RED toorie bunnets were out in force on Loch Lomondside at the weekend as a garden in honour of mountain man Tom Weir and his widow, Rhona, was formally opened.
Tom and Rhona’s Mountain Garden is the latest tribute to the broadcaster, author and environmentalist whose long-running TV show Weir’s Way achieved cult status.
He died in 2006 but Rhona, now 96, was present at the opening of the garden which overlooks Balmaha Bay.
The event marked the completion of a £130,000 transformation of the former picnic site which has been leased to the Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs by Stirling Council.
Designed by landscape specialist and Scottish Campaign for National Parks Chairman, Ross Anderson, the garden has been developed by a local outdoor landscaping team.
It was opened by the actor, US National Park ambassador and John Muir impersonator, Lee Stetson, and the editor of Scots Magazine Richard Wright. Many of those who turned out for the opening on Saturday wore toorie bunnets similar to the one Weir favoured.
“This event is an integral part of a visit by Lee Stetson as part of the centenary celebrations of the US National Parks Service, and also another opportunity to remind everybody of how Tom Weir became Scotland’s most loved mountain man,” said James Fraser, chairman of Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs.
“It is also a fitting way to mark the completion of work at Tom Weir’s Rest Site, which has become firmly established in a relatively short period of time as one of Loch Lomond’s top visitor attractions with over 100,000 visitors so far.”
The garden features a range of typical mountain plants, as well as a selection of stones and rocks collected near the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs through Loch Lomond in close proximity to Balmaha.
Feature stones include white quartz from Ben Lomond and state slabs specially engraved with quotes written by Tom 50 years ago, which appeared in articles in the Scots Magazine.
“This is an event that is the culmination of many years of hard work fundraising by lots of volunteers and ordinary Scots and folk from further afield who are passionate about Tom Weir’s contribution to popularising Scotland’s great outdoors for everyone to enjoy and appreciate,” said Susan Taylor, of the Tom Weir Memorial Group.
Born in Springburn, Glasgow, in 1914, Weir was given a John Muir Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 for his environmental work.
He was the younger brother of actress Molly Weir, who played Hazel the McWitch in the children’s TV show Rentaghost. He met Rhona while hiking in Glencoe.
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