Scotland - A Postcard from up North _ Ballater and Crovie
29th October 2022
After a lovely day attending a family Wedding in Chester we headed North, destination Stirling. Our in- transit to the North night stop at the Holiday Inn Express went well. We were pretty tired but we certainly enjoyed a good meal at the Springkerse View Pub next door.
30th October 2022 Ballater
Next morning, we demolished the buffet Breakfast before hitting the Old Military Road towards Braemar. On the way we stopped for coffee in Glenshee. Some hardy types were out walking. The ski lifts only added to the desolation. The only bright spot was a retired rescue dog wandering the Cafe in search of treats and affection. It was damp and quite depressing but, despite the gloom, the wild drive on the A93 to Braemar was pretty special. It was our first visit to Royal Deeside and we were certainly not disappointed. Braemar's claim to fame is hosting the Highland Games. Not today of course, we had a leisurely wander around the smart little town. It was Sunday and the last day of half-term so it was pretty busy. We saw our first red squirrel and maybe saved it from getting run over We had ambitions to enjoy Sunday Lunch at the Fife Arms, a very nice traditional country hotel. Sadly we just missed out on the last table in the Pub section.
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| Lunch at the Fife Arms anyone? |
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| Fife Arms -Bit smart for us in our travelling gear |
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| I think we are in Scotland? |
We were offered a table in the smart Hotel Restaurant, kilts not obligatory, but opted for the Bothie Cafe around the corner. This was perfect for us. An interesting bowl of hot parsnip and Maple Soup with a big slice of homemade Date Cake. I'm a big fan of parsnips, the combination with maple was a little sweet for me but, none the less, emptying my bowl was not a problem! The Date Cake was lovely. Our home for the next 3 nights was the Dormie Cottage up the road in Ballater and we enjoyed the leisurely drive along the River Dee to our new home. The trees decked out in their autumn colours and the green fields dotted with sheep formed a great backdrop to the first phase of our Scottish adventure. The Dormie Cottage was not a wee place and it took us a while to find our way around and get settled in. Most important task was sorting the heating and hot water as, on arrival, it was pretty chilly. With radiators glowing we headed into the small town of Ballater. We found the tourist office in the disused, but very smartly restored, Ballater Railway Station. Queen Victoria used the station when going to Balmoral and a replica of the royal carriage is parked in the Station. The tourist office ladies were very nice and helpful and gave us a few tips on what to do in the Area. The local train line was one of the victims of Dr Beaching's cuts.
31st October 2022 - Crathes Castle
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| Crathes Castle |
Monday morning and we headed East along the Dee to Crathes Castle. We were told it was open on Monday by the Tourist Office but, sadly, it was closed. They had, like us, checked the National Trust website and been led astray. The grounds were open so we had good walk in the woods and saw some lovely Highland Cattle.
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| That is our kind of cow |
With the forecast of rain proving accurate and with good appetites we headed for The Boat Inn on the Riverside in Aboyne. We ate pretty well in this friendly pub with good service. A ladies group at an adjacent table were making Halloween decorations. Halloween seems to be a big thing in Scotland, lots of the shops in Ballater had made a big effort to decorate their windows with witches and spiders etc..
It gets dark early dark early up here but that is no excuse for me falling asleep in the car when parked outside a cafe in Ballater. Apparently passers-by were a bit worried about me. TW bought me a wooly hat and gloves, not exactly Dorset temperatures in Deeside
1st November Loch Muick
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| Loch Muick |
A walk on the Balmoral Estate. Much of the Balmoral Estate is open for hikers and we opted for a Lakeside wander at Loch Muick. Even though it can be approached by road and has a chargeable Car Park at Spittal of Glenmuick it felt as though we were out in the depths of the moors. Very unspoiled with wide vistas and no crowds. The Muick was our best walk.
The access road up to Spittal was a long and winding and single track. It must have been ten miles. Luckily we did not meet many cars coming the other way.
The weather was quite pleasant when we set out on our walk but after a couple of hours the dark clouds were forming over the mountains and we beat a hasty retreat back to our car.
We were too late for our planned whisky tour at Lochnagar so we had to settle for a coffee and a very underwhelming pie with salad and rice in a Cafe near Crathie. Crathie Kirk, where the Queen attended services, was just up the road. It was closed for the winter but looked very familiar from the outside.
2nd November - Balmoral Castle and Crovie
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| Balmoral Castle |
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| Jacqui Deeside |
Time to pack up and head further North but not before visiting Balmoral Castle. The Castle Grounds were open to visitors on Wednesday following the recent death of the Queen. Normally its only open in Summer. Very impressed with the place, we could understand why the Queen loved to visit.
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| Our little cottage in Crovie -single window at the front a third of the way from the right |
The drive North was hard work. We had decided on a cross-country route via Huntly but yet again we were bedeviled by diversions so it took a lot longer than we expected. And the weather detoriated. By the time we reached Crovie there was quite a storm. Our Fishermans Cottage was right on the seafront and to get TW's baggage and our provisions along there we had to use a wheel-barrow from the car park. Bit of a chore because we could not find our barrow? In the end we hijacked one and struggled along the waters edge to our little place. It had one of those impenetrable key safes but we managed to apply the secret code and open it eventually!
The small cottage had been extended into the roof and it had two slopey roofed bedrooms accessed by a narrow staircase. A decent bathroom had been added at the rear of the property. The route for any nocturnal wee breaks was therefore quite tortuous! Miraculously I managed to avoid banging my head.
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| Now that's a sea view! Our lounge window |
The lounge had a great view of the sea from its single window the heating worked and the owners left us a nice bottle of Red, what's not to like?
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| Crovie |
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| Loading the wheel-barrow |
November 3rd Gardenstown
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| Gardenstown |
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| Seatown beach - doesn't get much sun at this time of year |
After a stormy night the weather was transformed, blue skies and no wind. There are no shops or pubs in Crovie but its only a short walk along the seafront to the neighbouring village of Gardenstown. When the tides in it's a walk up the hill and then along the cliff top. There is a Spar and a Pub, open in the evening, and a nice little friendly Cafe, hosted by, and called Eli's. When we rolled up to Eli's for lunch she was busy shifting furniture to try and make space for her Christmas Tree. Nice Lady. We did go to the Spar but we missed the pub, the Garden Arms, open in the evenings only. The dark nights precluded walking on the seafront. With our accident records negotiating a kelp strewn beach in the dark at night could have been fatal. TW did not fancy driving back at night either, the road is really steep and I would have been unable, hic!
Pity though as we could have had dinner and a quiz on Thursdays. No complaints though as we had a full kitchen to prepare a nice meal to go with our free wine.
November 4th
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| A local Hero - in Pennen |
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| A sheep with no legs? - near Troup Head |
We jumped in the car and took the short but bumpy road to Troup Head RSPB reserve just to the West of Crovie. Unfortunately the Gannets had already departed for warmer climes. There's avian flu about so it deterred us from staying too long and we headed to Pennan, another nice little coastal village. It was where Local Hero was filmed.
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| Aberdeenshire is a big Farming Area |
No coffee place in Penne so we headed inland to Delgatie Castle near Turriff for lunch in the Lairds Kitchen. We had a decent feed. The castle is a bit unusual and has a lived-in look but worth a wander through.
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| Dalgethie Castle |
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| The bedchamber! |
Our 3 nights in Crovie went far too quickly and it was soon time to refill our wheel barrow and head back South.
Another wet day so we decided against the coastal route through Arbroath. TW wanted to see Dundee. I think she expected it to be much prettier but we drove around a few times before heading over the Estuary to St Andrews. St. Andrews seemed quite prosperous with lots of students and tourists in the shopping area. We walked a few holes of The Old Course before stopping for a coffee in the Tom Morris Grill. This was a lovely modern establishment with very good views and excellent Customer Service. Would have been nice to stay longer but we were booked further South.
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| Sun setting on St Andrews |
Very impressive bridges as we crossed over the Forth towards Edinburgh heading for the Dakota Hotel a nice modern hotel at Queensferry. The Hotel Restaurant was fully booked so we either had to drive again to town, go hungry or go Tesco. We chose the latter and had a picnic in the room. It was an extremely busy Hotel with all sorts of functions going on. Bit of a contrast with our little Fisherman's Cottage but very comfortable room.
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| Hazardous on the Course |
November 6th - RY Britannia and Edinburgh
We skipped Breakfast at the Hotel and headed for Leith, about 20 minutes journey. Unusually, we had planned our day in advance. We knew we had to park on level 5 of the the Blue multi-story which was free and we would be on the right level for the Britannia Reception. We had Breakfast in Costa Coffee before heading for the boat. The Britannia tour was brilliant. We had an audio tour on a handset that was clear and interesting and that we were able to stop and start wherever we liked.
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| In the Admirals seat. |
We also had a decent lunch on board, not up to Royal Family standards of course but OK for us. We were amazed at how primitive the technology seemed to be and also the contrast between the Crews Quarters and the Royal 'Palace' at the rear of ship. All very hierarchical depending on Rank and Birth. Mind you the Queen had a very small bed and the Royal area was actually quite homely. Easy to understand why the Queen was upset to say goodbye to Britannia, its easy to imagine the Britannia turning up at some remote island with the crowds on the Quay. A Royal Marine Band on-call for entertainment after Dinner
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| 50's Telephone |
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| Put the flags out for us? |
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| Marines Quarters |
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| State Dining |
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| Precision place setting |
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| The Queens bedchamber |
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| HM Drinks Cabinet, Dubonnet? |
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| Anyone for Wombat Tennis |
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| Setting Sail |
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| The Engine Room |
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| Britannia from the Car Park |
Edinburgh
They are building a tram network in Edinburgh so there were roadworks everywhere. Parking in the City is very tricky so we left our motor in the free car park. We opted for the number 11 bus from Leith into the City. It worked out very well, although could not use my bus pass?
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| Edinburgh - Royal Mile |
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| St Giles Cathedral |
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| Pipe and Drum |
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| Sunsetting on our Scottish adventure |
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