The area around Loch Ordie was planted by the 3rd Duke of Atholl after the Napoleonic Wars inspired his patriotic determination to supply timber for the nation. He thought it would take 17 years to plant up the whole area but it only took 3! He put this down to his specially modified spade and planting 2 or 3 year old seedlings, rather than the larger saplings usually planted.
In 1865, when Queen Victoria was being driven alongside the loch on her way to visit the Duchess of Atholl at Dunkeld House, her coachman got lost in a storm. The experience was such that she wrote about it in her diary.
Picture copyright Lis Burke and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.
