Our poor Groucho

Although last Sunday was fathers day I actually spent the day with mother. Firstly because Father was not actually available and secondly as mother had had a really bad week that ended in her cat Groucho (named after Groucho Marx as both had a little black tash) having to be put down due to kidney failure. Poor Grouch! She was getting on a bit, that’s the cat and not mum, but none of us expected her to go so early as our previous cats have lived to around 20 and Groucho was only about 11. She was a very noisy cat possibly due to my sister talking and singing to her when she was a kitten (though my sister had no excuse as she was in her 20s!) and she was a little feisty to put it politely, but all in all she was a good cat and loyal when it suited her.  May she rest in peace in little cat heaven where she can eat Paris buns to her hearts content and sit on Indie (our old cat) whenever she wants.

Anyway to order to cheer up mother we went for a picnic at Campsie Linn which is the other side of the river Tay than Stanley Linn. As the Tay was so low we walked easily over to the island which was littered with smashed sandstone on the grey and white riverbed, like a big rock monster had come along and pooed across it! I assume in actuality the force of the river in full flow had dragged the sandstone down and into the harder pebbles. The day was hot but not bright and I only got a few shots but we had a nice lunch which included fresh raspberries from the Strawberry Shop just outside Old Scone. Yum Yum! After a wee explore of the island we headed across country to Dunning.

Ancient Pictish Cross with amazing carvings

In the middle of Dunning and at the heart of its random road system stands St Serfs church which dates back to the 13th Century, though most the building you can see now is somewhat newer than that. This beautiful church with some of the most amazing stained glass windows I’ve seen (especially as the church is so small) also houses the Dupplin Cross which is a very impressive Pictish carved cross which dates from 800AD. It was originally sited a few miles along the road at Forteviot but the local land owner there got fed up of people walking on his land to see it and got it removed, lovely man!!!! The cross is dedicated in latin to the local Pictish King Caustantin, and is one of the best examples of Pictish engraving there is. It’s panels are engraved with legends, biblical stories and signs of unity and considering it is made of sandstone and has spent 1200 years  standing on a Scottish hillside has aged very well indeed, with most of the panel designs being easily seen and identified. It symbolises a great king who united the Picts and the Scots and overcame the Nordic Vikings and ruled justly over the land. It also has various Christian beliefs on it including the celtic triangle of the holy trinity and references to King David. Thankfully Historic Scotland, who’s care  the cross is in, do not mind photographs being taken of the cross or the church. So camera out for me then. The cross is lit by dim lights but I found the flash took out a lot of detail and made it look very flat so I turned the camera to Raw and manual and took the shots with a shutter of about 60th as I had no tripod for lower and an ISO 1600 with a low aperture. This gave me a few good moody shots. I also got some shots of the stained glass windows using a lower ISO as by now the sun was streaming in. And although Jesus had odd feet on one pane (all a bit De Vinci  code with hidden meanings) I got some  lovely shots of the patterns on the glass and the light they shed on the old walls.

Both Church and cross are incredibly interesting places and quite photogenic and the Historic Scotland man very helpful and informative and I would highly recommend a visit. But if that is not your cup of tea then the town of Dunning is quite lovely too and although most of it was burnt down in raids a few 100 years ago along with the church there is one other older building, a cottage. It is said that when the raiders came and set fire to the village the woman who lived in this cottage set a torch burning at the window and the raiders thought they had already torched the house so left it alone, clever girl!!! Also there is the monument to Maggie Wall who is believed to be the last woman to be burnt at the stake for being a witch. There is no record of this but I’m lead to believe that her skull was excavated and the story holds. The painted inscription on this monument which is interestingly topped with a cross  tells us she was burnt in 1657. Mother and I visited this little witch sanctuary before we headed back to Perth and after talking to a very chatty sheep we added our coin of respect and a daisy to the various other items left in memory of a woman unjustly treated in a turbulent time. Poor girl was probably just a normal clever woman and hence must have been a witch in the eyes of a male dominated society.

Once we got back in to Perth it was unfortunately time for me to go to work so I had to leave mum to her own means, but I had managed to cheer her up a bit and distract her from memories of poor Groucho.

It was Saturday, I was off work and the sun was out so I did what I always do at such times and took father out for a walk. We met in the Dundee Botanics like usual and decided as the sun was to the east we would head up the east coast. Keen for an adventure we went somewhere we had never been before and went to the Seaton cliffs on the other side of Ethie.

Our starting point was actually Auchmithie just outside of Arbroath and usually our finishing point on the cliff walk. We had walked to Ethie before form there and like then we  followed the rather overgrown coastal path . However instead of following the road back passed the castle this time we kept going along the path until it ended at the cliff edge. The sign there claimed the path meandered on along the cliffs to Lunan bay and I guess you could call it a path but it looked more like a trail.

Anyway I had noticed the bay called Cuthlie harbour which we were overlooking. It looked inaccessible and fabulous. After some consideration and a good look for a path, after all surely if it was a harbour there must of been a path to it, I noticed what looked like a path a little further back so we investigated and there it was. A few wooden steps leading down. Well ok so they used to be steps but now they were more like random bits of wood hanging on to the eroding cliff side for dear life.

Fantastic! Father wasn’t keen to go down at 1st and not because of the loose stone or the steep drop, but because of all the nettles. But after some persuasion and insisting that the harbour was calling for me – off we went. Wish I had got a shot of the steps and path but really needed both my hands for the climb.

Deserted Harbour and bay

It was an interesting climb down loose scree, stingy nettles and steep slopes, but slowly but surely we made it down. Unfortunately the sunshine had turned into a gray mugginess so not the best light for photos, but it was a wonderful place.

Not sure when the last humans had been down there but there were a few signs people had been there, ashes from a fire in a cave and a few stacked stones. After walking along the deep pebbles to the music of the waves lapping at the shore and pulling the pebbles back to sea, we found what I assume used to be the harbour and now is a step in the sea level.

Kinda cool as when standing at the bottom the sea is above you just waiting to tumble over the top. Continuing down the pebble beach we rounded in to the bay and found goats!!! No idea where they came from or how they got there, but there were about 6 goats grazing on the coarse grass.

So maybe it wasn’t humans that made the fire but very clever goats (or the elves that ride them). Anyway they stared at us for a while before deciding that yes we were scary and they should run away.

After exploring the caves in the bay and throwing stones into the sea to see who could get the best noise we wondered back along the beach. Sounds like a leisurely stroll but you try walking on a deep pebble beach, it’s not easy even if it does make a cool noise.

You just never know which way the pebbles are gonna slip, would like to see anyone trying to be elegant walking along that. At the other end of the bay we found a car graveyard. For some unknown reason there in the middle of nowhere there were at least 4 or 5 rusted and squashed cars littering the beach. Obviously they had been rolled off of the top which explains why the crash barrier had been put there, but why would anyone bring a car so far away to roll it off a cliff, can’t be worth the hassle. They did keep the sofa and fridge company though. Surely less hassle to just take them to the skip.

Then it was time to get back up the steep slippy slope. We followed the goats path who had easily run up and promptly disappeared never to be seen again. It just isn’t as easy for a human though. Father slipped and fell on his bum a few times, which I found funny, but guess should have been concerned about. I did remind him to be careful though. We scrambled through undergrowth back to the ‘steps’.

Now this is where I came in to my climbing element and happily and quickly scrambled up the path using the wooden posts and steps as holds. This all was going very well until disaster struck… The support i was grabbing onto fell away and tumbled down the cliff. Left with no hand hold I grabbed onto the next thing that came to hand, which rather unfortunately was a bed of nettles. Too late I found a better hold. So now my hand stung a lot (and still stings now) but not put off I scrambled to the top and found a dock leaf which didn’t really help.

Storm damage on St Stephens

Once back at the car we decided we deserved some dinner so we headed into Broughty Ferry. Driving was not as easy with a stung hand, especially the gears but I was all hyped from the climb so didn’t really notice it until later. In the Ferry we stopped by St Stephens Church which had been struck by lightning in a recent storm and the steeple had been ripped apart like an angry dragon had taken a dislike to it. Although not good news for the church it was very impressive, the power of nature and all. Had been glad that I was safe at my friends house the night of the storm and had refused to drive home until it subsided.

I left father in the Ferry after we had had dinner in a nice little chippy tearoom and I drove back to Perth to get some photos of the local punk band at rehearsals, but that is another blog! All in all a great day out but not a trip for the faint hearted or unbalanced, and I should remind you all that every year people are killed on the Seaton cliffs by not respecting them and not knowing their limits. So be careful and all, should you follow in my footsteps.

Saturday, and I was off work and the sun was shining and I was shattered after a very long week at work and being out with Ian the day before along with having a take away pizza with a  bear, forgetting to take flowers to Dundee and being the only sober person at a candle party. But I still found the energy to drag myself out of bed and going for an adventure with father. We met at Dundee botanics as we often do as they do great food and it’s easy for us both to get to. After a light brunch we decided to venture up the east coast and my favourite place in the world, the county of Angus. Being Kelmans though we didn’t go the obvious way and went all the back roads. 1st place we stopped off at was Tealing and its dovecot built in 1595 and very well preserved. beside this down a little country road and wee path that leads to a blocked off gate which you need to climb over, is an earth house. This is an iron age cellar for a round house and although not as large as the ones found elsewhere in Angus (like Ardestie) it was pretty impressive. And through our lives exploring Angus neither of us  have come across it before. Seems like Angus still has some surprises left.

Iced reservior at Crombie

After this we tempted fate and headed north east towards the snow. As we were in the area we popped into Crombie country park where when I was young we went to frequently. This time though there was no playing commandos or setting up ambushes but we did do the next best thing, we skidded ice over the beautiful frozen reservoir after a walk around the large park. This usually makes a fabulous whistling sound but unfortunately the ice was too deep and we just got a faint buzz, but it was still very satisfying.  Of course father enjoyed playing cave man with a big stick and thumping the ice until we could break some off to throw.

By this time we were very cold and my hands were frozen under my gloves so where better to go then the actual coast and Arbroath. As the light was amazing and Arbroath is built mainly in a beautiful local red sandstone, the place looked amazing. We went to the abbey 1st and enjoyed the lovely historic site bathed in sunshine. Of course we had a rendition of patriotic  “It’s not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself”.  Dam those guys knew how to write propaganda back in 1320!

Then it was to St Vigeans just outside Arbroath. This is a very historic site and there were a lot of pictish carved stones found here, which we didn’t see this time as the museum was locked up. we did however have a look at the impressive church built using local stone, including some of the pictish carved one. Quite poetic really as their religion amalgamated the pictish one in the end anyway.  By this time the sun was starting to get low so we decided to go to the Seaton cliffs. Another of my favourite places, used to climb them a lot as a child and still have the talent for doing so in me, even in the freezing cold with ice on parts of the cliffs. Makes you feel alive. As beautiful as the cliffs are they are really hard to photograph well as just so vast the lens can’t quite capture it all. We did listen to the waves move the pebbles with that great sound it makes.  Love that. then as the sun set we headed back to the car and I managed to get some lovely shots of the sunset from the beach at the bottom of the cliffs. And the sun put on a lovely show for me, all reds and oranges and reflections in water, a lovely end to a beautiful day. And to end it all just right we headed to my home town of Carnoustie to have a gorgeous home cooked meal with old friends. Good food and good company to end a good busy day, how they should always end.

Sun setting at Arbraoth