A KEEN hillwalker and history buff has set up a new heritage tour business to show off the beauty of the local area.

Gerena Sumen has spent many hours at the Mitchell Library and Dumbarton Library brushing up on her knowledge in preparation for the 60-minute guided walk around Luss, which she recently launched.

The 63-year-old, who previously worked for Visit Scotland and as a guide for the Burrell Collection and the Hill House in Helensburgh, has decided to focus on the village initially because she knows it well and feels that more should be done to promote it and the wider community.

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She said: “I have been a hillwalker for over 30 years, doing most of the Munros and climbing a few high mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro, but I love history too and thought I would like to combine the two with a walking tour.

“I love showing tourists Luss, telling her history, architecture and clan legends and other tales.

“My favourite stop on the walking tour is Loch Lomond. I find the beauty and the moods in the landscape can give visitors an insight to the outdoors that you can only feel in this beautiful location.

“I’ve been told a lot of people don’t visit Luss and just keep going up the road and when they do stop, they say they never knew it was there, so I’m trying to promote a local place and the wider community, so that people know about it.”

Gerena loves the village so much, she travels down from her home in Arrochar to take the tour, which covers Luss’ crowning glory, the miner cottages, the village’s ancient past, its present and its war heroes from World War One.

She also shares her knowledge of St. Kessog and early Christianity, Luss Parish Church, Shore Cottage, the clans Colquhoun, MacFarlane and MacGregor, and of course Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond.

One of her favourite tales from the tour, however, involves the Clan Colquhoun’s capture of Dumbarton Castle from the Earl of Lennox.

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The castle was starving because they were under siege, and Sir John Colquhoun set loose a deer and a hound, so that the castle men would open the gates to go hunting.

They came out chasing the deer and left the gates open and Sir John and his men gained entry to the castle and captured it without any bloodshed.

And while she has had people from around the world join her tours, Gerena is hopeful that the chance to find out fascinating local snippets of history will inspire more local people to join her.

“I think (knowing the history) makes people appreciate more where they are living,” she said.

The tours will cost £10 for adults and will depart at 11am and 2pm on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

To book your place, or to find out more, see argyllwalks.co.uk.