IT is a site of magic and mystery, where the waters are said to run blood red while Satan once preached to a coven of witches and warlocks.
But nowadays the main problem bedevilling the iconic beauty spot is hordes of tourists inspired to tramp down its steep steps after it appeared in the hit TV series Outlander.
Farmer David Young estimates that last year a staggering 70,000 people traipsed through Finnich Glen, also known as The Devil’s Pulpit, near Killearn in Stirlingshire, putting themselves at risk, trampling fences, leaving human waste and litter and damaging the environment.
Last weekend hundreds of visitors arrived to see the spectacular 70ft deep gorge and cool off in the water.
There is no infrastructure beyond a few warning signs and most visitors walk to the site along a narrow A-road with no pavement.
The glen cuts through a red sandstone hill
Mr Young now wants to build a car park, restaurant, visitor centre and toilets to turn the spectacular gorge into a proper visitor attraction that can cope with the impact of tourism, protect the environment and prevent traffic hazards.
He intends to apply for planning permission for the scheme in the next few weeks, saying he cannot close the gorge due to access legislation, and plans to charge for parking and other services to cover the cost.
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“We’re a business and the property is not gaining any other income,” he said.
Five years ago the spot was mainly used by locals and a few canyoning enthusiasts.
It was used for filming The Eagle, about a lost Roman legion, released in 2011, and is also in this year’s Detective Pikachu movie, but its popularity started to take off in 2014 when episode six of the first Outlander series aired, featuring Finnich Glen as the scene of the Liar’s Well.
The 'crimson' water in the gulley is actually the result of the red sandstone it cuts through, and the pulpit is a mushroom shaped rock which has attracted various legends over the years.
Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur also filmed in the glen
Earlier in August, on one of the hottest days of the year, Mr Young counted 110 cars parked on the small unofficial car park and a nearby narrow lane as hundreds of visitors trekked the few hundred yards down into the spectacular gorge cut by the Carnock Burn.
Some were jumping into pools, others were paddling in the shady glen. Most walked along the nearby road, to access the gorge via established paths, with families weaving through traffic which built up because of parking along the roadside.
But many visitors had beaten a direct path across one of Mr Young’s fields, and were seen climbing over his fences.
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Parts of the burn bank became a mudbath and families with young children were scrambling up and down the steep, muddy, crumbling steps that lead into the gorge bed. Volunteers had gathered a huge pile of litter left behind by visitors.
Mr Young has held a public consultation event for local people to gauge their reaction to his plans, which he says was generally positive.
Part of the scheme involves building a proper access stairway over the existing problem steps which he and other local people say are too hazardous to use safely.
He said he had allowed filming in the gorge, and been paid for it, but said the resulting prominence in the media was by no means all of the reason for the upsurge in numbers: “The filming is part of the reason, it’s not all of it,” he said.
Visitors said they had mainly heard about the site through Facebook and other social media, with many not even aware it had been used for filming, and others saying they stopped because they saw all the cars and wanted to find out what the fuss was about.
Outlander's locatiins are popular with tourists
Jim Ptolomey, chairman of Killearn Parish Council said that people were coming from as far away as America to visit the gorge.
He said: “The site is advertised on a website of places to visit near Glasgow so it’s going to receive continued attention.
“With the volume of people the actual ecology is being ruined. The sides of the glen are being eroded. It’s very dangerous, you can go right to the edge of the glen and easily slop down a sheer drop.”
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Mr Ptolomey said David Mr Young’s proposal was a possible way forward: “What has to happen is that we have to get some sort of parking facility there. The community will have mixed feeling about it but the overriding one will be that the parking is a major concern and is a real nuisance at the moment
“There will be people who object to the countryside being ruined, so it’s very much a balancing act of getting the provision you want without causing very much detriment to the environment of the area.”
He added: “It simply is not safe, particularly with the volume of people going there now.
“Parking has been really terrible on Station Road, it’s been on both sides and it’s been very difficult for local residents to get up and down, particularly at weekends. We have had blockages even at night times with the fire brigade there and the rescue services."
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