop.

Muckrach from a Distance

Muckrach Castle, a tower house of 1598 built for Patrick Grant, stands private and is best treated as a view rather than a visit; its plaque reads "In God is al my Trest." One resident of forty-seven years described the place simply as "quiet, safe with scenic surroundings." At Muckrach the resident Highland cattle, Hamish and Dougal, keep to their field, one relaxed and one curious, both partial to digestive biscuits.