When I left Cullen after breakfast this morning I planned to be in Turriff for the back of 9am.
Aye right! What I hadn’t taken into account was my inability to resist the temptation to make a couple stops along the way.
How could I pass the road for Sandend and not stop for a walk along the sands or a nose around its wee harbour? One thing leads to another. It wouldn’t take that long surely to have a walk out the coast by Findlatter Castle.
And, if I’d time, I wouldn’t mind taking a closer look at Sandend’s 18th century windmill. Only the stump and its surrounding wall remain, giving it all the appearance of a space ship having landed. The locals call it the “Cup and Saucer” and it’s easy to see why.
By lunchtime my schedule was well and truly up the spout and turning off at the signpost for Fordyce, Turriff wasn’t really getting any closer. Fordyce is a lovely conservation village and lies about a mile inland from Sandend.
A five minute stop once again turned into a few hours with a look at its castle, the Auld Kirk and a few interesting old stones – one of which as I was about to learn, used to hold some special romantic powers on Hogmanay. As for Turriff – well there’s always tomorrow.
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