Bennachie

Forts from over 2000 years ago, the remains of squatter settlements, battlefields and a mineral currently being studied by NASA. Well I don't know about you but that is way more than I thought I would be getting when I set out this afternoon to walk up Bennachie.

Bennachie being typically Scottish is pronounced almost nothing like it is spelt. You would say it a little something like this 'Ben-a-heed'. It is a very distinctive hill with several tops located near Aberdeen in Scotland. This hill is extremely popular with the local walkers, families and trail runners as the surrounding area is quite flat giving Bennachie a feeling of isolation but also of dominance.

The hill has two main peaks, Oxen Craig at a height of 528m and Mither Tap at 518m. Most of the Bennachie range is owned by the Forestry Commission who maintain the trails, car park and even a visitors centre with the help of the Bailies of Bennachie a local volunteer group.

The history of this area and hill are rather interesting as it has seen a battle, the Battle of Harlaw in 1411 when the Earl of Mar faced the Highlanders, and has sustained a settlement of squatters, known as the Colony. Remains of their settlements can still be seen today along some of the many walks available. There is even a romantic tragedy linked to the Battle of Harlaw and the Hosie Well which can be seen when doing the Mither Tap walk via the Maiden Causeway from the Rowan Tree car park side. 

The story tells of a local man, Hosie, who was to be wed but had to postpone because he was called to fight in the battle. He was captured and held prisoner for many years before he managed to escape. Alas he returned home to discover that his bride-to-be had gone on to wed another. Stuck down with sorrow and heartache he felt that he had nothing to live for and died soon after. He was buried on a hill overlooking Mither Tap and the well nearby was called Hosies Well as the water in it is said to be nothing but the tears of Hosie.

 

 The peak that stands out the most when looking at Bennachie is Mither Tap, which at one stage in its life was home to an ancient hill fort built over 2000 ago. Some of this fort is still visible today and when you do the Mither Tap walk you walk through what was the main entrance to the fort. You will be able to make out two distinctive walls that formed the outer wall of the fort. It is thought that there were at least ten buildings within this fort at one time.

Looking into the history of Bennachie when I returned home I was most surprised to read about the mineral macaulayite. That so far is only found in one place in the world and that place is at the foot of Bennachie. Macaulayite is a red, earthy mineral discovered in the 1970s by Dr Jeff Wilson and is named after the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen. Apparently it is formed by granite which has been weathered by tropical climates before the last Ice Age. Now the even more interesting part is that NASA is currently studying the mineral as it is speculated that it is the substance which gives the planet Mars its colour.

All in all Bennachie is a beautiful and interesting area that has locals and foreigners alike flocking to climb its banks, explore its trails and breathe in the wonder and grace that is the Scottish countryside. 

What do castles, whiskey and dolphins have in common?

Well for starters they were all involved in my epic birthday weekend roadtrip! And yes you guessed it they can all be found in Scotland. 

My sister and I were told by her boyfriend Luke, that we were to keep the Sunday before my birthday open for a surprise roadtrip. Intrigued and always up for a surprise, especially when it involves a roadtrip, I was instantly game to give up my Sunday for whatever he had planned. My sister on the other hand is not too fond of not knowing what the surprise is so she promptly begun quizzing and trying to figure out where we were going to be heading. She was not very successful and against the odds Luke managed to hold out. The only thing he did tell us was that it was a three hour drive from Aberdeen and that we should dress really warm, wear our wellingtons and pack a change of clothes in case.....

And so we piled into the car at 7:30am (a timely rarely seen by me on a Sunday unless I have plans to photograph) and sipping condense milk coffee we zoomed off into the Aberdeenshire countryside with the Cairngorm Mountains greeting us with glimpses of its snow covered peaks.  

Like all good roadtrips music was played, lyrics were sung and car games were played. Our favourite two being 'Spot the hairy coo' and 'That town is named what?!'. To explain my sister and I have grown up with a mother who adores cows - I have literally lost count of number of black and white cow decorated items in our kitchen (Love you Mom) - hence we think that the hairy coo or Highland cattle are so cute with their wavy sometimes even dreadlocked hair. But since arriving in Scotland four months ago I had yet to see one besides on every Scotland postcard I have ever seen....hmm a touch of false advertising perhaps, but I digress. Where was I, oh yes the second game involved reading all the road signs and trying to pronounce the names of towns. Easy yes? No. I was probably the worst at this game. Some of the funniest names for towns that we encountered were Tomintoul (Tom-n-tool), Dufftown and Boghead. 

Finally on driving by Inverness, we saw a Moray Firth sign and it hit must sister well like a sign. We were on our way to Cromarty to see the dolphins with Ecoventures. And so it was a race to the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) and off out to sea that we went, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most northerly colony of Bottlenosed Dolphins in the world. 

The view looking back at the town of Cromarty as we headed out on our dolphin adventure. 

On our way out to the open water we pass the base of an old oil rig that is waiting to be sold. It has basically been sitting there for years and has become a nesting place for local birds and sea life. 

Pulling up alongside the huge pillars Sarah, our skipper, explains the history of how they got here. 

Sarah shares more local sea tales from the area. 

The HMS Natal was a Duke of Edinburgh-classed armoured cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. A series of internal explosion rocked the ship on the 30 December 1915 causing it to sink within minutes killing between 390 and 421 people on board.  The remainder of the ship was blown up in 1970 to prevent it being a hazard to navigation. This is all that remains now to mark the resting place of this once great ship. 

The cliffs and rocks provide homes for a wide variety of bird life.  

Coastal batteries can be found on the north and south headlands. 

They were built to protect the port of Invergordon and Cromarty Firth during the 1st and 2nd World Wars. 

Our waiting is rewarded with a sighting not far from the boat. 

And with no more dolphins frolicking in the ocean for us to see we headed back to Cromarty's little harbour...

To get back into the car and go to the next stop on our adventure!