From Park To Castle

We left Seahouses on yet another wet morning. Our destination on this occasion was further north and into Scotland for a couple of weeks. We set off on which I'm sure would be a glorious journey in better weather, up the A1 towards Edinburgh. I must admit to feeling slightly anxious about this part of the trip as I don't particularly enjoy driving around or into big cities. My worries were swiftly allayed as our route skirted the outskirts of the city and we were soon driving across the magnificent and relatively new Queensferry Crossing, which took us into the county of Fife. Just a few miles into Fife the M90 and turned eastwards towards Kirkcaldy, which would lead us to our destination of the Caravan and Motorhome Site at Balbirnie Park in Markinch www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/scotland/fife/balbirnie-park-caravan-club-site

After registering and paying, we set off to find a pitch. The site itself is slightly hilly, with some of the pitches on sloping ground - this isn’t conducive to comfort in motorhomes, which can be levelled on small slopes with levelling blocks, but are not great on ground which is any more than a small slope. We searched for a suitable pitch, which due to the weather needed to preferably be a hardstanding. A suitable spot was found, we set ourselves up and I informed the site warden of our chosen pitch who then gave us our wristbands and site barrier card. Lunch was prepared whilst I took Jerry out for an exploratory walk of the surrounding area. After lunch, the weather picked up and so we decided to go into the village/town to see what was there. The High Street was small, but (amongst other facilities) there was a couple of food stores, a Chinese takeaway and some pubs/hotels. We purchased a few things from one of the shops and went across the road for a drink. It was very enjoyable and we returned happily to the site and Sheldon for a relaxing evening.

The site is set in a very large Parkland area (Balbirnie Park) and lies to the northeast of Glenrothes. It comprises of 416 acres of attractive parkland and woodland garden.

It has a Golf Course, a Hotel and other amenities. The fife.gov website says these include:-

• Bridle Path

  • Footpaths

  • Garden

  • Free Parking

  • Picnic Facilities

The website also speaks of the Parks Accessibility, with some of its paths being suitable for wheelchairs. It also says that the park has a large collection of rhododendron and numerous exotic trees (the rhododendron were not in blossom when we visited). Our time at the site gave us the opportunity to explore some of this which is a great local amenity.

Our plan whilst staying at Balbirnie Park was to explore the Fife Coast and Falkland Palace which we had read and heard so much about. We were looking forward to driving the coastal route and visiting places like Leven, Elie, St Monans, Anstruther, Crail and of course St Andrews. Sadly, due to the weather, this was not to be and we decided to save it until another visit in the future when hopefully the weather will be more accomodating.

Instead, we stayed very local and went into the village for shopping and sightseeing trips. Markinch is a very interesting place in its own right. It has a long history with local stone circles dating back to the neolithic period (3000 BC). Fife is also recognised as an early medieval place of legal assembly. It is listed as such in early Scottish law books and charters. This has led to Markinch's designation (which is proudly displayed on local signage as "The Capital Place of Fife". The local Heritage Group is rightly proud of its village and has created its own website with numerous resources available. If you’re in that area it's well worth a look and can be found at www.markinchheritage.org.uk

It was time to move on again and so we set off for our next destination, which was further north in Scotland, but still on the eastern side. We were heading to Huntly and more precisely Huntly Castle Caravan Park. This is one of the Caravan and Motorhome Clubs Affiliated Sites, which means it remains under private ownership and management but is available to Club members www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/scotland/aberdeenshire/huntly-castle-caravan-park. As an affiliated site, it is not on the clubs central booking system, so you need to go directly to the site to book a pitch. Its website is www.haughtonhouse.co.uk/huntly/. The journey took us through Dundee and around Aberdeen. Generally, the roads were good, despite all the roundabouts and traffic lights in Dundee and around Aberdeen!

After a morning driving, we arrived at the site. It is very COVID aware. We had already paid for our stay and upon arrival, we telephoned a number when we were given our Pitch number. At the office door were site plans and the information required when using the site and its facilities. It meant there was no need for direct person to person contact, which in these strange times was good. Our pitch was a good size and very near to the necessary amenities, freshwater, wastewater emptying point, refuge disposal and the chemical disposal point for the loo. Once again we settled in and had some lunch.

The Robertson Memorial at Huntly in the Square

As is usual on arrival at a new site once the ‘preliminaries’ were completed, we went out to explore the area. Our route took us out of the site and down the road into the town. It was a very nice walk, which soon brought us to the town centre. There were considerably more shops than at Markinch. The town has a central square, (called Gordon Square), with roads going off it in 4 directions. In the square is a monument/fountain which was erected 'in memory of James Robertson, Bank Agent, Huntly, b.20 January 1789, d.4 February 1877, by his widow’. It is very impressive and forms the squares focal point. The name after which the Square is known has also had a large bearing on Huntly and the surrounding area. It is the historic home of the Gordon Highlanders and the Gordon Clan had a large influence on the town. Both Huntly’s primary school and secondary school still bear the Gordon name. We spent a pleasant time looking around the town centre and sought refreshment at one of the local hostelries before returning to Sheldon.

Our pattern when booking sites is usually to stay for 3 nights. This we find is about the right amount of time to see the local area, its attractions whilst allowing us time to relax - to enjoy that ’slow travel’ I mentioned in the last blog. On this occasion, as this was the furthest north we would travel on this trip, I had scheduled 4 nights at Huntly. This meant that we had an extra day to explore, giving us the opportunity to take 2 excursions into the surrounding area.

The first of these was along the North East Coast. We drove up the A96, through Keith and onto Fochabers. We passed through both places and headed for Spey Bay, which is where the mighty River Spey enters the North Atlantic. Situated here is the Scottish Dolphin Centre https://dolphincentre.whales.org, which sadly at the time of our visit was still closed. It is a beautiful place with plenty of opportunities to view dolphins, seals and other wildlife from the coast and viewpoints. There is a good-sized car park, a cafe, plenty of walks and other things to see including sculptures and mosaics. It really is a beautiful place which is off the beaten track and well worth a visit. From, Spey Bay we continued along the scenic coast passing through, Portgordon, Buckie and onto Cullen, where we stopped for a brew and bacon butty - very enjoyable. After refreshment, we travelled through Portsoy and onto Banff. We stopped at Banff, to do some sightseeing. What a hilly place Banff is. Our walking route through the town took us downhill through one part of the town, which was very pleasant. The old saying is ‘what goes up, must come down’ or in our case on this occasion it was ‘what goes down, must go up’. My goodness, we turned left to get back to the main High Street and were confronted by a path/road with the gradient of a ski slope. Much respect to the locals who traverse this hill, they must be as fit as a fiddle. We got our breath back and returned to Sheldon for the lovely inland journey back to Huntly. It was a very enjoyable day into an area which isn’t on the main Scotland tourist route, but very nice all the same (and consequently much quieter).

Spey Bay, looking towards the surrounding hills, its estuary and flow into the sea

The Tugnet Sculpture Project Information Board and Sculpture of Osprey Fishing

Thankfully, the weather continued to be kind to us and so the next day we took our second excursion. On this occasion, we chose the more hilly and mountainous option, which took us inland. Again we left Huntly and headed north-west past Keith, where we turned off onto the A95. The road took us through some amazing scenery and past some equally amazingly named places. Places with names like Craigellachie, the splendidly named Charlestown of Aberlour, Ballindalloch and onto our destination Grantown On Spey. Grantown is a place we love and It had been a number of years since we last visited. It is also a place where a couple of holidays were taken with our then young children, so, therefore, holds for us fond memories. It was good to see it largely unchanged. Coffee and tea cake were taken at the beginning of the visit. We walked down one side of the High Street, bought some gifts and returned back on the side. We looked at some of the attractions and gardens of the town. Sadly, although we parked across the road from it, the Grantown Heritage Museum was closed due to COVID. We saw the magnificent woodland which surrounds the town (Anagach Woodland), saw the River Spey in its full flow and the magnificent triple-arched ‘Old Spey Bridge’, dating back to to 1754 which crosses it. It was a time of reminiscence of past memories and a renewed acquaintance with a favourite place.

Our journey back to Huntly took us along the tasty and hilly A939, where we could savour the beauty of the area. Eventually, we arrived and stopped at Tomintoul where we toured the village and bought more gifts at one of the local shops. Our journey continued down the A97 at first following the River Don, which flows down to Aberdeen and then we caught up with the River Bogie that flows around Huntly and joins the River Deverton northeast of the town. Once again it was a fabulous day and one for which I have run out of superlatives. Suffice to say that we were enjoying Huntly and the surrounding area.

The River Deverton

The next day was to be our final day and we decided to stay local as Huntly has some attractions we had yet to see. Near the site, the previously mentioned River Deverton flows before it makes it journey to Banff and Banff Bay (the River Deverton is evidently one of the top 5 salmon rivers in Scotland). There is a riverside walk which we hadn’t explored. The walk is well surfaced and closely follows the path of the river. We were surprised that one of the first places we came to was the Nordic Ski Centre, complete with Ski slope and nordic skiing track https://www.huntlynordicandoutdoorcentre.com. It was good to see groups of young people sharing in supervised outdoor activities. After this, the path leads you to a small riverside beach where families were paddling, playing games and having fun. Again it was good to see. The path continues until you come to one of the gems of Huntly, the castle which dates back to the 12th century (although a mound which was the motte is all that survives from this period). The castle itself is a ruin with parts dating back to the 14th century. One of its main ‘claims to fame’ (and there are many), is that King Robert the Bruce was a guest there in1307. The original castle was burned to the ground in the mid-1400s, following a dispute between the Gordon family and the Douglases. It was rebuilt afterwards in a more ‘impressive’ form. Throughout the 500 years or so since its rebuild, it has had a very interesting history which is worth looking into if you visit or are interested in Scottish Castles and history. The castle remained under the ownership of Clan Gordon until the 1920’s when responsibility for its care was given to Historic Environment Scotland https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/huntly-castle/

Huntly Castle

We walked back past the golf course and Gordon Schools, through the impressive memorial gateway to George the 5th Duke of Gordon and back into the town. Refreshment was once more taken and we returned to the site to reflect on our time spent at Huntly. It had been a very enjoyable few days. We had explored some of the area but, we know there is much more to see and to that end, we know that one we will return.

Thank you, Huntly.

In the next blog, I'll tell you about our next site, which was just a short drive from Huntly.

Once again thank you to you for reading this blog. If you've not already done so, why not subscribe to receive notifications of upcoming blogs before they're published. You can do this from the link on the website home page.

All the best and stay safe