Travelled:93km
Stay:Aberdeen-carpark at Torry Battery with views of the North Sea N57.1417 W2.0572
Visited: Ballater, Banchory, Crathes Castle (National Trust £13pp), Drum Castle (National Trust £13pp)
From Balmoral we followed the Dee River to Aberdeen. Our first stop was 10mins down the road in Ballater. The timber railway station was closed in 1966, but rebuilt after fire damage in 2015.
There are many buildings dating back to the Victorian era including a memorial hall for Prince Albert.
We have noticed a lot of window cleaning going in but this is the longest broom...
There are also monuments to Queen Elizabeth II. Some shopfronts still display royal warrants granted to them by the Queen Mother.
We then continued on to Banchory. Our main aim was to get good internet for Mark to watch the Bombers (a thrilling win over GWS). We did a quick bit of shopping at the outdoor shop in preparation for the Scottish midges and ticks. There is also a website that forcasts the midge levels on a map! We are ready!
Then off to Crathes Castle we went. It is actually a Scottish Tower house that has been in the Burnett family for over 350 years.
Before we did our tour of the house we walked around the glorious and colourful walled garden.
The house still retains many beautiful features including painted ceilings and oak panels.
The family has links back to 1323 when Robert the Bruce granted them nearby land and gifted them with the Horn of Leys which takes pride over the fireplace in the Great Hall.
The laird’s bed
This lady gave birth to 21 children. Quite an effort
We then visited the nearby Drum Castle, one of Scotland’s oldest tower houses which has been in the Irvine family since 1323 given to them by Robert the Bruce. A few alterations and additions have been undertaken since then and the library now containing 4,000 books was certainly a highlight.
We then went for a walk through the Garden of Historic Roses which is divided into quandrants that show how roses have been cultivated from the 17th to 20th century. Unfortunately they weren’t at their peak.
As it was getting late in the day, from here we drove to Aberdeen and parked near the entrance to the harbour.
It is a well known spot for dolphin watching and we were lucky enough to see a few. Mark also enjoyed watching the big ships.
Mark was very happy to see another fog horn
Later we went for a walk and chatted to a local couple whilst we watched works being done to construct a new harbour.
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