Glen Sannox is one of Arran’s breathtaking glens that leads you deep into the Arran mountains. The valley is surrounded by steep slopes, with the Sannox Burn and its fresh mountain water meandering beside you until to reach the top of the glen.
I remember my first time walking here in July 2015 and loved every step with my now husband. We stopped at the top of the glen but never tried going further up to The Saddle as it looked like a steep scramble. Even though we were younger and fitter back then, we still wouldn’t hike a challenging route we didn’t research in advance.
Jump forward in time nine years later I was aching to return and walk in Glen Sannox, this time going further up to The Saddle, then down Glen Rosa to Brodick. When I mentioned this to Alan, I’m not sure what he thought as we don’t go walking together at home very often now. I blurt out ideas from nowhere of what we can do when we visit Arran, and recently I’ve become more adventurous in my mind. 😂
It was June 2024 and we were staying at the lovely Garden Cottage in Sannox. It was the perfect base in the village of Sannox where the Glen Sannox walk and hike begins.
I say ‘walk and hike’ as the first part is more of an easier walk, with the ascent to The Saddle a steep scrambly hike. Wednesday was looking like the favourable day according to the Met Office weather forecast.
I suggested we could wander up the glen the day before though, only to the stepping stones to practise with our new drone, take photos and video. It would save us time on Wednesday morning, meaning I wouldn’t stop as much to capture every moment.
We set off from the cottage on Tuesday afternoon around 2pm for an easy wander up the glen. The walk is well signposted and begins in Sannox, across the road from the car park beside the bus stop.
The Glen Sannox information board is interesting to read, and mentions the 19th century mineworks in the glen, flora and wildlife to look out for such as birds, red deer, sheep and adders.
These are two quotes from the information sign:
From its ancient granite peaks to the burn that tumbles across the valley floor, the beautiful and distinctive landscape of Glen Sannox is a long-celebrated setting for walkers and a peaceful habitat for wildlife.
This area was shaped by immense glacial activity 8,000 years ago – a succession of deep ice sheets gouging out the glens, carving mountainous ridges, tearing up and depositing softer rock in their slow progression southward, where they were to scour the plains flat.
Sannox Old Churchyard
Our first stop was the Sannox Old Churchyard where a medieval chapel once stood, named Saint Michael’s Chapel. There are no remains of the chapel left now. Isn’t it a beautiful place to rest with views towards Glen Sannox.
There’s also a newer cemetery on the other side of the wall.
I walked over to the resting place of Edwin Robert Rose who was tragically murdered in July 1889 at the age of 32. The boulder headstone was scattered with tokens such as pebbles, coins, seashells and an artificial flower which I had never saw on earlier visits.
The Goat Fell murder was known as one of the most notorious crimes of the Victorian era. In summary, Edwin was an Englishman from London visiting the Isle of Bute where he met Scotsman John Watson Laurie (who introduced himself as John Annandale). As strangers they also visited the Isle of Arran and hiked up Goat Fell together on 15 July 1889. Only John came back down from the mountain, leaving the island the following day and robbing Edwin of his belongings.
Edwin’s body was found three weeks later hidden below a large boulder in Coire nam Fuaran on the south side of Glen Sannox. John Laurie was on the run for a while but was finally caught and found guilty of murder by the jury. His first sentence was death by hanging but then it changed to life imprisonment. He always maintained his innocence and said he robbed Edwin but didn’t murder him.
It’s a sad tragic story and even to this day stories online say they are still unsure John Laurie was guilty of murder. I’ll link more information at the end if you’re interested in knowing more.
Walking to the Glen Sannox stepping stones
We continued our walk towards the glen which was looking pretty amazing and peaceful.
As I was walking along the path I stopped in my tracks. A lonely tree on my right caught my eye, which I don’t remember noticing on earlier visits.
Maybe it was the background of the blue sky and the clouds playing an ‘imitation’ game, looking similar to the shape of the tree’s branches and leaves. It felt like an unreal moment that could never have been planned, but it was totally real!
The narrow trodden path was inviting me to get closer, so off I went to say hello to the tree. As soon as I saw the leaves I knew it was an old Oak Tree, and a very one beautiful at that.
As I approached the tree and placed my hand on the outer bark of its trunk, the wind picked up and sounded its atmospheric tune through the branches. I was now spellbound and imagining sitting underneath the tree on a picnic rug with my hair blowing in the wind. I’m a hopeless romantic. 😂
Alan of course obliged to take a photo of me and maybe on our next visit we could have a picnic here, depending on weather, midges and ticks he said. Thinking about the possibility of midges and ticks has shattered my imaginary picnic though! 😂
As I turned around to walk back to the main path the view from the tree looking up Glen Sannox gave me goosebumps.
This is indeed the most beautiful place to sit and ponder.
Back on the main path we walked on until we reached a choice of paths to walk the circular route. We could either cross the wooden footbridge over the Sannox Burn or continue straight ahead to the stepping stones. I love the view walking alongside the Beech trees, so as always, we opted for straight on. We would be walking back down the other side today anyway.
Before reaching the stepping stones I had forgotten we would also cross the Allt a’ Chapuill Burn which merges with the Sannox Burn. The water levels were low, so it was an easy crossing.
We soon reached the large boulder stepping stones that lead deep into the glen where we stopped for a while recording video and taking photos.
We eventually packed up all of our gear and crossed the stepping stones, walking a little further into the glen until we met the joining path that leads back down to the wooden footbridge.
Back again around the circular loop
We were now walking on the other side of the Sannox Burn. The photo below is looking back up Glen Sannox, another mind-blowing perspective of this unique landscape.
The pointy peak on the left is Cioch na h-Oighe, which is the same mountain we could partially see from the cottage, and the Devil’s Punchbowl (Coire na Ciche), sits below in the corrie to the left of the peak. If you read my first story of this series about the staying in the cottage you might remember the photo I took of what looks like the shadow of a Devil’s face in the Punchbowl.
I couldn’t decide what photo to share, the one above or this one below, as they are similar.
It’s my usual dilemma when I’m piecing my story together as I take too many photos. 😂 I’m sure you’ll like this one as well though. Just look at that moody sky!
Alan found another Arran Arts Heritage Trail artist stone which I completely missed, again! If we had taken the footbridge route I might have noticed the stone, so it’s a good idea to explore both routes if you return for a second visit and also see a different perspective of the landscape.
Two featured artists, both named ‘John’, are listed on the Arran Arts Heritage Trail website:
- John Knox (1778-1845) painted a panoramic depiction of Glen Sannox, and
- John Maclauchlan Milne (1885-1957) painted landscapes of Arran, a special place in his heart and spent the last 17 years of his life living on the island
I’ll link to their website below as always. There are also lovely video clips of the locations where the stones are placed across the island and Gaelic translations.
We soon reached the footbridge where I watched the crystal clear water of Sannox Burn swiftly flowing downhill through the rocks. The Sannox Burn also runs past the cottage we were staying at, where it almost reaches the end of its journey to the sea.
We planned to cross the footbridge and walk back down the way we came, but I noticed a narrow trodden footpath at the other side of the burn and wondered if this was another way back down. Alan wandered down for a quick look while I was taking photos and returned quite excited saying you need to come and see this!
And wow, I felt like I was stepping into a fairy realm! What happens when I walk through, I wonder.
I was met with more crystal clear mini waterfalls flowing over the sandstone rocks. The overhanging trees and mossy banks also made this place look very pretty and magical.
We kept following the narrow path which was gradually disappearing and becoming overgrown. We thought this might lead back to the cottage, but we ended up wading through high bracken and bushes, eventually finding an overgrown style-like ladder which joined on to the golf course. Phew!
It must have been a walking path in the past if an old style is still there. At least we know not to go this way again as we unknowingly picked up ticks, small spider-like creatures that feed on the blood of birds and mammals, including humans.
My brother-in-law gave us a top tip to use a ‘lint roller’, which is a sticky roll of paper on a handle used for removing lint, hair or other parts from fabric. To be honest I thought we would be okay as we hardly ever pick up ticks when we are on Arran, but we were brushing through tall bracken and bushes today. We tried the lint roller, and I couldn’t believe the ticks that came off our clothes and bags. There must have been about eight ticks between the both of us.
Apologies about these photos, but it’s good to be aware about these wee blood sucking blighters, and I’ve added a link to more information below.
Passing through what I called the ‘fairy realm’ is magical, honestly, but going any further wasn’t our best choice today. 😂
Alan also found two ticks on his skin. One was caught in time before it decided to bury itself under his skin and suck his blood, and another one he only found when we returned home, hiding under his wedding ring that he never takes off… sneaky creatures they are!
It was a short walk today as you can see from my Garmin activity recording.
- Distance: 4 kilometres (2.5 miles)
- Moving time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Elapsed time: 3 hours 25 minutes
My next story will be about our epic walk and hike up Glen Sannox and The Saddle that I mentioned earlier. I was planning to write about it in this post but thought it deserved a story of its own.
Watch out for it coming soon! Thanks for reading!
Love, Dawn-Marie x
Links to more information about this blog story
- My Glen Sannox story in July 2015
- My Glen Sannox and The Saddle story in 2024
- Amazon: The Goatfell Murder book by Calum Smith
- Scottish Murders: Goatfell podcast
- Jack the Ripper Tour: The Arran Murder
- Arran Arts Heritage Trail: Glen Sannox
- NHS Inform: Tick bites
- My Isle of Arran blog stories
- Isle of Arran Cottages
- Walkhighlands: Glen Sannox circular walk
Love Exploring Scotland 