Town in Stirling, Scotland
Callander
A Perthshire-style Highland town on the River Teith that spent the 1960s pretending to be Tannochbrae, home of TV's Dr Finlay.
Key information
- County
- Stirling
- Nation
- Scotland
- Known for
- Gateway to the Trossachs, Dr Finlay's Casebook, Rob Roy country
- Famous people
- Rob Roy MacGregor (local legend), Bill Simpson, Andrew Cruickshank, A. J. Cronin (creator of Dr Finlay)
About Callander
The town that played Tannochbrae
If you grew up watching BBC television in the 1960s, you already know Callander's Main Street, even if you never knew its name. When Dr Finlay's Casebook ran from 1962 to 1971, Callander stood in for Tannochbrae, the fictional village where Dr Finlay, Dr Cameron and their housekeeper Janet kept the community in line. The stories came from the pen of A. J. Cronin, and the series made stars of Bill Simpson as Finlay and Andrew Cruickshank as the gruff Dr Cameron. The programme made Callander recognisable to millions, and the town has been happy to remind visitors ever since.
Why everyone passes through on the way to the Trossachs
Callander sits where the Highland edge begins, at the point where the flat farmland of the Forth valley gives way to lochs, crags and glens. That position earned it the nickname Gateway to the Highlands. The tourist boom began in 1810, when Walter Scott published The Lady of the Lake, set around Loch Katrine just to the west. Readers wanted to see the scenery for themselves, and Callander became the first stop on the road in. Queen Victoria's own visit to the Trossachs in 1869 added to the fashion. Coaches, then trains, brought visitors to the town's inns and hotels.
Rob Roy country
Rob Roy MacGregor, the cattle dealer turned outlaw, operated in the country around Callander, Balquhidder and Loch Katrine in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Scott's novel Rob Roy turned him into a folk hero, and Callander once had a Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre devoted to him, which closed in 2011. The Rob Roy Way, a long-distance walking route, passes through town, so boots on Main Street are a common sight.
A mountain with a May Day secret
Ben Ledi rises 879 metres above the town, and its name is often said to mean hill of God. It has long been tied to Beltane, the old Celtic festival of May, when fires were lit on hilltops. Climbing it is a classic local walk, with views reaching down to the Forth valley and across to the Highland peaks. Closer in, Callander Crags give a shorter scramble from the edge of town. Bracklinn Falls, a short walk away, tumbles beneath a weathering-steel footbridge opened in 2023, which replaced an older wooden bridge. To the west, the Pass of Leny and the Falls of Leny lead towards Loch Lubnaig, while Loch Venachar lies along the road to the Trossachs.
Romans, a railway and a lost line
Callander's history goes back further than its Victorian hotels suggest. Just west of town at Bochastle, there was a Roman fort, one of the northern outposts in the first century, guarding the entrance to the Highlands. In the 19th century the railway arrived, with the Callander and Oban line connecting the town to Dunblane and beyond. It carried tourists and traffic for over a century until it closed to passengers in 1965, a casualty of the Beeching cuts. The line's loss still shapes the town: today everyone comes by road or on foot. That same road brings cyclists and walkers who use Callander as a base, with mountain-bike trails, riverside paths and the Meadows beside the Teith all within easy reach.
Highland cows, tearooms and scones
Callander is a town of tearooms, outdoor shops and fish and chip suppers, and a good place for a scone before or after a hill. A short walk or drive out towards Kilmahog brings you to the woollen mill and the shaggy Highland cattle that pose obligingly for photographs. The Meadows beside the Teith make a handy spot to walk off the cake before heading back to the hills.