Rosie sprung a leak! One of the roof vents is dripping water (it does rain a wee bit in this neck of the woods), so we found a motorhome service centre along our path and will drop in to see if they can help us out.
We stopped in at Dyce Caravans which is located on the outskirts of Aberdeen. A technician had a look and said they could fix it and to come back tomorrow first thing in the morning. Excellent, now we just need to find a place for the night that is not too far away.
Balmedie Country Park, located just a few kilometers away should do nicely. We got to the park and there was another motorhome already there, so we ignored the signs (“Parking reserved for horse boxes and buses only”) and made ourselves at home.
During our stay we didn’t see any buses, but a horse box (trailer pulled by a car) parked next to us with no problem at all (very friendly).
This park was a great find. An extensive set of dunes provides great walking for dogs (we went too).
In 1940-41, during WWII, the British government erected 18,000 pillboxes in anticipation of invasion. These pillboxes were used by soldiers and the Home Guard as observation and defensive posts. Only 3 pillboxes remain in Belmedie today, 2 of which can be seen in the photos above and below.
Up bright and early the next morning to make sure we are at Dyce Caravans when they open.
The people at Dyce were great! The technician said he could have fixed our leak yesterday, but then they would have had to charge the same-day emergency hourly rate (3x regular rate). They fixed our leak. Topped up our fresh water tanks. Gave us some ideas of more places to visit, and we were on our way before lunch!
We are heading up the coast to see Slains Castle (one of the Dyce tech’s recommendations).
Construction of Slains Castle commenced around 1600, by the 9th Earl of Erroll, and has been reconstructed several times, most recently in 1837.
Slains Castle has been linked to the Jacobite cause (William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Bonnie Prince Charlie, et al) and in 1705 King Louis XIV of France sent an agent to Slains Castle to encourage the Scottish rebellion against the English (who France was at war with).
In the period around 1900 the 20th Earl of Erroll was spending most of his time in England and rented out Slains Castle as a high-end summer residence. Notable rentees include Robert Baden-Powell (founder of the Scouts organization) and Winston Churchill, who stayed as a guest of H.H. Asquith who was the British Prime Minister at the time.
The 20th Earl of Erroll sold Slains Castle in 1916, ending 300 years of Erroll ownership. The castle changed hands several times over the following years until it ended up in the hands of a Dundee-based demolition company who specialized in purchasing old castles, dismantling them and selling the building materials. What’s left of the castle are the bits that didn’t sell!
Because of the mix of styles and materials the castle has a really odd feel to it. Hard to put a finger on what it is exactly… just weird.
Next on today’s “to-do” list is a visit to Peterhead. I wanted to visit as Peterhead is supposed to be the UK’s largest fishing port, as of a survey done in 2019.
The harbour and town were a bit disappointing. The town had a definite feeling of decline about it, and there was not a lot of activity in the harbour. We didn’t stay long.
So Peterhead is not the bustling centre of activity one expects from the “largest fishing port in the UK”. Maybe all of the boats are out fishing? Doesn’t account for the feeling of decline when walking around town and seeing many closed stores. Not many people on the streets, etc.
The photo at the top of this post is not Peterhead. It is our next stop, Fraserburg.
We are staying at the “Glenbuckty Motorhome Aire” just outside of Fraserburg. The campground is a small parking lot in front of a house. A narrow entrance, flanked by stone pillars on both sides, makes getting in and out of the parking lot more exciting. The owner, knowing we have a heavy vehicle, has saved the one paved area for Rosie!
After we arrived the owner came out and met us. The weather was dismal. Cold, windy, with a light rain. Just perfect for standing around in for an hour while our well-meaning host describes everything to see and do in and around Fraserburg. However, it was a very informative information dump and we decided to stay an extra day to check out some of the local sites.
The campground (aka parking lot) is situated just across the road from a small bay where, during the aforementioned information dump, we spotted several seals bobbing in the waves. Our host’s wife eventually came out and rescued us by taking him back inside to get warmed up.
We took our e-bikes into town and explored the harbour. It was full of large commercial fishing vessels (see photo at top of this post). A proper fishing harbour, which made up for Peterhead!
Fraserburg is home to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. The lighthouse at Kinnaird Head was the first lighthouse built on the Scottish mainland (1787) and has now been turned into a museum that houses the largest collection of lighthouse lenses in the UK. The museum is very well done and does a great job of describing the evolution of lighthouses, and the lights inside the lighthouses. The original Kinnaird Head lighthouse still operates (and is turned on for special occasions), but has been replaced by an automated lighthouse that uses modern technology. We had a tour of the original lighthouse which was both fun and informative!
One of our host’s recommendations was Findlay’s Fish Bar and Diner. After working up an appetite at the lighthouse museum we stopped in for dinner. The fish was as fresh as it gets (caught that morning) and the batter and chips were excellent!
