Footdee & Old Aberdeen

The November walk was the long-promised trip to Aberdeen to "do" a semi-cultural/sightseeing round Footdee and Old Aberdeen. Four of us - Ian, Colin, Nigel and me - caught the bus in to Aberdeen and we were joined on the bus at Culter by Dave, fresh from his Pilates class at Kippie.

The early part of the walk from Union St, along Regent Quay was pretty busy and industrial, but when got to Pocra Quay and Footdee it became much more interesting. The iconic Roundhouse and Silver Darlings restaurant beckoned us onwards:

Scarty's Monument - actually a ventilator shaft

Team in "Fittie"

Fittie house

Fittie house 2

We were getting a bit peckish so a quick lunch stop at the famous Inversnecky:

We then marched a couple of miles along the beach and turned back up towards Bridge of Don and Donmouth Nature Reserve and the bird hide there:

Heron

Across the bridge and down to the north side of the Don, we headed inland half a mile to the historic Brig o' Balgownie: 

Looking back east from the Brig:

We strolled along the riverside in Seaton Park and soon St. Machar's Cathedral came in to view:

There is a myth that Robert the Bruce's body was dismembered and various body parts distributed throughout the country, with an arm interred inside the cathedral - but apparently that's exactly what it is - a myth.

Next up was Old Aberdeen and the University:

The Town House - now a museum

The new University library aka The Glass House 

The interior of the library, looking upwards at the elliptical stairway

Sorry, Colin - it's no longer a brewery

Cloisters

King's College at dusk

Scotland - England. CK couldn't decide.

Gallery ceiling inside

Sharpy rants about the lack of a public square at the new development opposite Marischal College

We had to ask where the new leopard (not panther) sculpture (designed by the same artist as the Kelpies) was and we still didn't notice it at first - look up!

Darkness descends over Provost Skene's House.

Finally, we were ready for some beer - Archibald Simpson's was the first stop and we were joined there by John. 3 pints later, we moved to Carriages, where Jeb joined us for a swift one, after which all 7 of us headed to the Jewel in the Crown.

We managed to catch the 9:45 pm bus, but it had been a long day - too long for Nigel and Dave apparently:

Dave is one scary dude, sleeping with his eyes open.

 Finally, the stats and the route:

Great day out - and, for November, the weather was excellent - mostly sunny, albeit with single figure temperatures.

Glen Esk/Loch Lee

Our October walk was one featured in the Times recently as one of Britain's 20 Best Autumn Walks. We decided to expand things a little by doing a combined cycle/walk, starting at the Retreat in Glen Esk, where we'd cycled on a beautiful day last year. Our leader, Ken, made a relatively rare appearance, joining Dave, John, Ian, Colin and me.

The distance from the coffee shop at the Retreat to the end of the tarmac at Invermark Lodge was just over 5 miles and after that there was a good track that ran along the north west side of Loch Lee for another couple of miles.  Time to tether up the horses:

Then a small change of gear:

Some nice, if ever so slightly daunting looking hills in the glen:

Some interesting items of apparel too:

Who was brave enough to wear the multi-coloured headscarf?:

John wasn't the only one looking slightly dodgy:

Soon we arrived at the Falls of Unich:

Then it was a fairly steep and slippy climb upwards, with the path a little tricky and precarious at times, but the views were lovely:

It got even better when we eventually got to the top and could look down on Loch Lee with the lowering sun behind us casting our shadows:

On the downward journey, we spotted this dark little lochan:

Then it was back on to the bikes for the ride back to the Retreat. All went well along the trail, but less than a mile in to the tarmac'd ride, Ian got a puncture. Dave, Ken and John had sped on ahead and were out of sight, so Colin and I set off to see if we could catch up with them - but never did until we got to the cars. Ken went back and picked Ian up and soon we were all off back to Banchory, but not before we snapped the beautiful sunset:

All agreed it was a great walk with splendid scenery and views, reminiscent a little of our trips to the Lake District a few years ago - without the rain! Here's the route and stats: