Blair Atholl Will Have Hot Food All Winter; Hillwalkers Told They May Leave Their Flasks at Home for the First Time Since 1973
The village's new bakery will stay open while the café is closed. Walking groups are rewriting their kit lists.
Blair Atholl in winter: hills, frost, and now, crucially, a hot pie. Photo: Eusebius, “Blair castle - coat of arms”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Hillwalkers planning a winter trip to Blair Atholl have been told they no longer need to carry a flask of soup, after the village’s new bakery said it would stay open through the winter months.
“It’s a big change,” said the leader of a Perth walking club. “Our kit list has said ‘flask (essential)’ since 1973. I’ve now changed it to ‘flask (optional)’, and two members have resigned in protest.”
Walkers say Glen Tilt and the hills around Blair Castle are beautiful in winter, but it can be a long, cold day. “You come down off the hill frozen and there’s nothing open,” said a walker from Kinross. “Now there’s a sausage roll the size of my boot. I’ll take that over the summit any day.”
Hotels in the area say they hope the bakery will help bring more visitors in the quieter months. “People come for the scenery,” said one. “They stay for the Empire biscuits.”
The Perthetic advises all walkers to carry proper gear in winter, whatever the bakery situation. A flask may be optional. A map is not.
The real story: Livvi's opens in Blair Atholl (The Courier)
Letters to the Editor
The views expressed are those of the reader, and frankly that's on them.
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Hillwalkers, please leave your flasks at home. But still bring your manners. And wipe your boots.
— Morag F., Blair Atholl, 1 November 2026 -
I’ve had the same flask since 1987. It’s going up the hill with me whether there’s a bakery or not.
— Duncan R., Killiecrankie, 1 November 2026
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