Fordhead Farm overlooks the Fords of Frew on the River Forth, some 9 miles west of Stirling in Central Scotland. This region, known as the Carse of Stirling is one of the most fertile areas in Scotland.

The Carse is regarded as 'Scotlands Hay Basket' and at Fordhead, one of the main crops is Timothy Hay, a high quality variety that is particularly suited to the area. Grain crops in the form of Wheat, Barley and Oats are grown here with yields of up to 4 tons per acre in an exceptional year. Cattle and Sheep thrive on the lush pastures and Fordhead has its own small Aberdeen Angus Herd.

Fordhead offers two self-catering cottages for superb holidays in the midst of the finest scenery in Scotland.

This page gives a brief history of the Fordhead area and the activities of its inhabitants.

Arial view
of
Flanders Moss

Fordhead is located on the eastern margins of the Flanders Moss. This large expanse of ancient bog is all that remains of the huge marshlands that covered the Forth Valley in former times.

'Raised Bogs' like Flanders Moss - so called because they grow above the surrounding landscape - form immense domes of peat, with a living skin of plants. These domes began to form in the valley after the sea levels dropped.

'Sphagnum' mosses power the upward growth of a raised bog, slowly adding layer upon layer and forming the bulk of the plant material in the peat. Several sphagnum species grow on Flanders Moss, creating a colourful patchwork of emerald, amber, tawny and claret.

Amazingly, water can form up to 98% of the bog! The mosses soak up water like a sponge and grow upwards from their tips, leaving the lower, shaded parts to die. Gradually, this material forms peat, adding less than a needle-width 1mm per year to the bog height. Over the thousands of years, this tiny growth has resulted in peat that is piled over 7m in depth on Flanders.

Raised bogs form when they no longer rely on incoming groundwater and are fed purely by rainwater. Flanders Moss reached that lofty position thousands of years ago and its rare size and quality have led it to being nominated as one of the European Union's 'Special Areas of Conservation'

Ancient remains of Broch's, a Bronze Age bucket (right), swords and Britains oldest wheel show that this part of the Forth Valley has been used by people for thousands of years.

The boglands were a treacherous natural barrier that thwarted the efforts of many invasions from north or south. When the Romans arrived in Scotland, they swiftly moved up the eastern side of the valley through Stirling, but, like many armies before them, were halted by the great bog to the west.

Local inhabitants and defenders from the northern side of the valley knew the bog-lands well. They harried and attacked the Romans from the relative safety of the marshes and the wooded areas. The Roman response to this annoyance is seen in the thousands of preserved oak and birch trees - all found in a layer that corresponds to Roman times. The tree trunks show clear signs of axe blows and their associated stumps are nearby. By felling the trees, all the cover was gone and advance warning of any attack was possible.

As an irony to their solution, the water that was drawn up by all those trees was now available to enhance the raised bog.

'Frew' is the name of the area to the west, north and east of Fordhead. Many of the farms in the area bear the legacy of this old name as seen in Wester Frew, North-mid-Frew, Easter Frew and Bridge of Frew. In other words, their geographical relationship to the area is in their name. Similarly, Fordhead is situated at the Head of this Ford.

The Fords of Frew are mentioned in a number of historical documents and events. Their importance as a crossing place over the Forth is easy to understand when you consider that, at the time, there was no other place until you reached Stirling. This fact made Stirling an obvious place to settle and fortify as it also has good access to the east via the river.

Over the years, various fortifications were constructed to protect the Fords, although long gone, their existance lives on in the form of place names to this day.

The actual Fords constitute a mile long stretch of the river to the east of the present day bridge. The old Drover Road that leads through the Ford is marked by a mile stone on the southern bank of the river. (Photo to follow soon). The stone informs the traveller of the distance to Burnfoot - 6 miles south, high in the hills. The Boquhan Burn joins the Forth just west of the Ford. The normal sandy/muddy bottom is replaced by smooth stones and gravel from this point on. It seems highly probable that stones and gravel from the burn (washed downstream during periods of flood) is responsible for the riverbed at this section. During the summer months - especially during a long dry period, it is possible to make your way across the river (with a pair of ordinary wellington boots) at this spot.

Outwith the summer months, the water level is never low enough to repeat this easy crossing. In fact, the speed of the river at the Fords is somewhat intimidating (as well as a lot colder). Suffice to say, if the Fords were used on a regular basis throughout the year, our forefathers were made of stronger stuff than their decendants of today.

It cant be stressed enough how treacherous the bog lands were for travellers, (and in fact, they still are today).

This photograph shows the top surface of the moss and the abundance of water. Considering its height above the surrounding land, the amazing ability of the bog to retain water should be apparent.

This high water content makes travel on unfamiliar moss a very dangerous practice indeed. Solid-looking ground could well be a layer of moss over a spongy pit of rotting vegetation and could be several metres deep - a death trap for a fully clothed or armoured man.

Drovers knew of safe routes through the moss and used them to drive their cattle to market in Stirling and Falkirk. Knowledge of these routes was passed down from generation to generation. Today, many of the main Drove Roads still survive as paths and tracks (where they have not been incorporated in tarred roads), and are popular with walkers and hikers.

One expert in the lore of the region was the famous Rob Roy MacGregor. Tales abound of his exploits in and around the small parishes that fringed the moss.

Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Rob Roy' has many references to the activities of Rob Roy and the MacGregors in the Fordhead area.

The following account is just one of many events that revolved around the theft of cattle.

Rob Roy and his men had devised a plan to seize a herd of valuable cattle that were being driven from Menteith to Stirling. Their ambush would take place at Buchlyvie, (5 miles from present day Fordhead). Unfortunately, the locals from Buchlyvie thought they were the target of the imminent raid and quickly summoned help from the neighbouring village of Kippen. As the herd approached Buchlyvie, Rob Roy and his men swooped down from Kippen Muir - to find a hostile reception from the men of Buchlyvie and Kippen. After a bloody fight, the MacGregors were victorious and whisked the cattle away via the Fords.

Later, after assessing the cost of the raid in dead and wounded, Rob Roy returned to wreak a swift and violent revenge on his opponents, emptying every byre in Kippen for good measure and driving their cattle north beyond their reach.

This photograph shows the statue of Rob Roy in Stirling. What is most striking about the figure is the length of the arms. This was no mistake on the part of the sculptor as Rob Roy was reputed to have arms so long that from a standing position, he could tie the garters at the top of his socks without bending his back!

Whether this feature is accurate or not, he certainly did inspire awe - and in some cases dread - among the populations of the western end of the great moss.

There have been marked changes to the Fordhead area over the last century.

In the late 1800's, there was a thriving Tile Works at Kippen Station.

The clay from the carse was perfect for making all manner of bricks. They also made tiles for use in roofing and drainage.

The Tile Works closed in 1895. The actual site was on an area of land on the north side of the station. This area is largely untouched to this day and may well have remnants of the tileworks under the thick covering of vegetation.

A more dramatic sign of its existance is in the large field that runs from the Station to the Forth. This field (a part of Fordhead) is where the clay was dug out, and as a consequence is at least a metre lower than the surrounding area at the station end.

At the height of its day, the railway provided a vital link for farmers to move their produce to Stirling and beyond. It also allowed the transport of freight and was used to deliver fertiliser to Kippen Station where the local farmers could pick it up by horse and cart.

The trains also catered for passengers and a horse-drawn bus transferred passengers up and down the hill (known as the Station Brae) from Kippen Village to the Station.

This is a photograph of Kippen Station around 1920.

With the onset of WW2, the role of the trains changed to the movement of freight and munitions. A special siding was built into the near-by electricity sub-station building to protect any trains and their cargo from air attack. The building was reinforced with massive amounts of concrete and over the years, the extra weight has actually pressed the whole structure into the clay by a considerable amount.

The Stirling-Glasgow track cut an almost straight line from Stirling to Kippen and beyond.

Many roads ran across the line throughout its length.
Although the line was built on a solid base that was usually elevated above the surrounding area, it was often too low to bridge the carse roads. The choice was either to raise the track (and bridge the road) or use a level-crossing. Rivers also posed problems and the only course of action was to raise the line and bridge them.

Where crossings were used, they were controlled by a Gatekeeper. It was his job to man the gates, day and night, giving the right of way to the trains when they were due. Small two-roomed Gatehouses were built at each of the crossings for the Gatekeeper and his family. The picture shows the Gatehouse only half a mile from Fordhead (now a ruin).

Many Gatehouses (most of them modernised) can be seen from the A811 as the railway ran parallel to most of the road.

The increase in road traffic also affected the rural road systems - especially the bridges.

This is the old 'Bridge of Frew', a graceful three-arched structure built with local red sandstone from a quarry near Kippen. It was completed in 1783. Perfect for horse-drawn traffic, the bridge was wide enough to allow easy passage for a fully loaded horse and cart.

In the early 1960's, the bridge was replaced by the present day one which is wide enough to allow two-way traffic and strong enough to support the increased weight of haulage vehicles. All that remains of the old bridge are the approach roads on either side that terminate where the bridge stonework started.

The photograph was taken downstream of the bridge looking west, very close to where the Boquhan Burn joins the Forth at the Ford.