Fine Friday - Banchory to Drumoak......

Today's Friday walkers met in the car park just past the fire station in Banchory. A good turn out today in some bright but cold sunshine.

We were soon making our way alongside a very swollen River Dee - there was a lot of rain yesterday.

{Another 10 cms and we could have been paddling}

This is a very sociable friendly group and the track was easy, flat and wide enough for plenty of chatting. There were some muddy patches but not too serious. The River Dee was used at one time by lumberjacks to float timber down stream. Margaret (our Leader) found a place on the riverbank where there had once been a landing jetty for the logs.

{Margaret at the site of the jetty}

{The end of the line - for the moment}

A short while later we came to the Milton of Crathes where there is a revival of the old Deeside railway line including a proper train, a platform and signals etc.  The train now runs for a mile or so from Crathes to the outskirts of Banchory during the tourist season. The Deeside Way route goes alongside the newly re-laid track and crosses the car park before winding down between the old buildings now used as a restaurant and various shops.

{Railway re-construction at Milton of Crathes}

We were soon walking beside the river again. Lunch in a small copse out of a chilly breeze was followed by a short stretch beside the road. A bridge has collapsed here and as it crossed a river between two different estates, it has not been replaced.

{Stone bridge, once on the main road}

Back beside the river we found an older stone bridge which had been on the original old Deeside road, one of only two remaining. We were now walking on the Dunecht Estate as the sign informed us.

{Dunecht Estates sign}

{Curious cattle in a field}

{Fine woodland track}

At the end of the woodland we came to a junction where some of the group decided to walk on to the coffee shop at Mains of Drum and the rest of us chose to catch the bus back to Banchory from Drumoak village up on the main road. There was one more bit of history from Margaret before we parted company.

{Path junction}

The history was marked on the door of the little granite building. A closer inspection of the door showed significant water levels marked on it. The highest being from 1829. Those of you that know will recognise this as the year of the 'Muckle Spate' - a devastating flood of Moray and Aberdeenshire when many bridges were lost along with livestock and homesteads.

{Click for a close-up of the information on the door}

As usual, our walk was around 8 miles and we didn't get wet!

P.S. The close-up photo of the door is rather spoiled by one of the bars obscuring the dates - sorry!