Dell Woods Nethy Bridge and Broomhill Bridge

The woods around Nethy Bridge and the riverside walk to Broomhill are particularly attractive in autumn as vegetation begins to change colour.

Rowans and pines in Dell Woods

The woodland floor had a rich crop of delicious blaeberries, ripe for the picking.

Rock art?

Fly Agaric, poisonous but one of the more photogenic of the many fungi to be found in the woods at this time of year.

Coulnakyle on the fertile flood plain of  the Spey, here seen from the disused  Grantown to Nethy railway, part of the Speyside Way.

Between  1566 and 1582 Coulnakyle was the home of the Duncan Grant, eldest son of the Laird of Grant who resided at Castle Grant.  Royalist General Montrose took refuge there in 1644 whilst his troops hid in the Forest of Abernethy which then stretched as far as the farm, in order to evade the Duke of Argyll's forces. Clounakyle appropriately means 'at the back of the woods'. In 1689 General Mackay sheltered there to avoid Bonnie Dundee who was leading the rebellion against protestant King, William of Orange.

The Spey seen from Broomhill Bridge, about a mile beyond Coulnakyle

The wooden cantilever road bridge over the Spey close to Broomhill Station

The bridge was opened in 1894 and is the only wooden bridge over the Spey

Giants in the Forest Nethy Bridge

The riverside track walk at Nethy Bridge leads up the bank of the Nethy from the eponymous bridge. This is a particularly beautiful walk in autumn when the leaves are starting to turn and there is  a musty woodland smell of damp leaves and aniseed from the Sweet Cecily which lines much of the path.

Maple leaf

Bright rowan berries and bird cherry leaves turning red.

This seems to have been a particularly good year for wild fruits including bird cherries

Grey Granite and Dr Anne spotted this ring of giant tissue flowers in the wood last June. They were not sure what they were and felt that the flowers and other nearby installations such as giant natural chandeliers did little to enhance the environment. Certainly the installations which were in place earlier in the year are looking very bedraggled and, although wild animals may use them as shelter and for food, are intrusive in such  a beautiful unspoiled place. Now giant heads made from natural materials by local school children have been added. Grey Granite learns that all these structures are part of a community arts project, 'Giants in the Forest,' and are designed to encourage people to interact with the woods by adding to them. A woodland walk is to be held after dark later this week, the heads are impressive and will undoubtedly add drama to the walk but Grey Granite has reservations about the suitability of such installations in the long term.

Tyrie Kirkyard:Loveliest of Trees

It being the season, Grey Granite went to Tyrie Kirkyard to look at the cherry tree, planted by Rev. Charles Birnie many years ago in a far corner of the manse garden, his 'Little Eden 'twixt the Tyrie and the Dour'.  Fortuitously the cherry is close to the memorial stone erected to him by members of his congregation and the Buchan Heritage Society. Grey Granite remembers Charlie quoting this  much loved Housman poem from the pulpit at Rosehearty.

'Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough, 

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now of my threescore years and ten,

twenty will not come again, 

And take from seventy springs a score, 

It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom

fifty springs are little room, 

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.'

Mr Arbuthnot's Cabinet of Curiosities

Mr Arbuthnot's Cabinet of Curiosities

Mr Arbuthnot was a wealthy merchant from Peterhead who amassed a vast collection of amazing artifacts. On his death in 1850 these were bequeathed to the community of Peterhead and formed the nucleus of the town's Arbuthnot Museuem.

The cabinet was created by youngsters from the Peterhead area and is a travelling museum filled with curious items  from the collection and creations inspired by them..

Cairnbulg Castle

Grey Granite was privileged to accompany a group of children on a visit to Cairnbulg Castle which is not normally open to visitors. It was a beautiful sunny day and the children had a memorable learning experience. We were shown round the castle by the owner, The Hon. Mrs Kate Nicolson, eldest daughter of the 20th Lady Saltoun.

We approached the castle on foot, walking along the driveway from the Bridge of Philorth

Seen from above the trees in the castle grounds  are starting to turn

Looking from the battlements over the what may be the Pool of Orth from which the name Philorth is derived.The sea is just visible on the horizon but once reached almost to the castle. Philorth was one of the '9 knuckle castles' built on the coast to defend Buchan against Norse invaders.

This picture of the great keep emphasizes the position of the castle on a defensive mound. The keep is thought to be built on the site of, and possibly to incorporate the remains of, an earlier castle destroyed in the by Robert the Bruce during the Harrying of Buchan. The tower was restored around 1380.

The impressive main entrance to the castle.
The straircase tower, in which the front door and front hall are situated, was built in the 16th century.

By 1613  Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th Laird of Philorth, who had  spent vast amounts of money developing the town of Fraserburgh   became bankrupt  and was forced to sell the castle to a kinsman, Fraser of Durris . It was an agreement of the original sale that Sir Alexander Fraser, or his descendants, would have the right to but back the castle should it ever come on the market.  Despite this agreement  and a lawsuit  the attempts by his descendant, the 10th Lord Saltoun  to repurchase the castle in 1663 failed. 

The view from the top of the 90 foot keep towards Mains of Cairnbulg.
The staircase tower and round tower are seen beyond the range linking them with the keep.

The round tower is thought to have been built about 1545, like other sections of the castle, it was plundered for building stone during the ownership of the 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (1775-1801). Much of the castle was rebuilt in 1896 by  Sir John Duthie, who received building stone as tocher from his stone merchant father in law.

In 1934 the castle was purchased by the 19th Lord Saltoun who sympathetically modernised it thus returning the castle t to the ownership of the family by whom it was built.The castle is the only one of the knuckle castles still to be occupied.

It is now the family home of the Hon. Mrs Kate Nicolson, eldest daughter of the 20th Lady Saltoun. The castle is the only one of the knuckle castles still to be occupied.