Dunnottar Castle

So there's been a fair but of upheaval in my personal life recently, as a result I've moved back out to my home town, Stonehaven.  This, coupled with the (for NE Scotland) great weather, means I've been spending a fair bit of time outdoors.

One of my favourite haunts when I was younger was the cliff side walk from Stonehaven to Dunnottar castle.  Sticking out on it's rocky promontory, Dunnottar is one of Scotland's iconic castles.  And, like all our best castles, it's ruined and, hence, not covered in ghastly modern restorations of nineteenth century additions.

The site itself has been occupied for thousands of years in some form or other, while the castle itself has a proud heritage of being sacked by many notable peoples from our isles history.  Although it looks magnificent, the pictures I took don't convey just how exposed to the elements it is here, the wind was ferocious.  This was on a nice day too!  Quick personal anecdote: my first proper girlfriend and I once did the "dance with no pants" in the castle here - I think I was much more adventurous back in the day!

Infuriatingly, the local council have marked the cliff path as closed due to erosion.  Despite being a little concerned about the path, I headed round with the expectation to be forced back.  It turns out a two-foot wide trench in the path, caused by some falling rocks, was the only damage on the whole trail - oh, and it was on the flattest bit of the path, nowhere near the cliff at all.  Talking to the attendant at the castle, it turns out that the council decided to close the whole path due to health and safety worries, rather than take a little effort to repair the path.   This country...

Climbing Clachnaben On A Winters Day

Next to no painting or modelling this weekend as it was the Mrs birthday on Saturday.  She fancied going for a walk somewhere so we went up and around Clachnaben, taking the in-laws for company.  There's been snow lying on Deeside for a week or so, and it made for some very picturesque views.  Gave me some great inspiration for my Easy Company "Bastone" army, although the troops in the Ardennes certainly didn't have to put up with our north-east wind!  It was bitter.  Officially we were at 2º but the wind meant it felt much colder!

If you've ever wondered what a hunk of granite looks like, well here you are.

True story, a few years ago, Aberdeen were playing Lokomotiv Moscow in the Uefa cup and at the time I was managing a mobile phone store.  On the day of the match a group of Muscovites were in the shop and we all got talking.  They particularly wanted to know where they could get hats and scarves.  I said that as they were from Moscow, surely they could cope with a chilly day in Aberdeen?  They replied that they were used to a normal, dry cold at home, even though it was -20º, all you had to do was wrap up.  Here however, the cold just ripped through you, the wind and the drizzle came from every direction and seeped into your bones!  It wasn't even that cold for our winter at the time!  Great guys though, gave us some Roubles as a souvenir!

Doesn't really look as cold as it was.

Walking with the in-laws is a hell of an experience.  They took up "serious" walking a couple years ago and they're the kind of couple who throw themselves into something wholeheartedly.  Consequently they have every kind of gadget and piece of paraphernalia available; sun glasses, snow glasses, thick gloves, thin gloves, portable seats, snoods?, poles, some kind of Asian wool base layers, removable spikes, countless clips, straps and bags.  Everything.  Watching them unload themselves for lunch and load up again was a bit of a spectacle!

Yours truly, hiding from the in-laws...err, I mean the wind!

After that, I took the Mrs out for dinner and a few drinks.  That should keep me in the good books long enough for her to ignore the box of figures due to arrive this week.