Beautiful Britain - Balmoral - Royal Deeside

Hi there Everyone

It's back to Scotland for this week's post for the next big day out we had on our week's holiday, with mum and dad, back in June.

This time we are back to Balmoral for a second visit, having also visited on our previous holiday back in 2015.

It was as impressive an arrival as we remembered, walking from the car park, across The Dee to the gatehouse, where we caught the trailer for a ride up the drive.

We had a good look round the exhibitions, seeing all of the photographs used for the royal Christmas cards dating right back to the beginning of the Queens reign.

It was the gardens we had really come back to see again. We had purposely come a bit later in the year this time, in the hope that there would be more to see in the gardens and we weren't disappointed.

There was a lot more colour than there had been on our previous visit and we spent a lot more time exploring the gardens and took lots more photographs.

It was surprising to see how far behind us things are in flowering, our allium came and went back in April/May time, but they are still giving a really good show here ...

The same is true of the laburnum arch, which is still to reach its best. Ours always has its best show in May time ...

We managed to get some more good shots of the castle, though we couldn't manage the full building without any people in at all, however long we waited.

We had a little more luck from the side...

There was a lot more to be seen in the sunken garden this time too. 

This time we walked down to the river and we are so glad we did. It was absolutely beautiful. What an amazing spot to have at the bottom of your garden.

We had another look round the exhibition in The Ballroom, which was completely different to our last visit, and we came away knowing that we had to visit both Glamis and Mey Castles, which have both been added to my list of 50 things to do before I am 60.

There was just time for a quick visit to the cafe for a piece of cake, shared with some of the locals, before heading off.

Mum and dad had really enjoyed their first visit and we were no less happy with it being our second. It's definitely worth visiting at different times of the year 😀

Beautiful Britain - Braemar to The Linn O'Dee

Our second big day out on our recent trip up to Royal Deeside found us retracing our steps from .
Braemar to The Linn O'Dee

We had loved both Braemar and The Linn O'Dee when we last visited during our stay back in 2015 and we really wanted to re-visit and show mum and dad around, as we knew they would love them both too.

We had a quick stop off at Braemar Castle for a few photos, including the first selfie of the day.

We then drove on through Braemar village and on to The Linn O'Dee. The weather was not so good and we arrived in a heavy drizzle, but that wasn't going to stop us from exploring this beautiful spot.
We wandered down to the bridge from the car park to see and hear the raging torrent of The Dee as it channeled its way through the narrow gorge beneath the bridge. It was an awesome sight.
For us, its when you cross the road and see The Dee, before it hits the gorge, that is the best sight. From seeing the river come through the narrow gorge its difficult to begin to imagine how broad the river actually is, but as you cross the road this really becomes clear.

It was no less of an amazing sight when seeing it for the second time. The river is so calm and wide, it's hard to imagine it's the same beast that is raging through the gorge. We love the calmness and beauty of this side. You can really get up close and personal with the river and we spent plenty of time just standing, watching and taking it all in.
Apologies for the photo overload but it was just sooooooo beautiful ...

All too soon it was time to be on our way. We followed The Dee, as it meandered its way back to Braemar, with a stop off for an in car picnic and a few photos of the valley.

Back in Braemar we had a good wander around, before making a hot chocolate pitstop for refreshments.

Whilst Braemar is only a small village, it is really pretty and there are plenty of interesting bits to stop and have a look at, including the railway station that has never seen a train, the remains of Kindrochit Castle and the RAF memorial, made from one of the engines from the wreckage of a Wellington R1646 found locally, which stands in memory of all airmen losing their lives in The Cairngorms.
We had one final stop off on the way back to Garnshiel Lodge. We've spotted this bridge from the road lots of times and today was the day that we decided to stop and have a closer look.
We were able to pull in a little further along the road and you can actually walk to the bridge. It turns out it is the 'Old Brig O'Dee' or 'The Invercauld Bridge' and the views of the river in either direction are spectacular. It's definitely worth a stop if you are passing.

So that was it, the end of our second big day out, pretty much spent the whole of it alongside The Dee, just beautiful 💜💜💜

The Cairngorms - Braemar to the Linn O' Dee

Following our visit to Balmoral we decided to head to the Linn O' Dee, one of Archie's top tips, via Braemar.

We made a quick stop off at Braemar castle on the way for a few photos and did a quick cache at the cemetery before taking the road through Braemar that led to the Linn O' Dee.

The views along the road were just spectacular and we had to keep stopping to take photos of the landscape in pretty much every layby we passed, and they were pretty frequent.

The river is just incredible, it was all over the place, meandering through the valley, a real reminder of those old school Geography lessons. Here is a very small selection of the pictures that we took along the way.

After a very slow drive we eventually made our way to the Linn O' Dee, which is where a bridge, opened by Queen Victoria in 1857, crosses the River Dee at a spot where the normally wide river thunders through a narrow, rocky gorge.

It was a really lovely spot. We parked at the car park at the top and made our way down to the river side to watch the water crashing through the gorge.
We also walked across to the other side of the bridge, which is completely different. It was one of the most beautiful spots we have ever been lucky enough to visit. You feel like you are pretty much sitting in the river and, with the warm sunshine and light breeze, we could have just stayed there all day.  Just listening to the sound of the river and feeling the spray, watching the sun sparkle on the rocks.  It really did feel like a very special place.

Eventually, we decided to continue on our travels and made our way back to Braemar, a pretty little village on the river.

We didn't stop long but we did discover the remains of Kindrochit castle, completely different to anything else we have seen in Scotland so far, with not a fairytale turret in sight (that's the church in the background).
There was also a really interesting and poignant memorial to the crew of a Wellington bomber, which crashed, on high ground near Braemar, on a routine training flight in 1942.  All eight crewmen lost their lives.
We'd had a brilliant day so far.  We loved Balmoral.  The Linn O' Dee was one of the most beautiful and lovely spots we have ever come across and Braemar was lovely too ...... and our day was still not over.