Slippery cliffs would be too bad in a high wind!
THERE have been bitterly cold winds recently, with ice and snow flurries; a sign that winter is catching up with us. I'd be surprised if Brechin doesn't get a thorough-going blizzard before too long.
Garden birds need to be fed and watered if they are to survive when their food sources are frozen over. If you put out warm water for birds why is it, I wonder, that it turns to ice more readily than cold water? You'd think the reverse would be the case. This is a phenomenon I've never really understood.
We've been fortunate in getting a window on the weather for the last two Monday outings. We've even had the sun on our faces; a sure remedy for the winter blues that strike during the latter part of January, or so psychologists tell us.
A fortnight since we rambled for seven miles or so in the hills beyond Fettercairn. Starting from Craigmoston Brig we took off along a path on Fasque Estate. The Estate has been with the Gladstone family since 1829 and was purchased originally by the father of William Ewart Gladstone, one time Prime Minister of Great Britain.
We followed a route which took us past Home Farm, over the Crichie Burn and toward Garrol Woods where we had a refreshment halt. In the weeks succeeding the festive season coffee stops become something of a treat; our usual spartan fare supplemented by left over fruit cake, shortie or even home-brewed liqueur.
Crossing the Garrol Burn we made our way across marshy ground and along the side of the Shank of Cardowan. Near here you can see earth mounds and wall ruins, the remains of the King's Deer Dyke, a royal hunting park in medieval times. Along a hillside ridge three golden fields caught the eye. Too distant for detailed examination it appears that this securely fenced land produces a grassy crop as food for game birds. Never having noticed the like before I presume that this hillside fodder is at an experimental stage. Interesting.
The return route brought us along the road that passes Fasque House and the herd of domesticated deer that have grazed there for years. Although we'd had rain it was nothing to speak of but we did arrive home with muddy boots. (OS LANDRANGER SHEET 45).
It must be a couple of years since we walked from the harbour at Stonehaven. Last week we followed a route well known to Stanehivers which takes you out eventually to Dunnottar Castle.
Travelling north we'd noticed that it was snowing on the western hills and we arrived at Stonehaven in a sleet shower anticipating a walk requiring fortitude. Not so. On cue, it seemed, the squall ceased and the sun appeared and stayed with us for the duration.
Crossing the Carron Water in Dunnottar Woodland you come upon a variety of quaint constructions; an ice house, a shell house and a bath or plunge pool built at the behest of Lady Kennedy in the early nineteenth century for family use, funding seemingly not a hindrance
On the higher land the road passes the one time BT International Radio Station now derelict, superseded by a more modern technology. It's sad to see a building, once a buzz of purposeful activity, empty and forlorn, windows broken and doors banging in the wind.
From here it's a short step to Dunnottar Castle. The silhouette, standing atop a massive rock of conglomerate projecting from the coast has to be as dramatic as any in the British Isles. Not surprisingly the Castle has been used a number of times for filming, including scenes from Zefferelli's version of "Hamlet."
To visit it is to relive some of the darkest chapters of Scottish history. Besieged for eight months in 1651 by Cromwell's Roundheads the fortress was eventually forced to capitulate but not before the ancient Honours of Scotland (Crown, Sword and Sceptre) had been smuggled out under the noses of the Parliamentarians and hidden in the Old Kirk of Kinneff, six miles away.
The cliff walk north back to Stonehaven was muddy and slippery in parts. With steep drops to the sea it's not a track I'd like to negotiate in a high wind but today, in the sun and with herring gulls and fulmars for company, it was a delight.
We descended via Bervie Braes having covered a five mile walk of great variety. (OS LANDRANGER SHEET 45).
My snowdrops have not bloomed yet. I was reading about a country garden near Dunblane that boasts dozens of varieties of this diminutive but bonny plant; and here's me thinking that a snowdrop was just a snowdrop.
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Weather for Brechin
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
