South Lodge Arnage to Crosshill

Within a short distance of our  starting point by  the south lodge of Arnage Castle the Ebrie and the Line, which had run side by side for several miles, diverged. Grey Granite headed south towards Gallowhill of Ellon, a farm close to the Line, reached  from the outer world by  a bridge over the Line which runs through a cutting at this point.

The farm takes its grisly name from Gallow Hill which rises  to the east of the farm steading.  Grey Granite was pleased to come upon a young mum and two toddlers picking the brambles in the cutting by the farm. She said that berries from the Line  made far better jam than those from anywhere else.

Looking towards Gallowshill from the south, Kirkhill on the left

 The Great north of Scotland Railway Guide of 1881 states that,  'on the brow of the hill is a clump of trees, marking the spot where the gallows stood in the old days when lairds had the power of 'pit and gallows.' The Ebrie is thought to have been used as 'the pot' for drownings.

Railway Bridge Croft seen through all that remains of the railway bridge from which its name is taken

A storm moves in from the west over Bennachie

Bridge over the Line at Crosshill.

The pale mauve buddleja on the left embankment is one of the very few Grey Granite has seen on the F&B Way although they are dense long railway lines further south. Originally a garden plant' butterfly bushes' were first noted as escapees in South Wales in 1921. This plant was attracting small tortoiseshells and small whites, there were meadow browns amongst the willowherb which flourishes extensively in the cuttings along this section

The remains of the windmill at Hilton of Turnerhall Farm

Grey Granite left the Line at the Cookston Bridge in search of a parking place for the next section of the walk down to Ellon. From the bridge the conspicuous pink granite stump of the ill fated Hilton Windmill can be seen. This windmill was built in 1787 or 1825 in order to drive  a threshing machine. The lower section is octagonal and is 30 feet high, above it is a 20 feet high circular section. The sails were blown off the windmill in January 1879 during the same storm which was responsible for the Tay Bridge disaster. Subsequently the windmill was capped and horses were used to power the mill before being replaced by a stationary engine which set fire to the timber fittings in the windmill.