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We had a four and a half hour drive ahead of us last Tuesday morning as the plan was to travel from Aberdeen to Newcastle. We opted to stay in Newcastle for two reasons - the first being that a six and a half hour drive back to Pudsey we thought would be too far in one day and the second being that it gave us the opportunity to sample the Brewdog bar there and get another stamp. We had been there before but it was a chance to visit again cost-effectively so we thought it made sense to take it.
We were going to try and get on the road for 9am, but the events of the preceding evening meant we were in something of a groggy state. This meant we didn't check out until about 9:45am but soon we were barrelling down the road, having said goodbye to the ships in the harbour as well as the Granite City. It had been good to us. The weather was perfect, as it had been throughout our time in Scotland, so we decided to call off at a few places en route as we headed south. The first was the charming harbour town of Stonehaven, some thirty minutes south of Aberdeen. Heading into the place, it did look rather pleasant and orderly, with the clock tower adjacent to the market square dominating the high street. We parked up in the car park nearby and went looking for some suncream and some food, finding a Boots pretty swiftly and then a bakery just down the road. The lady in the latter was particularly friendly, and it was great having a brief conversation with her about Stonehaven. She prepared us some rather tasty bacon sandwiches, which we enjoyed as we headed to the shoreline, although I was put out slightly when a seagull flew exceptionally close to me in an attempt to steal by breakfast. It scared the shit out of me quite honestly.
The coast is just behind the main high street and there is a boardwalk connecting the rather pebbly beach with the harbour, which is away from the main town. We followed it, watching many doggo friends enjoying their walks in the sunshine and enjoying the various marine sculptures made out of twisted wire which lined the route. There was a dolphin, a seal, a Viking longboat and a heron with a fish betwixt its beak, which added colour to the walk. The stroll must not have been much longer than about ten minutes as, once we had passed by some houses backing onto the beach, a small car park was in front of us and to the right there was a ginnel to the harbour. This area was very much picture postcard stuff, a number of houses and bars clinging to the shoreline with a small expanse of water upon which there sat a number of small motorboats. The harbour has a number of basins but is predominantly natural, with man-made improvements made from the seventeenth century onwards. It is still used as a place for fishermen to trade - white fish and clams/scollops mainly - but very few vessels are registered in Stonehaven. We certainly didn't see any and indeed it was all rather quiet aside from a few pensioners either enjoying the view or out for a stroll. Interestingly, we did see the hotel where Six Degrees North began, and indeed it now has one of their signs outside the front door. We also saw the Stonehaven Tollbooth, which is the oldest surviving building in the town. Built in the late sixteenth century, it was originally a storehouse and then a courthouse and prison. It has since become a museum but alas it was closed on Tuesdays, which was most irriating.
The lady in the sandwich shop had urged us to walk to Dunnottar Castle, which was our next destination. She told us it was a mile and a half from town but it was actually a mile and a half from the harbour, thus almost doubling the distance. Had we had more time, we would almost have certainly walked the precipitous climb but with time pressing, we decided to drive instead. This meant we doubled back once we had walked along the harbour, following the wooden causeway back along the stony beach. En route, we saw a helicopter overhead, which interested the small group of children who were on a field trip on the beach. Once we had gotten back to where we started, we decided to walk the other way a bit as we had been told there was a heated outdoor swimming pool further along the shore. This was only two in Scotland and had only just been saved demolition, but unfortunately it wasn't open when we walked past, meaning all we could see was a high colourful wall and nothing else. Sat aside a caravan park, this wasn't particularly exciting so we headed back to the car for the drive up to the castle.
Aheading up the steep hill towards the castle, there is a rather curious octagonal structure in the style of a Greek temple. Wolfie suggested we take a closer look and this turned out to be the War Memorial, which was constructed in 1921. It has a ruined look, which signifies the number of shortened and ruined lives as a result of the conflict. The names of significant WWI battles are on the lintels across the top, with WWII battles at the base. On the inside, the lintels read 'One by one death challenged themnm, they smiled in his grim visage and refused to be dismayed'. The names of those locals who fell in WWI are on the stone memorial inside the octagon with those who fell in WWII on plaques along the side walls. Walking up to it atop Black Hill, it looms closer and closer into view, it's grimness adding a power which contrasts with the stunning sea vista that the hill proclaims. It's an incredibly moving piece of arechitecture and one that you can see wherever you are in the town, meaning they truly will never be forgotten.
From this hilltop vantage point you can also see the castle, so we walked back down to the car and drove the mile or so there. The castle is on a small spit of land jutting out into the sea, which was picturesque on such a sunny May day but was probably incredibly harsh in the depths of winter. The prominentory was about half a mile away from the car park, down one flight of steps and back up another, highlighting just how impenetrable this castle was. Indeed, this was the only way to get to it, with the rest of it completely surrounded by water as it sat atop its huge rocky outcrop. Dunnottir Castle has a long history and the likes of William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and the future King Charles II have all stayed there. Most famously, however, this was where the Scottish Crown Jewels were saved, where a Royalist army held out under siege from Oliver Cromwell's army for eight months before the Crown, Sceptre and Sword were smuggled out. It was also at this castle in 1685 when a group of Covenanters who refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the King when it came to spiritual matters were imprisoned. This room became known as the 'Whig's Valut' and was a long dark room where 167 people were imprisoned for a number of weeks. Their names have all been recorded and considering at one point there was just me and Wolfie in this pit and it was hot enough, not to mention almost pitch black, it must have been absolute hell.
The castle is largely in ruins but a lot of the core buildings have survived in one way or another. The kitchens, bakery, brewery and stables are all largely intact while the quaint chapel in the middle still gives tantalising clues as to what it must have been like at the time. What survives is quite miraculous considering its location and the fact it was largely left for two hundred years, from 1715 when the last Earl of Marischal was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite Rebellion of that year to 1925 when restoration was begun. It has been a museum pretty much since then and although it was a stunning collection of buildings, it was the location that made it more stunning. Indeed, the glistening of the water in the sunlight, the craggy rocky outcrops and the views overlooking the sea were quite romantic. This was slightly tinged by the guy with the Middlesbrough accent showing his kids around, not to mention Wolfie rushing me somewhat, but either way it was certainly a pleasant place to spend an hour.
Time was pressing however and we were already about an hour behind schedule, so with heavy hearts we departed and headed back to the car. We grabbed a drink at the small food van in the car park before heading south, with the hour-long drive to Dundee relatively painless. Upon arrival, we discovered that this city was very much car park friendly and finding a cheap multi-story wasn't too difficult. We parked up in the legal district right opposite the main police station and decided to go exploring for an hour. Our primary objective was to visit the Brewdog, which was only a short walk away down a rather non-descript industrial area. However, as Brewdogs go, this is a good one as it is right in the Chamber of Commerce Building, which has a rather old feel. This sits opposite the stunning McManus Art Gallery & Museum, which has a number of statues around its periphery and is designed very much like a gothic cathedral. It's certainly a breathtaking building and had something of a Harry Potter feel to it with its turrets and sweeping curved staircases (indeed on our way into the city centre we saw a school which very much looked like Hogwarts). Alas, despite the good weather and great architecture, I was struggling to enjoy it was work emails were kicking off and I spent most of my time in the bar having to field them. This had been a theme during our time in Scotland, much to Wolfie's irritation, and indeed I do feel I barely had any time out of the office. Still, we got our stamp in the Brewdog bar and I enjoyed a beer (Wolfie had a cola due to Scotland's strict drink driving laws), but all of this stuff was playing on my mind for the rest of the day.
We needed some lunch so we decided to have a little explore around Dundee. We picked up a Scotch Pie from Greggs, a delicacy unique to Scotland as it contains minced beef and haggis, while later on we had an excellent bagel from an Italian bakery. In the interim, we walked around the main shopping streets and noticed the usual collection of odd statues and many churches, which was strange. My favourite was perhaps the church whose tower had a metal Mecca Bingo sign buttressed right against it. We went inside one of the churches, which may have been the main cathedral, but we were a bit put out by the busywoman flitting about so we left pretty swiftly. Aside from this, we didn't see an awful lot, but it was a pleasant stroll in the sun if nothing else.
We left Dundee at around half past three, needing to get to Newcastle in plenty of time so we could visit their Brewdog. The journey south was largely uneventful, although seeing the Forth Rail Bridge for the first time as we crossed the Forth Road Bridge was a delight. It is far bigger than you would imagine and a real triumph of engineering. Aside from this, there is little much to report from the journey apart from in the final five minutes. We made good time and aside from the usual chumbos on the road, we managed to get into Newcastle shortly before 7pm. However, as we approached the hotel, we heard a clanging noise from underneath the car and a continual scraping sound. It turned out that Wolfie's exhaust pipe had fallen off. We knew it had had a hole, which Wolfie had tried to repair before heading north, but it had since grown and clearly become a structural failing. Luckily, we were only five minutes from our destination so we managed to limp the car into their car park and check in. Getting this sorted was undoubtedly going to be a hassle, but we felt fortunate that this had happened here rather than two hours back up the road.
With little else to do due to the late hour, we decided to continue with the plan, hopping on the Metro at Kingston Park after a short walk to the station from the hotel. We were in Newcastle city centre twenty minutes later and shortly after this we were in The Bridge Tavern, which is directly under the Tyne Bridge. This is an unfussy brewpub but one that serves a range of local ales, making it rather ideal for us. I discovered it as I googled for good pub food and this didn't disappoint, with the steak we were served exquisite. I did have concerns going into the bar as there were a gaggle of loud punters near the bar, but they soon buggered off, assumedly because they were office workers heading for a pint after a day at work. I wasn't sure, but the number of people thinned out considerably and it was a rather pleasant place to eat dinner, not to mention try four beers on their insanely cheap beer flight. Two of these were brewed on site and another two were local, so it was great trying them, while the bar staff were exceptionally friendly.
After this, we called in at the Brewdog bar, sampling a couple of beers on the mezzanine level. We had been here before but not on a Tuesday night, and it was great to see it busy but not too busy. Aware of how much we had drank the evenings before, we didn't want to push it too far, so we decided to call off at the Tapped Brew Company bar opposite the main station for our final beer of the night after we had sampled everything new that Brewdog had to offer. At Tapped, one beer turned into two beers, including one from the town of my birth, Stockton-on-Tees, as the barman was exceptionally friendly and great to talk to. This bar used to be a car park and you could still see the concrete posts, painted in the black and yellow striped markings in which so many multi-story car parks are painted. We then headed back to the hotel, picking up our free drink (which turned out to be bottles of Budweiser) in the hotel lobby before finishing with a Goose Island that I had enjoyed while on business in London back in February (with a different hotel chain oddly). We commented on how much better the Novotels are compared to the Ibis and whether we should plump for a slightly better quality hotel going forward, which we agreed to do should the price work out favourably.
Wolfie and I were both up early on Wednesday morning, which is just as well as the fire alarm went off shortly afterwards. After a rather leisurely evacuation which only saw about thirty people bother with it, we filed back inside and grabbed some breakfast. We had been told it was £7.95 but it turned out to be £13.95, which was a little steep for what you got. However, Wolfie had to be on the phone to garages to sort his car out and I decided to use the opportunity to work as the fires were still burning. Wolfie found a Kwik Fit in Gosforth where he could take the car and to be fair they were good, fitting the new exhaust in around three hours. Indeed, by the time Wolfie had walked from the garage to the Metro, got back to Kingston Park and then the hotel, he had to go back out again to pick the car up. Leaving the bags at the hotel, I went with him, and I must admit it was something of a relief to have got this sorted so quickly.
The exhaust situation had dented our plans though, as we had intended to go and see my mother that afternoon. However, with the situation uncertain as to when we would have a working car, we had to cancel this arrangement. In the end, we did have a little time to see my father, so we dropped in on his as we travelled home, largely because his house was only two miles away from the road down which we were travelling anyway. It was great seeing him again and he kindly made us lunch, while I handed him the presents we had gotten him from Aberdeen. After an hour, we then headed back home after a fantastic few days away in Scotland. We had hit all the Brewdog bars, seen some of the sights and met with family too. All in all then it was a great five days.
We were going to try and get on the road for 9am, but the events of the preceding evening meant we were in something of a groggy state. This meant we didn't check out until about 9:45am but soon we were barrelling down the road, having said goodbye to the ships in the harbour as well as the Granite City. It had been good to us. The weather was perfect, as it had been throughout our time in Scotland, so we decided to call off at a few places en route as we headed south. The first was the charming harbour town of Stonehaven, some thirty minutes south of Aberdeen. Heading into the place, it did look rather pleasant and orderly, with the clock tower adjacent to the market square dominating the high street. We parked up in the car park nearby and went looking for some suncream and some food, finding a Boots pretty swiftly and then a bakery just down the road. The lady in the latter was particularly friendly, and it was great having a brief conversation with her about Stonehaven. She prepared us some rather tasty bacon sandwiches, which we enjoyed as we headed to the shoreline, although I was put out slightly when a seagull flew exceptionally close to me in an attempt to steal by breakfast. It scared the shit out of me quite honestly.
The coast is just behind the main high street and there is a boardwalk connecting the rather pebbly beach with the harbour, which is away from the main town. We followed it, watching many doggo friends enjoying their walks in the sunshine and enjoying the various marine sculptures made out of twisted wire which lined the route. There was a dolphin, a seal, a Viking longboat and a heron with a fish betwixt its beak, which added colour to the walk. The stroll must not have been much longer than about ten minutes as, once we had passed by some houses backing onto the beach, a small car park was in front of us and to the right there was a ginnel to the harbour. This area was very much picture postcard stuff, a number of houses and bars clinging to the shoreline with a small expanse of water upon which there sat a number of small motorboats. The harbour has a number of basins but is predominantly natural, with man-made improvements made from the seventeenth century onwards. It is still used as a place for fishermen to trade - white fish and clams/scollops mainly - but very few vessels are registered in Stonehaven. We certainly didn't see any and indeed it was all rather quiet aside from a few pensioners either enjoying the view or out for a stroll. Interestingly, we did see the hotel where Six Degrees North began, and indeed it now has one of their signs outside the front door. We also saw the Stonehaven Tollbooth, which is the oldest surviving building in the town. Built in the late sixteenth century, it was originally a storehouse and then a courthouse and prison. It has since become a museum but alas it was closed on Tuesdays, which was most irriating.
The lady in the sandwich shop had urged us to walk to Dunnottar Castle, which was our next destination. She told us it was a mile and a half from town but it was actually a mile and a half from the harbour, thus almost doubling the distance. Had we had more time, we would almost have certainly walked the precipitous climb but with time pressing, we decided to drive instead. This meant we doubled back once we had walked along the harbour, following the wooden causeway back along the stony beach. En route, we saw a helicopter overhead, which interested the small group of children who were on a field trip on the beach. Once we had gotten back to where we started, we decided to walk the other way a bit as we had been told there was a heated outdoor swimming pool further along the shore. This was only two in Scotland and had only just been saved demolition, but unfortunately it wasn't open when we walked past, meaning all we could see was a high colourful wall and nothing else. Sat aside a caravan park, this wasn't particularly exciting so we headed back to the car for the drive up to the castle.
Aheading up the steep hill towards the castle, there is a rather curious octagonal structure in the style of a Greek temple. Wolfie suggested we take a closer look and this turned out to be the War Memorial, which was constructed in 1921. It has a ruined look, which signifies the number of shortened and ruined lives as a result of the conflict. The names of significant WWI battles are on the lintels across the top, with WWII battles at the base. On the inside, the lintels read 'One by one death challenged themnm, they smiled in his grim visage and refused to be dismayed'. The names of those locals who fell in WWI are on the stone memorial inside the octagon with those who fell in WWII on plaques along the side walls. Walking up to it atop Black Hill, it looms closer and closer into view, it's grimness adding a power which contrasts with the stunning sea vista that the hill proclaims. It's an incredibly moving piece of arechitecture and one that you can see wherever you are in the town, meaning they truly will never be forgotten.
From this hilltop vantage point you can also see the castle, so we walked back down to the car and drove the mile or so there. The castle is on a small spit of land jutting out into the sea, which was picturesque on such a sunny May day but was probably incredibly harsh in the depths of winter. The prominentory was about half a mile away from the car park, down one flight of steps and back up another, highlighting just how impenetrable this castle was. Indeed, this was the only way to get to it, with the rest of it completely surrounded by water as it sat atop its huge rocky outcrop. Dunnottir Castle has a long history and the likes of William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and the future King Charles II have all stayed there. Most famously, however, this was where the Scottish Crown Jewels were saved, where a Royalist army held out under siege from Oliver Cromwell's army for eight months before the Crown, Sceptre and Sword were smuggled out. It was also at this castle in 1685 when a group of Covenanters who refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the King when it came to spiritual matters were imprisoned. This room became known as the 'Whig's Valut' and was a long dark room where 167 people were imprisoned for a number of weeks. Their names have all been recorded and considering at one point there was just me and Wolfie in this pit and it was hot enough, not to mention almost pitch black, it must have been absolute hell.
The castle is largely in ruins but a lot of the core buildings have survived in one way or another. The kitchens, bakery, brewery and stables are all largely intact while the quaint chapel in the middle still gives tantalising clues as to what it must have been like at the time. What survives is quite miraculous considering its location and the fact it was largely left for two hundred years, from 1715 when the last Earl of Marischal was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite Rebellion of that year to 1925 when restoration was begun. It has been a museum pretty much since then and although it was a stunning collection of buildings, it was the location that made it more stunning. Indeed, the glistening of the water in the sunlight, the craggy rocky outcrops and the views overlooking the sea were quite romantic. This was slightly tinged by the guy with the Middlesbrough accent showing his kids around, not to mention Wolfie rushing me somewhat, but either way it was certainly a pleasant place to spend an hour.
Time was pressing however and we were already about an hour behind schedule, so with heavy hearts we departed and headed back to the car. We grabbed a drink at the small food van in the car park before heading south, with the hour-long drive to Dundee relatively painless. Upon arrival, we discovered that this city was very much car park friendly and finding a cheap multi-story wasn't too difficult. We parked up in the legal district right opposite the main police station and decided to go exploring for an hour. Our primary objective was to visit the Brewdog, which was only a short walk away down a rather non-descript industrial area. However, as Brewdogs go, this is a good one as it is right in the Chamber of Commerce Building, which has a rather old feel. This sits opposite the stunning McManus Art Gallery & Museum, which has a number of statues around its periphery and is designed very much like a gothic cathedral. It's certainly a breathtaking building and had something of a Harry Potter feel to it with its turrets and sweeping curved staircases (indeed on our way into the city centre we saw a school which very much looked like Hogwarts). Alas, despite the good weather and great architecture, I was struggling to enjoy it was work emails were kicking off and I spent most of my time in the bar having to field them. This had been a theme during our time in Scotland, much to Wolfie's irritation, and indeed I do feel I barely had any time out of the office. Still, we got our stamp in the Brewdog bar and I enjoyed a beer (Wolfie had a cola due to Scotland's strict drink driving laws), but all of this stuff was playing on my mind for the rest of the day.
We needed some lunch so we decided to have a little explore around Dundee. We picked up a Scotch Pie from Greggs, a delicacy unique to Scotland as it contains minced beef and haggis, while later on we had an excellent bagel from an Italian bakery. In the interim, we walked around the main shopping streets and noticed the usual collection of odd statues and many churches, which was strange. My favourite was perhaps the church whose tower had a metal Mecca Bingo sign buttressed right against it. We went inside one of the churches, which may have been the main cathedral, but we were a bit put out by the busywoman flitting about so we left pretty swiftly. Aside from this, we didn't see an awful lot, but it was a pleasant stroll in the sun if nothing else.
We left Dundee at around half past three, needing to get to Newcastle in plenty of time so we could visit their Brewdog. The journey south was largely uneventful, although seeing the Forth Rail Bridge for the first time as we crossed the Forth Road Bridge was a delight. It is far bigger than you would imagine and a real triumph of engineering. Aside from this, there is little much to report from the journey apart from in the final five minutes. We made good time and aside from the usual chumbos on the road, we managed to get into Newcastle shortly before 7pm. However, as we approached the hotel, we heard a clanging noise from underneath the car and a continual scraping sound. It turned out that Wolfie's exhaust pipe had fallen off. We knew it had had a hole, which Wolfie had tried to repair before heading north, but it had since grown and clearly become a structural failing. Luckily, we were only five minutes from our destination so we managed to limp the car into their car park and check in. Getting this sorted was undoubtedly going to be a hassle, but we felt fortunate that this had happened here rather than two hours back up the road.
With little else to do due to the late hour, we decided to continue with the plan, hopping on the Metro at Kingston Park after a short walk to the station from the hotel. We were in Newcastle city centre twenty minutes later and shortly after this we were in The Bridge Tavern, which is directly under the Tyne Bridge. This is an unfussy brewpub but one that serves a range of local ales, making it rather ideal for us. I discovered it as I googled for good pub food and this didn't disappoint, with the steak we were served exquisite. I did have concerns going into the bar as there were a gaggle of loud punters near the bar, but they soon buggered off, assumedly because they were office workers heading for a pint after a day at work. I wasn't sure, but the number of people thinned out considerably and it was a rather pleasant place to eat dinner, not to mention try four beers on their insanely cheap beer flight. Two of these were brewed on site and another two were local, so it was great trying them, while the bar staff were exceptionally friendly.
After this, we called in at the Brewdog bar, sampling a couple of beers on the mezzanine level. We had been here before but not on a Tuesday night, and it was great to see it busy but not too busy. Aware of how much we had drank the evenings before, we didn't want to push it too far, so we decided to call off at the Tapped Brew Company bar opposite the main station for our final beer of the night after we had sampled everything new that Brewdog had to offer. At Tapped, one beer turned into two beers, including one from the town of my birth, Stockton-on-Tees, as the barman was exceptionally friendly and great to talk to. This bar used to be a car park and you could still see the concrete posts, painted in the black and yellow striped markings in which so many multi-story car parks are painted. We then headed back to the hotel, picking up our free drink (which turned out to be bottles of Budweiser) in the hotel lobby before finishing with a Goose Island that I had enjoyed while on business in London back in February (with a different hotel chain oddly). We commented on how much better the Novotels are compared to the Ibis and whether we should plump for a slightly better quality hotel going forward, which we agreed to do should the price work out favourably.
Wolfie and I were both up early on Wednesday morning, which is just as well as the fire alarm went off shortly afterwards. After a rather leisurely evacuation which only saw about thirty people bother with it, we filed back inside and grabbed some breakfast. We had been told it was £7.95 but it turned out to be £13.95, which was a little steep for what you got. However, Wolfie had to be on the phone to garages to sort his car out and I decided to use the opportunity to work as the fires were still burning. Wolfie found a Kwik Fit in Gosforth where he could take the car and to be fair they were good, fitting the new exhaust in around three hours. Indeed, by the time Wolfie had walked from the garage to the Metro, got back to Kingston Park and then the hotel, he had to go back out again to pick the car up. Leaving the bags at the hotel, I went with him, and I must admit it was something of a relief to have got this sorted so quickly.
The exhaust situation had dented our plans though, as we had intended to go and see my mother that afternoon. However, with the situation uncertain as to when we would have a working car, we had to cancel this arrangement. In the end, we did have a little time to see my father, so we dropped in on his as we travelled home, largely because his house was only two miles away from the road down which we were travelling anyway. It was great seeing him again and he kindly made us lunch, while I handed him the presents we had gotten him from Aberdeen. After an hour, we then headed back home after a fantastic few days away in Scotland. We had hit all the Brewdog bars, seen some of the sights and met with family too. All in all then it was a great five days.
