Off the Beaten Tracks

A long way off track, a couple of dilapidated old carriages at Redhouse Farm, Rathen

Maud to Brucklay:The missing link

Grey Granite and Rufus were delighted to be told by a lady who was planting her spare daffodil bulbs by the side of the Line at Maud that the section of Line between Maud and Brucklay Station is now unofficially open. This missing link completes the route from Fraserburgh to Maud and avoids a diversion along the road. 

Leaving Maud Station the Line crosses the B9029 by a bridge still guarded by a WW2 pillbox

The WW2 pillbox

The Culsh Monument to Dingwall Fordyce, Aberdeenshires first MP on the hill above New Deer. The monument and the square tower of St Kame's Church, New Deer, can be seen from Line by looking west near the crossing with the South Ugie Water.

The 1876 monument to William Dingwall Fordyce is situated on the summit of Culsh Hill directly above the graveyard. The 80' high monument is constructed of dressed ashlar, a spiral staircase leads to the viewing platform directly below the spire but can no longer be entered. William Dingwall Fordyce was the first MP for Aberdeenshire. A Liberal, he was a benevolent, improving conditions for his tenants by introducing insurance for their cottages and increasing their mobility by running weekly carriages to Banff, Aberdeen and Peterhead. He was also largely influential in ensuring that the Buchan Railway was extended north beyond Ellon. It seems apposite that the monument can can be seen from the former railway line.

A wooden linesmans' hut close to Atherb

There are several distance markers on this section. This marker, denoting  32.5 miles from Aberdeen, is currently wedged into a lineside tree trunk near North Atherb 

Brucklay Station

A considerable amount of tree felling has been carried out to transform this section of Line and to open it up. When Grey Granite and Rufus last visited Brucklay Station in August 2010,  the Line was impassible beyond the new Brucklay Bridge. The good surface now makes for very easy walking.

Beware! We did hear shooting in the distance from time to time and saw several elegant pheasants.

Rufus surveying the Line from a vantage point on the bridge over the South Ugie Water

Deer Abbey Bridge

Deer Abbey Bridge from the south, looking towards the trees of Pitfour

NJ 96632 48145

This extraordinary Bridge is situated on the minor road, linking the A950 and B9029 which crosses the Formartine and Buchan Way at Bridgend, about 50 metres west of the Abbey of Deer. The bridge crosses the South Ugie Water, the boundary between the estates of Aden to the south of the river and Pitfour to the north. The southern half of the bridge is narrower than the northern half, this bizarre architecture came about because of a dispute between the  Fergusons of Pitfour and the Russells of Aden. The Fergusons carried out extensive landscaping of their estate, turning it into what became known as  'The Blenheim of the North'. The improvements included the creation of the 27acre Pitfour Lake by James Ferguson, the third laird who became MP for Aberdeenshire in 1790. The Russells of Aden feared that the artificial lake would cause flooding at Aden. The Fergusons ignored their concerns but the Russells got their revenge when the Pitfour side of the bridge was widened to allow coaches to pass over it. The Russells stymied this plan simply by refusing to widen their side and so the uneven bridge remains passable to single file traffic only.