Portsoy and Grantown on Spey

 Way back in August we took a little trip up to the Northeast of Scotland with Vannie and our first port of call was Portsoy Links Caravan Park, which is a lovely little site sitting right on Links Bay in Portsoy, overlooking the Moray Firth:

Moira at Portsoy Links Caravan Park

View from Portsoy Links Caravan Park

Once we got settled in at the site we took a little wander over to Portsoy Harbour which was only five minutes walk from the caravan park:

Portsoy Harbour

Boats in Portsoy Harbour

It was a very peaceful little harbour and great for our first evening stroll, we even found a lighthouse (well at least a glitzy lighthouse sculpture):

Glitzy Lighthouse Sculpture

It looks pretty big in the photo, but it was only about six foot tall, which is big to me!

After a pleasant stroll around the harbour area we headed back to Links Bay and beyond to where the Burn of Durn flows into the bay. This area is known as the Back Green and is where the sails from old fishing vessels were stored, repaired and even manufactured in ye olden days. The building which was once the Sail Loft is now self catering accommodation.

Links Bay Portsoy, from the Back Green area

Looking back towards the Caravan Park

Ducks on the Burn of Durn

Mallard Family Close-up

You gotta love 'The Burn of Durn' something to get yer tongue around.

It was getting dark so we headed back to the motorhome and a well earned cup of tea.

Lovely View from Vannie

Late Evening Summer Sky

The next morning we left the caravan park and headed out for a walk around the town of Portsoy, stopping to enjoy the delights of Loch Soy Park:

Vannie at Portsoy Links Caravan Park

Looking down on caravan park

Loch Soy Park in Portsoy

Loch Soy is more of a pond really, and it's not full of Soy Sauce either, but there were lots of ducks and other wildfowl to enjoy:

Mallard ducks on the shore of Loch Soy

Male Mallard in Eclipse Plumage

Young Moorhen

Lovely stroll around Loch Soy

After a relaxing stroll through Loch Soy Park and the nearby area we headed into the town for a spot of lunch. After lunch had a stroll around the 'top end' of the town until we found the entrance to the old railway line that once ran from the high ground right down to the harbour; it was now an interesting walkway:

Old Railway Line, now a Walkway

Admiring the Victoria brickwork of the tunnel

Lovely Wildflower Patch

The railway line walkway doesn't quite go all the way down to the harbour now, but it's only a short walk through the back streets to reach the harbour.

Exit from the Railway/Walkway

We had a look around some of the shops near the harbour before heading up to the rocky outcrop on the West side of the harbour. As well as some great views there was also a very impressive sculpture of a Dolphin designed by local artist Carn Standing:

Dolphin Sculpture near Portsoy Harbour

View West from Rocky Outcrop

Moira relaxing on bench on rocky outcrop

Moira had a relaxing seat on a bench whilst I had a walk to explore the rocky outcrop and take some photos:

Looking back towards the Inner Harbour

Outer Harbour from Rocky Outcrop

View across the bay

Portsoy old town and harbour

We headed back to the caravan park, where we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening.

Next morning we were up reasonably early to catch the bus to the nearby town of Cullen. Once we arrived in Cullen we stopped for a coffee in the Rockpool Cafe before heading down towards the harbour:

Moira at Cullen Harbour

Looking towards Cullen from harbour wall

Looking back towards Cullen Harbour Beach

Cullen was once a thriving fishing port and the evidence to support this was all there; a strong harbour wall with an inner harbour, a large capstan for winching in the boats, a lighthouse, a large fishing community (Seatown) and even a fantastic railway viaduct that made it easier to get goods from Cullen to the main markets in the towns and cities.

Looking towards Seatown and Cullen Viaduct

Large Capstan in the Harbour

Strong Harbour Outer Wall with Portknockie Cliffs in background

The History of Cullen

Now the harbour is used for pleasure, activities such as yachting, swimming, paddle boarding and fishing from the pier:

Fishing from Cullen Harbour

Dingy at Cullen Harbour

Paddle Boarding at the Inner Harbour

It was also a good place to see some of the regions wildlife, including this Guillemot:

Guillemot at Cullen

Gullemot from Harbour Wall, Cullen

We also came across a young seal pup which was sleeping on the sand within the harbour:

Seal Pup on Sand at Cullen Harbour

A woman from British Divers for Marine Rescue advised us to stay back from the Seal Pup. It had apparently been there since last night, it was exhausted and the tide had went out leaving it high and dry. She was waiting for a colleague to join her to facilitate a rescue and health check on the pup, and was concerned about curious people wanting to get close to it and scaring it back into the sea. This could be potentially dangerous if it was exhausted or injured in any way. She asked if we could help advise people to give it a wide berth and watch from a distance.

We duly obliged whilst keeping a watchful eye on the pup ourselves, as it was starting to wake up and move its head:

Seal Pup waking up

Seal Pup stretching

Luckily it wasn't too long before her colleague arrived. They started to prepare for the rescue process, which involved approaching from the sea with a large cage to catch the seal pup before it darted into the water. This would allow them to check it over before releasing it in a safe place.

I managed to capture the rescue on video:

Once the seal pup had been safely caught we left the rescuers to it and headed to the Seatown area:

Eddie in Seatown area of Cullen

Looking along the Sea Wall to Cullen Links & Beach

Seatown was full of narrow streets with pretty little houses, I'm sure it would have seemed a different place a hundred years ago when it was full of fishing families trying to eek out a living from the sea.

The Streets and Houses of Seatown

Moira in Seatown, Cullen

The Blue House, Seatown

On our way back from Seatown we stopped to check out what was happening with the little seal pup that was rescued. We were told that the pup had some slight damage to its mouth and that it would be sent down to the SSPCA Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross for further checks before being released back into the sea.

Seal Pup Rescued

It looked a bit sad but comfortable enough, it even gave us a wave when we left:

We headed back up Seafield Street, pass the Floral Train Display, under the Viaduct and on to the bus stop, where we caught the bus back to Portsoy:

The Viaduct at Seafiled Street, Cullen

The Love Train

Old GMC Flatbed Truck in Seafield Street

Loved that old truck, sympathetically restored (or just pathetically restored?)

The following day was our last full day at Portsoy and after a lazy morning we took a walk along the banks of the Burn of Durn. We stopped to watch a colony of Sand Martins flying in and out of holes in a sandy bank:

Sand Martin Nest in sandy bank near Burn of Durn

Sand Martin feeding Young

It was great to watch the adult birds fly in with insects to feed their well-developed chicks, who were  hanging out of the nest holes in order to get to the food first:

On our way back along the Burn of Durn we saw where the Sand Martins were catching the insects they were feeding to their young. It was fantastic to watch dozens of them swoop down and scoop up insects that were flying just above the water:

A little further along the burn we also noticed that some small fish were jumping out of the water to catch the insects as well. A family of Mallards also swam past, it was all happening here:

As we headed back to the motorhome we agreed that was a pleasant little walk with plenty to see.

After dinner we heard a knock on the door; it was our campsite neighbours Michael and Lynda. They were heading to the harbour to watch a large oil rig that was being towed from the Cromarty Firth out to sea and asked if we wanted to join them. We said yes and agreed to head over in ten minutes to join them at the harbour wall. 

When we got there the first thing I noticed was another young seal hauled out on the shingle next to the harbour wall. It was older and larger than the one we had seen at Cullen and was perfectly able to make its way back into the sea:

Young Seal on the rocks at Portsoy Harbour

Seal making its way back to the sea

Close-up of young Atlantic Grey Seal

After that drama we settle down to watch the progress of the oil rig being towed out to sea:

Looking out to sea from Portsoy Harbour Wall

Oil Rig being towed out to sea

Close-up of Oil Rig

The Oil Rig was quite far away and moving relatively slowly, so there was plenty of time to chat with Lynda and Michael and enjoy the fantastic views on this cool but pleasant evening:

We watched the local coastal rowing club take their pink skiff (The Soy Quine) out for a little spin on the water:

Portsoy Coastal Rowing Club Skiff

The Soy Quine, a St Ayles Skiff

Out for an evening paddle

We also enjoyed watching the sea birds in and around the harbour, including some Oystercatchers, Guillemots and Gannets. One Gannet even graced us with a flypast as it headed out towards the setting sun:

We must have been there for over an hour before we headed back to the comfort of the motorhome, by which time the sun was well and truly setting:

Sunset over Portsoy Harbour

Next morning we headed East along the coastal road to Forres before turning South to Grantown-on-Spey, where we spent a few days at one of our favourite Caravan Parks.

We have been at Grantown-on Spey Caravan Park many times and have written about the area in quite a few blog postings; so I won't bore you too much about this visit, but here are a few photos/videos you might like:

We had a walk through Anagach Woods and saw several things on the way:

Path through Anagach Woods

Heading towards Cromdale on the Speyside Way

Fly Agaric Fungi

Yellow Stagshorn (a Jelly Fungi)

Sulphur Knight Fungi

Goldcrest in Anagach

Goldcrest

Heading along the Speyside Way

An Old Scots Pine (maybe a Granny?)

We turned off the track and headed down to the banks of the River Spey:

Harebell and Heather

Eddie beside the Spey

Lovely Wildflowers

Moira beside the Spey

More Lovely Wildflowers

Looking back along the River Spey

A Heron through the gap

A Heron on the River Spey

As we headed towards Old Spey Bridge some canoeists passed by:

Canoeists Approaching

Canoeists on River Spey

Red Canoe

Green Canoes

Old Spey Bridge

Mallard Duck on a rock

Whilst we were at Grantown-on-Spey we also had our obligatory walk along part of the Dava Way (which follows the same railway line that once ran all the way to the harbour at Portsoy!)

Cairngorms from Dava Way

View from Dava Way

Along the Dava Way

Through the Cutting on the Disused Railway Line

Some Bracket Fungi

Didn't quite reach Forres

We did see some wildlife on our walk:

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Scotch Argus Butterfly

Spotted Flycatcher on Dava Way

Spotted Flycatcher

Dor (or Dung) Beetle on Dava Way

In a tree in a field across the road we even saw a very damp looking Juvenile Osprey:

The Field Across The Road

Damp Juvenile Osprey

Maybe this video is a bit clearer:

As well as the juvenile there was also an adult Osprey patrolling right above our heads, it was flying away before I managed to catch it on camera:

Adult Osprey Overhead

Slowed the video down a bit so you could see the bird better, but it's still a bit far away. Magnificent flyer all the same, never flapped its wings once.

 So that concludes the Grantown-on-Spey part of this blog, and indeed it is the end of this story of our trip up to the Northeast.

Until next time, do take care of yourselves.

Teddyedward