The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

INVERURIE

Another nice sunny winter Saturday in Scotland.  What to do? Let's go for a drive. We had never taken the 16 miles of road from Aberdeen to Inverurie, so today seemed like a good day to do it.  Inverurie is a 15th century market town that really took off when a canal was dug in the River Don from Aberdeen in 1806.  It has become a comuter town for Aberdunians.

Inverurie has a charming triangular central square dominated by this WW I Memorial to the soldiers from the town who died in the wars of 1914-1918  and 1938-1945.  Lest we forget.

We poked around some shops on the square . . . The Dairy was nice, but the cafe had already sold out the days' meal-of-the-day.  Dang.

It is late enough in the winter for gardeners to start to contemplate taking the risk to-plant-or-not-to-plant.

We walked up the main shopping parade in town and found a nice restaurant and had a fine lunch (I had the Balmoral Chicken - roast chicken stuffed with haggis slathered in peppercorn sauce, Prince Charles' favorite!).

After lunch we walked back to the car, but stopped in a sporting goods and a luggage shop first.

Small, frumpy, Inverurie bar.  We didn't go in.

The road leaving town toward Aberdeen.  Small, clean, charming.

They have a gospel church there too.  I love the winter sky in Scotland.

We said good-bye to Inverurie and were glad we visited.  We want to come back and take some time on the River Walk.

MONTROSE (Angusshire)

 Another nice Saturday, another Saturday Drive, a 20 mile drive . . . this time south down the Coastal Route to an adjoining shire and the port town of Montrose, a somewhat down-at-the-heals village set in the most extraordinary geographic setting between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers, just in front of a wildlife preserve and estuary. Nice church too.

Church doors have a kind of power . . .

Downtown Montrose shopping district.

A very interesting mix of architecture, unlike Aberdeen.  This looks more Dutch than Scottish.  It was a busy shopping day in Montrose.

Local Hero, Joseph Hume.  He "was commissioned as a surgeon to an Army regiment, and was able to take up work as interpreter and commissary-general due to his knowledge of Indian languages."  Cool!  He learned Hindi, just like me! He was also a poet and radical parliamentarian. Nice to see a statue of such an interesting guy in a small town city square.

What?  A Bakery!  Let's have a look.  Some nice local specialities.  We bought an Apple Tart to eat later [far right - it was only ok].

We also bought a loaf of the Oat Bread [top shelf]: it had a crust as hard as concrete and weighed nearly 30 kilos [an exaggeration].  It was, however, extremely delicious.

The TRUE TEST of modern small town economic development is it's capacity to provide a drinkable double latte.  We found this 15th century vaulted cafe off the main square and administered the aforementioned test.  It passed.  A passable latte . . . although a little weak.

The cafe also had the usual display of what could have been 'home made' chutneys, syrups, compotes, jams, and jellys.  We already have these in excess cluttering our refrigerator.  Nothing new here, keep moving.

Yes, Montrose has a Chinese restaurant just like every single town in Scotland!  My wife had just returned from Hong Kong so was not in the mood to complicate her memories of the gastronomy there.

Another commemorative and honorary statue . . . I didn't catch this fellow's name . . . .

Some dilapidation here and there . . . disappointing.  Time to head out of town, find the port, and on to the estuary.

It was a wonderful day with fantastic winter light.

A view back across Montrose Basin to the old town. "At one time Montrose was Scotland's second largest exporter of salmon; and mussel cultivation gave it the largest mussel beds in the country during the 19th and early 20th centuries."  There is a live webcam of Montrose from across the estuary if you want to see what it looks right now.

Low tide on Montrose Basin . . . . a beached boat.

We pulled into the Montrose Basin Wildlife Reserve to ask what to see in the area.  The map provided the answers . . . go to The Bridge of Dun.

The view from the Reserve's Visitor Center Observation Deck was nice . . . and lined with bird-watchers chatting among themselves.  I heard one say, "Isn't that a ring tail twitter finch, just there?"

The Bridge of Dun is a Category A Listed Building . . . without a Wikipedia page!  I did find this, "Three-arch stone bridge, completed 1787 by Alexander Stevens."[citation] The bridge is said to have been the only way to cross the South Esk River, so the Leard built this elaborate toll bridge to enhance his fame.  My battery died within seconds of taking this photo, so other than iPhone shots, I have nothing to post of St Vie village and beach, where we went next.  We had a great day out.