February Heatwave

The Broch beach from the dunes at Water of  Philorth

This morning the temperature briefly reached 16.5c, within  a degree of  the century old record held by Aberdeen for the highest February temperature. The snowdrops in the wood at Invernorth were fully open in the heat and appear to be 'going over'.We noticed several patches of daffodils,  wavy bittercress and lesser celandines and red currant just starting to flower in the hedge at Ashburn. We were cheered to overhear a toddler and her Mum being looking for the daisies on their lawn. Grey Granite and Rufus walked along the Line from Kirkton then round by Mains of Cairnbulg returning along the almost deserted beach. Until we reached the beach we were accompanied by lark song, along the beach black headed gulls flew noisily overhead.

Portsoy: a rare iron and stone gravemarker



A magnificent display of crocus in Aird Street. Spring really has arrived in Portsoy

The recent mild weather, 14.5c this afternoon, has brought wildflowers into bloom. There were several patches of butterwort in damp places at the roadside between Fraserburgh and Portsoy, notably by the Tyrie Burn. The banks of the Durn at Back Green (pictured below) had lesser celandines, daffodils and snowdrops all in flower.




Portsoy graveyard is situated by the shore close to the mouth of the Durn Burn where it forms a peaceful final resting place within sight and sound of the sea. It dates from around 1728 and has been extended on several occasions over the centuries so that now it seems to consist of several linked enclosures.There is a wide variety of gravestones ranging from the roughly hewn stones of the early 18th century to massively imposing Victorian headstones. The styles of earlier examples, in particular, are subtly different from those found in Buchan.

  

A rare surviving example of a cast iron and stone gravemarker. These were popular for a brief period in the 19th century but have not stood the test of time well, in many cases the iron work has corroded away. The stone inset solved the problem of writing individual inscriptions on to pre cast iron. Ironically this stone is that of  a mason.

Portsoy Salomon Bothy, the venue for an interesting talk on Castle Point, Cullykhan where an enigmatic medieval castle was excavated during the 1960s.

Peathill manse:snowdrops at the glebe

Grey granite and Rufus happened to peer through a hole in the glebe dyke whilst passing Peathill Manse recently. Grey Granite was surprised by the extensive carpet of snowdrops under the trees  in the glebe. We associate  the glebe with daffodils which, each spring,  are bunched up by Rosehearty BBs and sold for charity at the local shop.

Peathill manse was built around 1770 and remodelled during the ministry of Rev Walter Gregor. The dilapidated, insanitary state  of the manse caused so much concern to Walter Gregor that for almost 25 years of his ministry, from about 1875, onwards he lived in a house built at his own expense in Brucklay Street,Rosehearty. The Grade B listed  manse is now dilapidated and uninhabited, it  is included in the Scottish 'Buildings at Risk' register.

The two storey manse has three wings and extensive stabling and steading. The frontage of the manse retains an air of decayed elegance, despite every pain of glass in the windows having been smashed so that the shutters flap and bang eerily in the wind. The porch over the front door is a 19th century addition. During the cholera outbreak  at Pittulie, Walter Gregor famously preached a series of sermons urging his parishioners to whitewash their walls and plant flowers round their doors. One can hardly imagine that he would approve of the decay and debris about the manse but he would surely have taken pleasure from the snowdrops.

Snowdrops in the glebe. There are also daffodil and wild hyacinth (bluebell) leaves showing through. It was an unusually mild day (14.5c) and the snowdrop flowers are fully open.

First lambs

The first lambs of the year, a temperature of 14.5, larks in the sky and a bright patch of celandines at Peathill, Spring must be almost here.

Sandhaven shoreline

The shore between Sandhaven and Phingask is usually well populated with seals, seabirds, waders and ducks probably attracted by the rich feeding ground created by the water treatment works outflow. This morning at high tide there were eiders, mallards, oystercatchers and curlews and a large flotilla of blackheaded gulls. In previous years there has been a pair of shellducks, absent today. There were, as usual, cormorants on the sea wall and flocks of restless starlings feeding on the seaweed thrown up  on to the shore. large, noisy flocks of geese grazed in the fields over the road.

Philorth

A perfect spring morning in Philorth Woods where there was shelter from the strong NW wind. The snowdrops are now fully in bloom and carpet large swathes of the woods. Already the woods are scented by the unfurling garlic and today resounded with the incessant drumming of (unseen) woodpeckers.

Coltsfoot

The first coltsfoot flowers of the year at the roadside in Pittulie. This on a mild morning when there were larks singing high over the ploughed fields and the occasional small  flying insect fussing about.

Dreamwords: An experiment in honesty

A copy of Dreamwords,  Book 1, the Honesty Edition, awaits collection from a bench in Strichen Road Park

Yesterday we were surprised to see a neatly cellophane wrapped copy of a book lying on a bench on the Links. At first this seemed to be  a discarded catalogue type publication but on closer inspection it proved to be part of  a project in honesty. The author has distributed copies of his book in several communities across in Scotland. members of the public are invited to take the book provided they promise to read it and either pay £1 to the author if they don't enjoy the book or to buy the book from him and order the next volume in the series. This is an experiment in honesty, through which the author, Paul Story, hopes to finance his next book. Paul is moving round Scotland writing and distributing his book, his courage and commitment can only be admired as he follows his own rainbow trail.

The question for Grey Granite is whether or not the book is worth reading but she wishes the author, Paul Story, well in his extraordinary project, detailed on the website below.

Each of the benches in Strichen Road Park seemed to have a couple of books awaiting collection.

WWW.dreamwords.com

Pittulie castle: A close encounter

 Pittulie Castle is visible from the Sandhaven to Rosehearty road but, being set in the middle of a field some distance back from the road, is relatively inaccessible. As a result it is protected from vandalism and is the home of pigeons and rooks. We are told that a barn owl inhabits the ruins and  there is heronry here in spring, certainly there are usually several heron on the shore near the end of 'Mains's  Road'.



Details of the ornate stonework which badge Pittulie as a an elegant courtyard chateau, though on a far smaller scale than its neighbour Pitsligo. The beautiful sandstone corbelling at the base of the round stair tower (top left) subtly exploits the grain of the sandstone with tremendous effect.





A hard frost on a bright day provided the perfect conditions to cross the field surrounding Pittulie Castle and to inspect the ruins. The castle which probably replaces an older building dates from 1596 but has later additions and was built by the Frasers of Philorth.

Charles McKean variously describes Pittulie as being 'set in the delectable flat land round Fraserburgh' and 'sitting like a stranded battleship in fields within sight of Pitsligo Castle'. Pitsligo is just visible in the distant trees.

 

The castle from the East.

The low main entrance to the original tower, the architraves of the door have worn cable mouldings,  two cantilevered stones support the lintel, one of the square holes for the drawbar which would have been used to secure the door can just be made out on the right.(3rd stone up) The interior of the castle is strewn with rubble and bird droppings.

The tall chimney probably belonged to what are thought to be the ruined kitchens. There are two round stair towers, the larger, visible in the angle of the tower and accommodation block, has superb sandstone corbelling and rises from the level of the main hall. It probably led up to a viewing platform. Infront of it in the picture, a smaller tower on the courtyard block would have given access to the main rooms which were on the first floor. 

The castle, like Pitsligo was built round a courtyard, the two storey courtyard buildings had the principal rooms on the first floor above vaulted cellars. By tradition the laird's room was at the top of the square tower.

The buildings on the right of the picture were possibly the kitchens and are a likely to be a later addition.. 



The four storey main tower has oriel windows set diagonally on the NE and NW corners. These  would have given amazing views of the Moray Firth. Above the main door of the tower is a tympanum  and now empty armorial panels. The missing panels have been built into walls at nearby Mains of Pittulie



The main accommodation block had turrets at the SW and SE corners, these have incredibly ornate bases.There was a large doorway in the centre of the south facing wall which would have given access to the gardens. 

The castle was probably built for the marriage of Alexander Fraser of Philorth and Margaret Abernethy of Saltoun in 1596. It was as a result of this marriage that the Frasers inherited the Saltoun peerage. The castle was passed to the Cumine family who enlarged it before later abandoning it around 1850. William Cumine of Pittulie joined Pitsligo's Horse  along with Hugh Mercer in 1745, after Culloden he lived in Edinburgh for sometime before eventually being able to return to Pittulie.