{"id":1211,"date":"2012-10-20T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-20T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=1211"},"modified":"2025-11-23T06:57:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:57:00","slug":"the-wintry-cairngorms-and-good-fish-on-the-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/10\/20\/the-wintry-cairngorms-and-good-fish-on-the-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wintry Cairngorms and Tasty Fish On The Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crikey, it\u2019s freezing !!!\u00a0\u00a0 Just before 8am, I dashed to the shower block across crispy white grass.\u00a0 I checked the thermometer that I had hung on Eileen\u2019s wing mirror: -7\u00b0c (20f)\u2026\u2026that\u2019s well below freezing!\u00a0 Overnight the puddles all around the campsite had become skating rinks for pixies. \u00a0Happily, the shower block was warm and the hot water was heavenly, then with ski jacket back on, I nipped back to Eileen while looking up at the snow on the nearby mountains.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Frosty morning in the Cairngorms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We drove up to Culloden and spent a couple of hours shuffling around the extensive exhibition and out on to the very chilly battlefield.\u00a0 The timing of our visit seemed a little interesting with Scotland having decided yesterday to hold a referendum for independence from the United Kingdom.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see what the decision is in two years’ time.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Memorial Cairn on Cullodon Battlefield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

From Culloden, we headed up to Nairn on the coast of the Moray Firth.\u00a0 It seemed a very nice town, but the beach might have felt a wee bit more enticing in summertime.\u00a0 A campsite in Grantown on Spey was Tuesday night\u2019s rest stop and risotto was on the menu for dinner.<\/p>\n

And then we woke up to an even frostier morning!\u00a0 We didn\u2019t hear of any road closures through the mountains, so decided to take Eileen along the A939 further in to the Cairngorms.\u00a0 We passed through Speybridge- very solid but icy bridge, Bridge of Brown- nothing but a closed tearoom, Bridge of Avon- nothing but a small bridge, but the scenery everywhere was very pretty, especially with everything cloaked in white.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Speybridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Lecht Ski Area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We stopped at the Lecht Ski Area to chuck snowballs at each other and then passed through Cock Bridge where we didn\u2019t see a bridge or a cock,\u00a0but there was a 16th<\/sup>c castle nearby.\u00a0 Mind you, with the clouds starting to build, Corgarff Castle looked like a rather desolate and gloomy place for the Redcoats to be stationed at, when hunting down Jacobite sympathisers in the mid-18th<\/sup> century and later on helping to stamp out the illegal production and smuggling of whisky.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Corgarff Castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We continued on through Braemar to the Linn of Dee, here there was a very nice bridge and\u00a0it was a very pretty spot for our picnic.\u00a0 There was no welly boot splashing in puddles today, it was more a case of crunching or skating until the rain came down after lunch.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Linn of Dee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Being joyful at the Linn of Dee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We drove back through Braemar, along the Dee Valley to the gates of Balmoral Castle.\u00a0 No-one was home, so we drove on to the small town of Ballater which became popular in the nineteenth century because the water from the well there was believed to help cure scrofula!?\u00a0 Not sure what that is, but it doesn\u2019t sound too comfortable!\u00a0\u00a0 As we don\u2019t have scrofula (as far as we know), we had a nice afternoon tea in the old Railway station where Queen Victoria used to alight when coming by train to Balmoral for her holidays.\u00a0 There are no trains or track any more, but the scones in the waiting room are very tasty; I recommend them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ballater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

After that we drove on to the campsite at Banchory and settled in for another wet evening of good food and\u00a0two episodes of Mad Men.<\/p>\n

In the words of Supertramp\u2026.\u201dit\u2019s raining again\u201d and we\u2019ve decided that we definitely prefer the frost to the rain. On Thursday, we headed further downhill to the coast at Stonehaven and wandered along the beach which was littered with large chunks of trees and mountains of seaweed.\u00a0 The town had suffered severe storms a week or two ago and there were still sodden sandbags in front of some of the houses. Whilst marvelling at the wonderful variety of colours in the pebbles on the beach I managed to spread my body damage a little further.\u00a0 Slipping on the wooden esplanade I landed on my right wrist and shoulder this time and am now feeling thoroughly old all over.\u00a0 Rodney has written me off, I apparently need trading in for a fitter, younger woman\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"
Stonehaven’s famous fish & chip shop. Tragically,\u00a0we didn’t sample their ‘famous’ deep fried Mars bar….!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just a little further down the coast was Dunnottar Castle.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fabulously romantic ruined castle, which was built in the 9th<\/sup> century, on top of a lump of rock. There are sheer cliffs on three sides and it sits jutting out in to the North Sea, with numerous seagulls wheeling around it.\u00a0 It has a rather gruesome past for many reasons, one being that in 1297 William Wallace burnt the place down, burning alive the whole of the English Plantagenet garrison that was based there.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember hearing about that in the movie\u2026.!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dunnottar Castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We wandered around it for quite a while, wading through huge muddy puddles and slippery steps trying to imagine what the castle would look like with solid walls, ceilings and rooms full of people.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dunnottar Castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

From Dunnottar, we drove on down the coast to Duncan and Claire\u2019s home at Ethie Mains, near Inverkeilor.\u00a0 For a second time, they gave us a driveway for Eileen and welcomed us in.\u00a0 Rodney went off with Duncan on the quad bike for a tour of the farm and to get some fish from a local fisherman down on their beach and he kindly provided us with a beautiful cod that he had just caught.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rodney and the fisherman with our cod dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claire and I went for a walk up to Red Head a wonderful cliff top at the north of their property and then we wandered round the headland to the old fishermens\u2019 cottages above Lunan Bay, before picking up the track that headed back to their farmhouse.\u00a0 By the time we got back the sun had set and the well-worn pink wellies were leaking badly.\u00a0 I think I need a far sturdier pair for this country!\u00a0 I took Claire up on her offer of having a hot bath, which was heavenly deep and I found it hard to get myself out of it, as it was so wonderful enjoying my first bath in absolutely ages.\u00a0 But knowing Claire was cooking the cod and that dinner wouldn\u2019t be far off, I dragged myself out and enjoyed another wonderful meal.\u00a0 We spent the evening chatting in front of the fire before curling up for a good night\u2019s sleep in an enormous bed in a room that would fit three Eileens inside!!!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Red Head at Ethie Mains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next morning, we continued chatting over breakfast and finally said our goodbyes at 11:30am.\u00a0 Thank you so much, Claire and Duncan, for being such wonderful hosts and looking after us so well for a second time and we look forward to seeing you again as soon as we can.<\/p>\n

We got on the road again, stopping in Arbroath to gaze out at Bell Rock Lighthouse, way out at sea, and to buy some Abroath Smokies; thank you for the recommendation Claire, they were so delicious.\u00a0 We then drove through Dundee, past Scott\u2019s ship \u2018Discovery\u2019 and on beside the Firth of Tay towards Perth.\u00a0 We wanted to get fairly close to Stirling, so we continued on past Dron, Drunzie, Yetts of Muckhart, Pool of Muckhart, Dollar and finally pulled up at the Witches Crag campsite near Blairlogie, just north of Stirling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crikey, it\u2019s freezing !!!\u00a0\u00a0 Just before 8am, I dashed to the shower block across crispy white grass.\u00a0 I checked the thermometer that I had hung on Eileen\u2019s wing mirror: -7\u00b0c (20f)\u2026\u2026that\u2019s well below freezing!\u00a0 Overnight the puddles all around the campsite had become skating rinks for pixies. \u00a0Happily, the shower block was warm and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-road-in-great-britain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8194,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions\/8194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}