The magnificent amphitheatre of Corrie Fee, together with Corrie Sharroch and the slopes of Craig Rennet form the botanical paradise that is Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve (NNR).

Scottish Natural Heritage owns Corrie Fee NNR and manages it in partnership with Angus Glens Ranger Service.

Corrie Fee is famed for the most extensive stand of montane willow scrub in Scotland and for the many arctic-alpine plants that grow on the cliffs and wet flushes in the corrie. Many of the plants in Corrie Fee NNR are so rare that they are only found at a handful of locations in the UK.

Ice Stories

During the last Ice Age, ice carved the armchair-shaped Corries Fee and Sharroch, cut cliffs, smoothed ridges, dumped gravel moraines, and then vanished when the climate warmed leaving the Fee Burn to trace a meandering path across the corrie floor.

Throughout the next 9000 years, sediments collected in deep hollows left by the glaciers. Trapped in these sediments, grains of pollen were preserved and show us that many arctic plants survived here long after the glaciers retreated – some of these still grow on the cliffs of Corrie Fee to this day.

Soft rock

Corrie Fee NNR’s thin or even non-existent soil means plants are often in close contact with rocks. By a stroke of geological good fortune, there is more fertile rock poking up on the surface in this area than anywhere else in the eastern Highlands. A band of ‘hornblende schist’ is the most important of these outcrops for plants. It holds plenty of plant-boosters such as calcium, iron, and phosphate, and can crumble to fine sand with some clay to hold moisture. The softness of the rock and steepness of the cliffs also means that this natural bounty can be spread around and replenished. As a result, many kinds of plants that grow rarely, or not at all, on the more acid granites of the surrounding hills do well here. These include many of Corre Fee NNR’s special arctic-alpines.

Mega-Mix

Add further variety of rocks and soils, plus the fine details of variations in drainage, slope and stone-shattering on the surface, and the possibilities for plants which can cope with mountain conditions become legion. Boulder-jumbles, limestone crevices, cliff ledges, squelchy bits fed by water seepage, steep slopes and stone-fields are some of the living spaces for the many different upland vegetation communities so far identified here. Rare mosses, rushes, ferns, shrubs and a host of scarce flowers are some of the plants which benefit.

Keep your head down

The wildlife copes with Corrie Fee’s conditions in many ways. Mountain hares – prime targets for the local golden eagles – change their coat colour from blue-grey to white every autumn as camouflage in snow. Plants tend to keep a low profile. Most of the real mountain dwellers creep to grab some benefit from warm air near the surface and avoid wind damage. Nearly all live for more than one year, meaning that they don’t need to grow as fast as annuals, and can store food in their roots. Some of them can even pollinate themselves, including moss campion, which can carry both male and female flowers on the one plant.

Snow can fall here at any time of year, and winds can reach awesome force. With conditions like these to cope with, it’s not surprising that some of Corrie Fee’s most prized plants are called ‘arctic-alpines’. Their lifestyles and growth habits allow them to be equally at home both in arctic regions, far to the north of here, and in the high mountains of central Europe, far to the south.

‘Floral treasures’

“The rocks of Craig Rennet and Craig Maud, with the ravine of the White Water, and the table-lands above, form a paradise to the lover of alpine botany, as well as mountain scenery – not a rock shelf but displays some floral treasure, nor a glance on either side but imparts lofty and ennobling thoughts.”

William Gardiner in The Flora of Forfarshire (1848)

The importance of Corrie Fee has long been recognised by botanists. Britain’s only population of purple coltsfoot, clinging to a heathery ledge, was first described here by George Don, a pioneer nurserymanbotanist from Forfar, in 1813.

Yellow oxytropis, thought to be a relict species left behind at the end of the last Ice Age, is almost as rare, and although once a more common sight along mountain burns, the tall, showy alpine blue sow-thistle only survives now on inaccessible rock ledges and gullies, out of the reach of nibbling sheep and
deer.

The dainty twinflower creeps amongst the mossy layer, producing double heads of nodding pink bell flowers at perhaps its highest altitude in the British Isles. The Reserve is also home to common mountain plants like purple saxifrage, yellow mountain saxifrage, roseroot and globeflower, while lowland species including red campion, wild angelica and melancholy thistle grow in profusion along with grasses and sedges on some cliff ledges, forming “tall herb communities”. It is the combination of the rare and the widespread that makes Corrie Fee so important as an NNR.

Woolly willows

Corrie Sharroch, within the NNR, has the largest area of mountain (montane) willow scrub in Britain. This might sound impressive but even though it is the biggest, in reality the area of scrub is very small. Montane willow scrub, one of the UK’s most rare and endangered habitats, is a fascinating mix of gnarled and twisted ‘wee trees’ which forms a natural zone between the treeline and the high montane heath. Montane scrub helps to prevent erosion and provides a haven for nesting birds. In Corrie Sharroch most of the scrub is woolly willow. Surveyors have tried to count the number of bushes, but it is very difficult to decide where one bush ends and the next begins!

‘Simply messing about’…..
on the Corrie Fee Burn

The water vole, the largest of Britain’s voles, has had a tough time recently across the UK and is a particular conservation priority for the Nature Reserve. They can thrive on flat or gently sloping, soft, peaty ground in the uplands. The Corrie Fee Burn’s meanders with its neighbouring stands of rushes, sedges, and bog cotton – the water vole’s preferred food – make the corrie floor ideal for the small family groups. Water voles lived here until 2003 when they were all but lost to invading mink. With new techniques to keep mink at bay, there are signs that the water vole is making a comeback.

Where eagles fly

Corrie Fee NNR is part of the larger area of Caenlochan Special Protection Area, which is of European importance for its population of golden eagles. Occasionally eagles can be seen hunting over the Corries. The crags and woodlands of the NNR are also home to other mountain birds, including ring ouzel, peregrine falcon, twite and raven.

Working together

The name Corrie Fee comes from the Gaelic Coire Feidh (Fiadh or Fiagh) meaning ‘corrie of the deer’. Unfortunately, increasingly high numbers of red deer have been counted in this area, leading to concern about the damage to the rare plants. SNH are working with the Deer Commission for Scotland to reduce
deer numbers to levels that will not impact seriously on the special features of this area. A fence currently keeps deer and sheep away from some of the more sensitive plants, including willow. The aim is to remove the fence in time as deer numbers fall in the area.

Pathway to the paradise

Enjoy the breathtaking view when you come out of Glen Doll forest and enter the NNR, then take the path up through Corrie Fee. This footpath has been recently upgraded to reduce erosion scars, protect wildlife and improve access. Glen Doll is a convenient starting point for hillwalkers, who follow Jock’s Road to the northwest or walk up the path beside the Corrie Fee waterfall to gain access to a range of Munros.

You’re welcome to visit at any time but please respect the wildlife and the people who work here. This may mean avoiding certain areas when deer stalking (publicised in signs) is in progress. Warm, waterproof clothes are essential as this is a mountain environment and conditions are changeable and can be severe.

Information, guided walks and school visits are all provided by Angus Glens Ranger Service.

Getting to Corrie Fee

Corrie Fee NNR is located at the head of Glen Clova in the north of Angus. Follow the B955, 25 km north of Kirriemuir. From the Forestry Commission Scotland car park take ‘Jock’s Road’ and then follow the Fee Burn, up through Glen Doll forest for a distance of 3.5km, to the stunning view at the entrance of the NNR.

For more information please contact:
Scottish Natural Heritage
West Lodge, Airlie, by Kirriemuir, Angus DD8 5NP
Tel: 01575 530333
Angus Glens Ranger Service Tel: 01575 550233