Walk 214

Aberdeen to Stonehaven 21.5 miles

I restarted my walk from the bus station in Aberdeen and there to meet me was fellow coast walker Andy Phillips. Andy had got a little further along the coast than myself so we walked around the harbour chatting until it was time for him to catch the bus to his start point at Nigg Bay.  I carried on around the bay at Aberdeen following a good track all the way to Girdle Ness and its lovely lighthouse.

Girdle Ness Lighthouse

Next stop was Nigg Bay with its great beach, here I stopped for a cup of tea and waited for Andy and waited and waited, after 20mins I carried on walking, I guessed he must have carried on ahead of me!

Nigg Bay

 Not long after Nigg bay there was a sign for the Aberdeenshire Coast Path (which wasnt marked on my map, again!) so I decided to follow the signs, just before Greg Ness there was/is a sign informing you that the path is closed due to a landslide, looking at my options of either walking along a very busy road next to a railway line or walking the senic coast route I chose the latter!! (I thought I could just wing it by climbing over the farmers fence if the landslide was that bad, as it turned out it was just a small step over a bit of mud!!!!)  The walk to Cove Bay was really nice with plenty of Geos and great views, all to soon the path came to an end so I stopped and asked a local if I could go any further along the coast but I was unable to do so due to a big quarry at Colsea Yawn.

Long Slough

Burnbanks Haven

At Cove Bay I bumped into Andy again, we had a chat about the route so far and then walked out of the village via the cycle route, it was a bit uphill out of the village and due to my long legs I carried on ahead of Andy.  The road wound its way past the quarry at Colsea and the village of Findon, eventually I turned off towards Porthlethen Village, here I picked up the Old Coast Road which was basically a farm track but it was nice to think that once upon a time this was the main road along the coast. I asked someone in the village if I could walk all the way to Newtonhill along this road and they said "yes" however a car pulled up next to us and they said "no" as the bridge over the river at Newtonhill had been washed away in the winter floods, but the overall opinion was that it should have been repaired by now so I carried on regardless!!  The track took me through Downies and past Clashfarqher Bay and then eventually down hill towards the bridge/non bridge, as I turned the corner I could here rushing water and there was the bridge, hooray!!!! (and a splendid job they had done repairing/replacing it!!)  I climbed to the top of Newtonhill to take in the views and eat my sandwich.

Newtonhill (you can just see the bridge as well!)

I now had to walk out of town and pick up the very busy A90 for a few miles towards Stonehaven, fortunately there is a very good footpath alongside the road and it wasn't long before I branched off along a much quieter road and the final few miles into Stonehaven.  Overall a really nice days walk and the sun came out eventually!!

Stonehaven

Accommodation:

Belvedere Hotel 41 Evan St, Stonehaven £45.00. Very nice hotel.