Rufus makes a new friend

Grey Granite and Rufus went to Strichen to meet Dr. Anne and her friend J.D. at the Community Park.  After coffee at the Lodge they walked along the line towards Brucklay. It was a pleasant cold morning, with pockets of frost and frozen hailstones along the way. An attempt to visit the stone circle had to be aborted because of the impassable muddy quagmire at the top of the path. Along the Line we saw several large flocks of small birds, mainly chaffinches.

The renovated Lodge, recently developed as a coffee shop,  provides delicious scones and is an excellent meeting place.

The grim ruins of Strichen House seen from the Line.



We walked along the Line to the crossing with the A981 then doubled back to leave the Line at the bridge carrying  a minor road to Viewbank over the Line. The steepish steps were very slippery and hoar frost lingered on the vegetation.



We returned to Strichen along the road past Borrowhill Wood, with views  towards Hunters' Lodge and the White Horse on Mormond Hill.

The path through Newton Wood was obstructed by trees, some we thought victims of the recent gales, others probably deliberately felled.

Rufus, Dr Anne, J.D. and Grey Granite, all being in their primes, negotiated the obstacle without difficulty, despite the predictions to the contrary of an elderly passerby.

The swans on the lake rather haughtily turned their backs when they realised that we were not bearing gifts of food.

Hoar frost

Today, in sharp contrast to yesterday, the temperature was only a seasonal 3c by mid morning, in sheltered spots away from the sun there was slight hoar frost as can be seen on these cow parsley leaves. We walked round Chapelton of Phingask and Merryhillock noticing a siskin, a flock of chaffinches feeding on the hedgerows, starlings on telegraph wires, geese flying overhead in a colossal noisy 'v' of barbed wire and hearing a distant curlew.

Boxing Day Walk: A riddle from Victorian Rathen

Morning sunlight catching an ivy clad sycamore in a corner of St Ethernan's Kirkyard

An extraordinary mild Boxing Day brought temperatures of around 15c by mid morning. We walked from St Ethernan's Kirkyard in Rathen over the hill to Rathen station. The air was very clear and there were wide views over the countryside, bathed in pale sunlight. Despite the mild weather there was quite a strong wind, particularly noticeable coming back over the Hill of Ardglassie. We saw deer slots in the sandy track, Rufus checked out the rabbit burrows and a buzzard wheeled over the Corncraigs woods. The recent mild,  frost free weather has  brought out a fresh crop of yellow flowers on the gorse,  we also noted that it has enabled the 'Uncle Tammie' of  this riddle, collected in Rathen by Rev Walter Gregor, to  be active.

As I gaed ower the Brig o' Dee

I met Uncle Tammie

Wi'a the wardle on's back-

Wasna he a clever mannie?

Grey Granite challenges blog readers to solve the riddle.

 

Philorth Woods, after the solstice.

This being the first day following the winter solstice, there was a sense of a new beginning,  the year having turned and the increase in daylight having begun, however imperceptibly. We celebrated with a walk along the Line from Kirkton, past Philorth Halt and on towards Rathen Station, leaving the Line to walk towards Mains of Philorth returning Philorth Halt through the wood. The Water of Philorth was running fast and high, many of the fields along our route were partly flooded, there were geese grazing in Wet Fold.  The gorse which had been so conspicuously bright a couple of weeks ago has faded, only a few daisies and dandelions remain in flower, the countryside reduced to duns and dull greens. However, there are the early forms of catkins on elders, willow trees along the Line have well formed buds and the sunlight lit up the trees in the wood. 



The dubby track in to the wood from Mains of Philorth was loud with the cawing of rooks.



There were incessantly cawing rooks circling above the pines and larches  .




The clay drainage pipes stacked by the track caught the sunlight and seemed to glow warmly.
(The colours have been emphasised by increasing the saturation level of the image.) 



Already there are fat flower buds on the despised rhododendrons which line the driveway.



The spears of snowdrops, which will eventually carpet the wood are starting to emerge.

Sunlight and riders, looking towards Home Farm

Wildlife Watching

Grey Granite has been concerned lately by the disrespectful treatment of wild animals in unnatural situations for human entertainment; pandas in Edinburgh and camels in Ellon.  She came upon this gentle and evocative poem by the Irish poet, Bernard O'Donoghue and thought that it captured perfectly the  fascinating privilege of watching wild animals go about their daily lives in their natural habitats, undisturbed and oblivious to human presence.

Romesdal Burn entering Loch Snizort, haunt of  dippers, heron, cormorants and the elusive otter                  

Hover

For John O'Donoghue

After our sighting of the kingfisher,

humming straight up the river in its path

of turquoise, we would stop at the bridge

several times a day, hoping and praying.

We saw the dipper, now a bird as common

as the blackbird, corncrake or the crane;

often we'd see the heron keeping an eye

on its schedule, before lifting off

into the wind and swinging in a big arc

towards Cullen with the wind to its back.

But shortly before we left, among the rocks

beneath the outlaw's cave, we caught a still

rarer glimpse: the otter, briefly incautious,

appearing in the sun, then gone. And now

it was him we went back to look for.

We didn't see him again. But we've marked

the rock he paused on, so we'll return

next year and find him, sure of the place

above the water where his holt is, dark

and sheltered from the bandogs of the day.

Seasonal Sighting

A gathering of Santas about to take part in a seasonal fun run in the Broch

Solastalgia

Solastalgia

According to the Observer's Ethical Living writer Lucy Siegle ,philosopher Glenn Albrecht defines Solastalgia as the bereft feeling created by the change beyond recognition to a locality by the creation of a giant carpark, compulsory flooding or other change. In Fraserburgh's case by the devastation caused to the Strichen Road (officially James Ramsay) Park by the construction of a new swimming pool. Surely there are sufficient derelict and underdeveloped sites in the town for the park to have been unmolested by this development.

Philorth Woods;after the hurricane

As a result of the hurricane occasional complete trees have been blown down  some living limbs have also been torn from trees and the floor of the wood is littered with fallen branches. Most of the branches seem to be brittle dead wood and the fallen trees seem mainly  to have had hollow or rotting trunks.

Morning sunlight catching a magnificent horse chestnut tree in the wood, fortunately undamaged by the storm.

Russet leaves catching the sunlight under bare trees

An ash tree has come down near the farmyard and has been cut into sections,  revealing the hollow trunk

Wintery Wastart

Grey Granite and Rufus walked over the Wastart to Haven of Braco in the beautiful, crystalline  light of cold Monday morning.  The Wastart was bejewelled with temporary lochans, reflecting the sky and thinly iced over, a distant covering of snow lay towards Troup. Grey Granite has never seen as much debris as has been blown up by the hurricane force winds of last week. The usual plastic waste on the lower path by Lochielair  and also large boulders at the edge of the car park and drifts of tangle etc. aginst the dyke by the  Tower. The necklace of eiders was strung out along the sea, there were oyster catchers  and red shanks on the rocks and we heard seals keening over towards Quarryhead.

This shot exaggerates the height of the rocks on the Round Brae but captures the quality of the winter sunlight



Rufus exploring the Round Brae



Ice patterns



Semi frozen lochans reflecting the clear sky. Rufus enjoyed cracking the ice and crunching it up.



After the storm.

The hurricane force winds which battered Fraserburgh on Thursday and Friday have died down and almost all the snow  miraculously melted  overnight. The profile of the beach has been noticeably steepened and the edge of the dunes has been eroded by the force of the storm.  This morning Grey Granite was pleased to notice how many people were enjoying the outdoors, dog walkers, footballers, runners, cyclists and several intrepid surfers riding the waves.

Early December

 



The first few days of December have brought a dramatic change in the weather, strong winds, night frosts  and the first snow falls of the winter have replaced the record breaking mild temperatures which we basked in during  much of November.
 

Bare trees in Philorth Woods

  

Bricktop Mushroom, (Hypholoma sublateritium) characteristically growing in a large colony on a decaying hawthorn stump provided a splash of colour by the side of the A952 at Philorth



December 4th brought the first flurries of snow, enough to frost Tiger Hill and the beach above the high water mark. This is a week later than the first snowfall of last year.

Pitfour:The Blenheim of the North

The woods close to the main road at Cartlehaugh consist of mature trees predominantly beech, ash, sycamore and elm.

Grey Granite has been reading Pitfour: The Blenheim of the North by Alex Buchan. This excellent, thoroughly researched  book is a fascinating history of the estate. Inspired by the account of the changing fortunes of the estate Grey Granite and Rufus decided to explore the remnants of the once extensive property. The woods close to the main road consist of mature trees predominantly beech, ash, sycamore and elm.

Taitswell, the factor's house near the East Lodge

Pitfour Lake, an artificial area of water covering an area of about 50 acres created by James Ferguson,the third Laird of Pitfour, as part of a major landscaping project which transformed the parkland early in the 18th century. Creating the lake involved diverting the main driveway to Pitfour House and in the process building two bridges to carry it across two islands formed by the natural terrain and increased water level.The lake caused great ill feeling between the Ferguson's of Pitfour and their neighbours the Russells of Aden who were afraid that it would flood their adjacent property.

A beech tree looking incongruous in  a field of neeps, once presumably part of the parkland surrounding the lake. The lake was possibly built partly as a reservoir for the  canal which, it was ambitiously intended, would link Pitfour to the sea.

A whooper swan, there were also  mallards and cormorants on the lake which is stocked with assorted fish.

The derelict Temple of Theseus overlooking the lake, a replica of a Greek Temple built shortly after the construction of the lake. It may have been used as a cold water bath or to house alligators. The Angling Club members  now tie their boats up in front of the Temple

The Kennels with porticoes and columns,typifies the classical style of architecture throughout the estate

An extremely late flowering foxglove growing in a sheltered spot beside the anglers' clubhouse

The avenue of stately beeches lining the road from Taitswell to the Mintlaw to Fraserburgh road, an iconic feature of the improved landscape.

Delgatie Castle

Grey Granite and Dr Anne arranged to meet at Delgatie Castle, Grey Granite parked in the lower, visitors car park. Dr Anne, having Hay connections, prudently parked closer to the castle. The woodland tracks through the estate look inviting but today in the heavy rain were awash. However, Grey Granite enjoyed the short walk up through the castle garden to the castle and hoped to take some photographs on the way back. She anticipated that the rain would have gone off by then. Alas, there was at that point a heavy downpour which made photography impossible and flooded several of the minor roads on Grey Granite's  cross country route home from King Edward.

Delgatie Castle from the visitors car park. The imposing castle was a seat of the Hays, Earls of Erroll and High Constables of Scotland. The castle has been much altered but the original 5 storey square keep probably dates from 1570. Mary Queen of Scots spent three days at Delgatie after the Battle of Corrichie. A Delgatie Hay was standard bearer to Montrose.

Remains of a waterwheel by the Laundry

The pink washed laundry, now Forester's Cottage was built about 1800 and has extraordinary ogee windows and crockets (the ornate little towers at each corner of the roof)

Cannons by the main entrance to the castle overlook the park lands and trout fishery

Grey Granite hopes that it will be possible to revisit the castle and grounds in better weather
 and to follow the route suggested by the Walkhighlands website.

November: unseasonable contrasts

Dapper male eiders at Sandhaven Harbour

The mild weather of recent weeks, 16c a week ago, has brought the gorse back into extensive flower. This morning the path over the Cairnhill was lined with fragrant gorse. Stitch wort bloomed at the dykeside, alkanet flowers in the shelter of the gorse and, despite the gales of the weekend, a few frail campions are flowering in the ditch by Monthooly dookit. By Sandhaven Harbour and on Boothby Road we have seen new leaves of Lesser Celandine, there are already daffodil shoots several inches above ground.

Pink strawberry flowers, possibly a variety known as Pink Panda growing on the bank outside Hillhead of Pittulie Cottage

The Broch Beach yesterday, deserted and swept by winds topping 70 m.p.h, though the temperature was 14.5c. This morning it had fallen to 6.5c.