(A= War Memorial)
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The route is 5 miles long, taking me about an hour and a half to complete, if you take out the time I spent time looking at the castle and having lunch. The route is a mixture of gravel coastal path and tarmac making it a very easy route to walk.
After getting of the bus in Stonehaven, I wondered down to the beach, a pretty little beach with a wooden promenade running along it. This was a lovely gentle way to start my walk. After walking along the promenade I passed between two houses and to my surprise there was a lovely little harbour. Walking past the harbour, I came to the most strenuous part of the walk, the tiny, maybe 100m climb up to the headland. This takes you up to a road that leads you to the start of the coastal path.
When I arrived at the start of the coastal path, the path was blocked with a sign saying 'Path closed due to erosion, use the road'. I was disappointed by this, as it was the main point of the walk but I wasn't going to stop because of this, so I started to walk on the path that ran along the road. This path was VERY boring. You couldn't see the sea or anything of any interest from the road path. You simply walked in a straight line for about 2 miles. Thankful at the end of this road you turn a corner and you can see Dunnottar Castle at the end of a lane. Dunnottar Castle seems to be a good tourist attraction, judging by the number of people that were around. When I got to the end of the lane, the path then turns into steps. Before I started to descend the steps, I stopped to listen to a man playing bagpipes, a nice little treat that made me the 2 BORING miles seem better. I guess that from the top of the headland to the pebbled shore there was about 100 steps. I decided not to go into the actual castle as you could see plenty from the outside (Admission Price: Adult £6 & Child £2). I walked for a little bit on the shore before climbing back up the 100 steps to the headland again (hard work). When I was back up on the headland again I went over to an area were people were taking pictures, this actual give you a good view of the castle.
I was getting hungry so I thought that I would have lunch here before heading back to Stonehaven. I picked a stop near where the bagpiper was playing and were I could see the castle. I had a nice lunch in a lovely setting despite the very windy conditions. I think I overhead people laughing at me but I really didn't care!! When I was eating I saw that people were walking around the signs that said 'Path closed due to erosion, use the road'. After finishing my lunch I thought I would walk back on the closed path. I was really glad I did, it was 100 times better than the road path. This path follows along the top of the cliffs which was really nice.
As I was walking I was wondering where this erosion was because I had walked nearly to the end of the path. I was looking at some of the cliffs in the distance and not paying much attention to the path I was walking on when I suddenly I looked in front of me and saw that the path had gone about 2 metres in front of me. I felt so lucky that I had looked back at the path at this point otherwise I would of fallen down the hole! The hole wasn't that well marked as all that was marking it was a single length of cord between two poles which wasn't greatly visible. The hole was easy to pass simple climb up onto the grass verge to the side of the hole and cross, simple. After passing this I then came to a war memorial, another sad reminder of all the people that have lost there lives over the years fighting for peace.
From here it the path goes down towards Stonehaven again, back into the harbour, along the wooden promenade and back into the main streets of Stonehaven.
Another good walk, even with the boring 2 mile walk to start with, the rest of the walk made up for it. One thing that I would say is that even thought the weather was sunny and warm, the wind was really strong which was a disadvantage but as a whole it didn't detract from my walk. Overall, a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.
After getting of the bus in Stonehaven, I wondered down to the beach, a pretty little beach with a wooden promenade running along it. This was a lovely gentle way to start my walk. After walking along the promenade I passed between two houses and to my surprise there was a lovely little harbour. Walking past the harbour, I came to the most strenuous part of the walk, the tiny, maybe 100m climb up to the headland. This takes you up to a road that leads you to the start of the coastal path.
When I arrived at the start of the coastal path, the path was blocked with a sign saying 'Path closed due to erosion, use the road'. I was disappointed by this, as it was the main point of the walk but I wasn't going to stop because of this, so I started to walk on the path that ran along the road. This path was VERY boring. You couldn't see the sea or anything of any interest from the road path. You simply walked in a straight line for about 2 miles. Thankful at the end of this road you turn a corner and you can see Dunnottar Castle at the end of a lane. Dunnottar Castle seems to be a good tourist attraction, judging by the number of people that were around. When I got to the end of the lane, the path then turns into steps. Before I started to descend the steps, I stopped to listen to a man playing bagpipes, a nice little treat that made me the 2 BORING miles seem better. I guess that from the top of the headland to the pebbled shore there was about 100 steps. I decided not to go into the actual castle as you could see plenty from the outside (Admission Price: Adult £6 & Child £2). I walked for a little bit on the shore before climbing back up the 100 steps to the headland again (hard work). When I was back up on the headland again I went over to an area were people were taking pictures, this actual give you a good view of the castle.
I was getting hungry so I thought that I would have lunch here before heading back to Stonehaven. I picked a stop near where the bagpiper was playing and were I could see the castle. I had a nice lunch in a lovely setting despite the very windy conditions. I think I overhead people laughing at me but I really didn't care!! When I was eating I saw that people were walking around the signs that said 'Path closed due to erosion, use the road'. After finishing my lunch I thought I would walk back on the closed path. I was really glad I did, it was 100 times better than the road path. This path follows along the top of the cliffs which was really nice.
As I was walking I was wondering where this erosion was because I had walked nearly to the end of the path. I was looking at some of the cliffs in the distance and not paying much attention to the path I was walking on when I suddenly I looked in front of me and saw that the path had gone about 2 metres in front of me. I felt so lucky that I had looked back at the path at this point otherwise I would of fallen down the hole! The hole wasn't that well marked as all that was marking it was a single length of cord between two poles which wasn't greatly visible. The hole was easy to pass simple climb up onto the grass verge to the side of the hole and cross, simple. After passing this I then came to a war memorial, another sad reminder of all the people that have lost there lives over the years fighting for peace.
From here it the path goes down towards Stonehaven again, back into the harbour, along the wooden promenade and back into the main streets of Stonehaven.
Another good walk, even with the boring 2 mile walk to start with, the rest of the walk made up for it. One thing that I would say is that even thought the weather was sunny and warm, the wind was really strong which was a disadvantage but as a whole it didn't detract from my walk. Overall, a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.
All Comments are Welcome!!!
This looks very good. wouldn't mind sharing your lunch
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