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