Friday 24th October 2025

We set off while it was still barely light, and headed off up the M74/M73/M80 route towards Witches Craig campsite - this was our second time here, having been here the same weekend last year.

The roads were busy, and so it took us over 40 minutes to get to Stirling - we popped into the Waitrose and picked up some chicken kyivs, rostis and butter beans for dinner.

We arrived at the site and were directed to pitch 54 - we were on pitch 9 last year and we got pitched up and mostly level, on with the dinner - we struggled a bit to cook all the bits in the air-fryer but we eventually prevailed.

Dinner with a very nice bottle of wine and we settled down to continue watching Fringe and then headed off to bed.

Saturday 25th October 2025

It was quite late when when we woke and it was cold and clear - so we pulled on our walking gear and headed off into Bridge of Allan.

We took the route through the Stirling University which is a really lovely walk, it was quiet and the grounds are like a country park - definitely worth a visit.

We came out of the park at the start of Bridge of Allan and walked into the town up the main road and it had brightened into a really nice (but cold) day.

We had a look in a few places for breakfast/lunch and popped into Ciao for a couple of sandwiches and coffee…We shared a chicken and a Tuscan sausage sandwich, both were very nice and the coffee was fine.

We popped our heads into Havn bakery and Gayle grabbed a cardamom swirl and a spiced chocolate bakka. Both were fantastic - the swirl was light and subtly flavoured and the babka was really tasty and great texture…we’ll be back here!

We wandered round into the Allan Brewhouse - it’s a great pub just off the main street - our kind of place.

I had the Pot Black stout and Gayle opted for their traditional cider, both were very good I then had a pint of their Cherry red beer again very nice before returning to the stout for a final beer.

We had a really nice relaxing time in the pub it was nice and warm and there weren’t a lot of folks in the place - Gayle was really enjoying the music choices.

A couple of folks arrived for the brewery tour (I would definitely return for a tour) and fortified against the cold we decided to head back before it was too dark.

After stopping off in Cullens the butchers for pies and a scotch egg we wandered back via the Nisa in the University grounds for beans and dessert.

We struggled to heat the pies (warming them in air-fryer made them soft and hard to swap around and we couldn’t get them both in at the same time) and we made mash (from our on-board stash of Idahoan mash) and beans - the pies were very tasty.

We settled down to watch “Dave built a Maze” which is quirky but ultimately not very good and so it was an episode of Fringe and off to bed.

Sunday 26th October 2025

Woke up to a brilliant orange glow illuminating the Ochil hills behind us then they were painted in bright yellow and then someone turned off the lights and the rain came on.

We had a light breakfast of yoghurt/granola/fruit and then headed along to Blairmains Farm Shop and grabbed some bits and pieces then returned to the van and packed up.

After a quick detour via the Lakeland store just off the M9 to checkout a Remoska oven we were home around 12pm, Saturday was our 56th night away in the van this year and we still have a few trips planned.

We’ve talked about returning to Witches Craig during the warmer months - it’s a great site.