Drinnie's Wood: The Observatory and Ascot of the North

Continuing strong winds drove us inland to the relative shelter of Drinnie's Wood for our morning walk today. The wood, managed by the Forestry Commission, was part of the Pitfour estate and contains 'The Observatory'.  This  extraordinary folly was constructed by Admiral Ferguson in 1845  ostensibly to enable him to watch the progress of horses on the private racecourse he set out round his estate.

The octagonal Observatory is 50 feet high and stands on a hill 396 feet above sea level, making it a prominent landmark. The top section of the tower is constructed of granite but the lower part is of brick with stone dressings and was only relatively recently painted white. Originally there was an internal  wooden stairway with treads projecting from the wall but during restoration this was replaced with spiral metal stair cases. There is a fireplace in the main gallery and the eight windows give superb views over the surrounding countryside. The Admiral's racecourse, 16m wide and as level as possible, began near Cairnorchies before running for about 3.5km through White Cow Wood, Auchrynie, Cabra and Gaval. The observatory would not have given a particularly good view of the track but the admiral claimed to have built it in order reduce the distance he had to walk from his house to watch the racing horses.



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We set off from the car park at Den of Howe and were glad of the relative shelter from the wind and occasional hail showers provided by the trees. The wood consists primarily of conifers but there are mixed plantings, including beeches, the paths are wide have a good surface and are relatively well drained. We saw a fleeting glimpse of roe deer crossing the tracks. Unfortunately the sign post to the Louden Wood stone circle has vanished  and the track to it is very overgrown. The route through Drinnie's Wood brought us to the Strichen to New Deer Road at Auchmachar, needless to say we were battered by a heavy hail shower on the open  road leading to Whitecow Wood and were surprised by the strength of the wind in the open. We followed what is probably a stretch of the race course from the edge of Whitecow to Cairnorchies thus returned to our starting point. At Den o' Howe we noted some rather bizarre and incongruous Christmas decorations, including a Santa and sleigh on  a shed roof and a grotesque life size manger scene. Fortunately, 12th Night rapidly approaches.

Yet another hail shower sweeping in above Bruxie Wood