Last month we visited Stonehaven for a few days, or to be more precise the village of Cowie, which adjoins the north of Stonehaven.
We hadn't stayed in Stonehaven before so we did not know what to expect ..................and I am afraid my first impressions were not that great. We did however arrived just as the weather closed in, making the view of Stonehaven Bay a bit grey and murky:
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| The Bay at Stonehaven on a Grey Day |
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| Towards Cowie on a Grey Day |
We headed into what we thought was the town centre (Market Square) and it didn't exactly look appealing to visitors with most cafes/shops being shut (apart from the Co-op and Greggs of course).
So we decided to go back to The Bay Fish & Chip Shop for our tea ..............and things started to pick up right away. That has to be one of the best fish & chips I have ever had ..................and believe me I have sampled a few. It was so good I thought Stonehaven deserved a second chance to impress. The experience was further enhanced as we were greeted by a double rainbow when we got back to the campsite:
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| Double Rainbow over Cowie |
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| Vannie, the Pot of Gold |
Things were definitely looking up. In fact the next morning the sun was shining (albeit through a few clouds) and Stonehaven Bay looked like a completely place than the day before:
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| Sunny Cowie Beach |
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| Beautiful Seaview |
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| Sunny Stonehaven Beach |
We took the opportunity of good weather to take a stroll along the beach-front walkway heading towards Stonehaven Harbour, which proved to be both interesting and surprising.
First up we were greeted by a Caterpillar climbing the sea wall:
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| Caterpillar on Sea Wall |
I think it might be the caterpillar of the Clouded Drab Moth ................... but I am no expert on caterpillars!!
Further along the coastal path we saw a little bird darting in and out of the rocks, feeding on insects hiding in the seaweed washed up on the shoreline. After closer inspection I identified it as a Rock Pipit:
The next thing that surprised us on this walk round the bay at Stonehaven was the number of brilliant sculptures along the edge of the coastal path. This included life-size wire Dolphins:
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| Dolphin Sculpture Stonehaven |
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| Dolphin with a belly full of stones |
There were some fantastically detailed fishing boats (which if you look carefully are manned by fish?).
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| Fishing Boat Sculpture, Stonehaven |
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| Fishing Smack Sculpture, Stonehaven |
I have called the second boat a 'smack' because traditionally if it had a sail it was a smack, if it had an engine it was a boat (I think!)
But my favourite sculpture along the shoreline had to be the lighthouse:
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| Lighthouse Sculpture, Stonehaven |
Why was it my favourite?........... simply because it had a Fish/Whale as a weather vane and a Pterodactyl on the railings............. I loved it!!
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| Top of Lighthouse Sculpture |
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| Yes it is a Pterodactyl on the railings! |
I was impressed with both the quality of these various sculptures and the fact they had not been vandalised in any way.
At the end of the bay lies the historic Stonehaven Harbour and it was very quaint and picturesque:
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| Boats in Stonehaven Harbour |
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| Looking back from Harbour Wall |
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| Stonehaven Harbour (Ship Inn on left) |
As it was a nice day and not too windy we decided to brave the climb up to the harbour wall to see the sea:
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| Moira on Harbour Wall |
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| View from Harbour Wall |
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| Downie Point from Harbour Wall |
Back in the harbour itself there were quite a few things of interest.
As well as having its own lifeboat station Stonehaven Harbour is also home to a Survival Craft Training Academy (for the inspection and maintenance of the type of survival boats they have on oil rigs and large ships):
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| Survival Craft |
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| Survival Craft Training Academy |
As you can see there were one or two boats in the harbour which were a bit older and more traditional:
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| Maggie fae Fife |
The Toolbooth Museum was also worth a visit, there were lots of interesting artefacts........... and it had its own jail cell:
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| Toolbooth Jail (not Premier Inn) |
On the way back from the Harbour we were treated to one more surprise, a helpful lady pointed out to us that a couple of Dolphins had just been spotted in Stonehaven Bay. We quickly had a scan for them and were fortunate enough to see them on their way out of the bay.
I grabbed my camcorder and tried to video them............ with limited success........... here is the video I took (I have slowed down the video playback speed when the Dolphins appear) watch out for the first leap on the right hand side:
Sorry it is not my best video, but hopefully you managed to pick them out.
At Stonehaven there are two rivers that feed into the bay, the River Carron and the Cowie Water, and these rivers seemed to well populated with my favourite bird........... the Dipper.
Our first sighting of these wonderful, semi-aquatic birds came when we were out for a walk to Mineralwell Park and I was filming some Mallard ducklings at the weir on the Cowie Water:
As you can see there were a couple of Dippers there and they seemed to be chasing each other, whether they were being territorial or siblings mucking about I am not sure. We carried on with our walk to Mineralwell Park, which boasted a model car racetrack, a real train viaduct and some lovely wildflower meadows:
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| Radio Car Racetrack |
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| Railway Viaduct |
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| Lovely Wildflowers |
Cowie Water also ran through this park and at a small waterfall on this river we were treated to some good views of another Dipper feeding:
The River Carron also featured Dipper, near one of the ornate bridges that cross the river. I will not bore you with another Dipper video, but I have included a photo instead:
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| Ornate Victorian Bridge over River Carron |
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| Slightly Fuzzy One-legged Dipper |
The Dipper did have two legs, it just chose to use half of them.
I also liked the nearby Art Deco Carron Restaurant, although it was closed when we were there.
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| Carron Restaurant across the River Carron |
We also had a short walk along the coastal path that runs through the village of Cowie and it was quite interesting as well.
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| Moira at Cowie Harbour |
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| Cowie Coastal Path |
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| Moira on Cowie Coastal Path |
Despite being late September there were still some nice wildflowers along the coastal path:
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| Devil's Bit Scabious |
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| Harebell with Teasel Leaves? |
They even had a street in Cowie Village named after Boatie McBoatface:
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| Named after a Rowing Boatie? |
So Stonehaven proved to quite a surprise package and we were pleased that we had visited the area.
After all the excitement of Dolphins, Dippers, Sculptures and Rock Pipits I will leave you with a soothing video of waves crashing on the shore:
............and relax.
Take Care
Teddyedward
