The steep, soft red sandstone is blazed with green; the peaty water is like wine on the rock. We plunge over waterfalls into deep pots, swim through the slot of the 24-metre gorge, climb rough steps out and return on a faint path through quiet woods above, no one else in sight. This is Finnich Glen, my local beauty spot, 10 years ago.
Fast forward to 2023. The rock and water are the same, but add booze bottles, discarded clothes and litter. More than 70,000 visitors a year now descend on the site in Stirlingshire, which has no car park, proper paths, or pavement along the busy A809. Many
