North Aberdeenshire Coast - much more picturesque than we imagined

On the north coast we visited the quite unique villages of Crovie and Gardenstown. The was a high and low walk from Crovie (pronounced Crivie) to Gardenstown so we walked the loop.

Seaglass on the beach

This is where we parked up overnight

Suits you Girlie! Was a cold morning.

The Garden Arms Hotel was visited by Bram Stoker in 1896, just before he finished writing Dracula!

Bedroom with a lovely seaview!

Duff House, on the edge of Banff, was a very interesting visit, not just for the house itself but it also houses a lot of paintings and furniture from The National Galleries of Scotland.

Taken down from the roof and replaced with replicas, this statue is one of three and made from lead filled inside with small stones. The collection also included a Gainsborough and an El Greco.

Dee's favourite (a pot pourri bowl)

The sea view from Whitehills, a lovely little village 

We stayed at a small campsite on a farm and stumbled across this unusual bridge nearby, named Craigmin. It's like a bridge built on top of a bridge. We had to walk down the bank on one side to get a glimpse through the undergrowth.

It is an 18th century bridge within the estate of Letterfourie House, which we walked up to along what would have been the drive for horses and carriages. So the bridge was built across the steep gorge for the drive.

Unfortunately it is on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland and in August 2018 was classified as being at 'high' risk and in 'poor' condition.

This is what it used to look like (below, photo from internet), shame it doesn't look like that now, although we kind of liked it being all overgrown.