📌 Brig o’ Turk, Stirling
★★
We’ve a tale to tell, so are you sitting comfortably? Once upon a time, a young man from Brig o’ Turk left his bicycle leant against a sycamore tree before going to fight in the First World War. Whether he returned is unknown, but the bike was left abandoned and, over the decades, the tree swallowed up the frame and carried it up into the air inside the trunk. At the same time, the tree consumed iron parts from an adjacent blacksmith’s spoil heap, apparently including an anchor and a horse’s bridle. Now we’re a bit sceptical about taking the whole story as gospel, but there must be some truth in the tale. Parts of the bike still clearly protrude from the trunk alongside other metal implements: a strange sight indeed, and one that was awarded protected status in 2015. The tree is not signposted but grows next to the quiet Glen Finglas road – directions below. The Byre Inn serves good food nearby. Of course, if you come to the area by bike, be careful where you leave it…
🌍 Location
📌 By minor road to Glen Finglas, 0.5 mi north of Brig o’ Turk
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 535068
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.230672,-4.365502
❌ No public transport within 1 mi
🚗 Just space for a small car to park at road side, though you may need to move it if a wide vehicle needs to get past
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open
🎫 Free
💬 When approaching from the main road, the tree is on the left (southwest) side of the road next to an corrugated iron building, just before the warning sign for a school (photo below is taken looking north from the tree).
