The road to Braemar

As we drove NW towards Braemar the scenery was stunning, reminiscent of Glencoe in a way. We stopped for a bite to eat beside a fast running stream with a pair of Golden Eagles flying overhead and landing on the hill nearby.

Some Scottish Heritage sites were free that day and Braemar Castle was one of them so we stopped for a visit. We were not expecting much but in fact it was really interesting.

Owned by the community and leased for 50 years, they have been doing it up for the last few years. A rich benefactor also bought them all the interior furnishings, which meant it was stuck in a time warp and brought it to life.

The previous Laird died a couple of years ago and his nephew, Philip took over. However, we found out that he is in fact a Librarian and lives in Milton Keynes!

This is a very ornate wheelbarrow and
spade used by Queen Victoria 

Dun Coillich

Further north we stayed near Dun Coillich, a hill (572m) in area of community woodland and east of Scheihallion (1083m). We could walk to Dun Coillich from the campsite but as it was too far for Purdy we took separate walks!

Sun setting behind Scheihallion

Dees hike the following morning - misty at the top

A lovely place for a break

There were a surprising amount of wild flowers still around in the hills this late in the year, here are some.

From here we visited Crieff further south and also Aberfeldy and Kenmore close by.

Fish ladder at Crieff

At Aberfeldy, a lovely town, we hiked up The Birks of Aberfeldy (named after a poem by Robert Burns) to the Falls of Moness.

Purdy did very well!

Kenmore is a village at the northern end of Loch Tay. Set in beautiful surroundings, we arrived with the loch bathed in late afternoon sunshine. If it was earlier we would have gone in for a swim as the water was surprisingly not too cold!

Scone Palace, Perth

We stayed next to Scone Palace for a visit the following day. The grounds were lovely for us and Purdy to explore as well as the Palace itself.

The Palace has an interesting history, most famous as the Crowning Place of Scottish Kings, now owned by the Mansfield family.

Keep walking left to get to the middle!

A Giant Redwood in the Pinetum

A very friendly Peacock

Purdy is back on the road!

After some recuperation at home Purdy was nearly back to her normal self. We still don't know exactly what happened in Norway but suspect some sort of spine/nerve issue. X-rays showed arthritis in her spine and she doesn't curl up like she used to. Here is a lovely pic when she won first prize in the 'Golden Oldies' category at Raveningham Country Fair near Beccles just before we left.

So we bought the largest bed we could fit in Muy with high sides. Previously, she had a smaller bed on Muy. She took to this well at home so we reintroduced her to Muy with some treats and then took the plunge to go on another trip.

Ireland was an option but many campsites closed at the end of September so we decided to head for the east of Scotland to begin with. Our second stop of the trip was on a farm near Ravenscar, North Yorkshire. An interesting place on the railway that was going to be built up into a resort until they found the trains had problems getting up the hills. The roads are here but not the houses!

Camping on the farm near Ravenscar

View from old WWII Radar Station

We visited The Cheviot Hills in Northumberland in 2022 and really liked the area. Lovely scenery without all the people! So we stayed here again on our way north, this time at Wooler.

Nearby was Humbleton Hill, the site of a battle between the English and Scottish in 1402. We are not walking as far with Purdy these days so we took separate walks to the top.

View at night from Phil's walk

So far so good with the weather in Scotland; like here near Lauder!