Today would see a lot more road walking as I passed through Scotland’s third largest city – Aberdeen, cross over two famous rivers and would also see me racking up 6000 miles of coastal walking!
I set off very early from my B&B in Aberdeen as I needed to catch the 06:03 #7B bus back to Aberdeen, after parking at the rail station in Portlethen. The bus was quite busy for that time of the morning. I was slightly nervous because at the Bus Station in Aberdeen I only had 6 minutes before I caught the connecting #61 bus onto Balmedie. I needn’t have worried as the traffic was light and I had time to spare.
The forecast today for this part of Scotland was persistent light rain all day, which meant that I was going to get wet. I set off through Balmedie making my way through the dunes onto the beach to continue my walk south from where I left off yesterday. The beach was totally deserted and the rain was nowhere to be seen….yet. I had almost 5 miles of dead straight walking to do along the beach which I knew from other long beach stretches can be tedious at times. But given the right underfoot conditions you can make swift progress. With only the distant sight of the tower blocks in Aberdeen visible, I decided to start picking up pieces of ‘sea-glass’ of various shades. Apparently, you can buy this stuff on the internet and it is different from glass that has been ‘frosted’ in a tumbler. I caught a glimpse of a small watch tower up above the dune-line cliff and knew I must be on the Blackdog Rifle Range. I had checked beforehand to see the firing times and was pleased to find that the range was not in use for the whole of July.
I eventually arrived at the mouth of the River Don and headed inland slightly to walk over the Bridge of Don. I then followed the banks of the Don back out to the coast and continue into Aberdeen along the 2 mile esplanade. The rain which had been ‘spitting’ for the last hour, became more intense and made it difficult to take any photos without getting the lens wet. I spotted Pittodrie, home to Aberdeen FC and I could also see the city’s cathedral. I emerged by the docks and passed around them and then crossed the River Dee.
I turned east and followed south esplanade road, walking past a mixture of fish processing units and wharfs, with boats tied up, used for the offshore oil industry. It was not long before I came to the harbour mouth and could look down on Aberdeen and my route down from the north. I was now heading out along a road towards Stevenson’s 1833 Lighthouse at Girdle Ness, but first I climbed a steep slope up to the Battery overlooking Aberdeen Harbour. The battery was built in the 1860’s and saw action during both World Wars. The Battery was later used by Aberdeen Council to house homeless families after the end of WW2. It is now a scheduled Ancient Monument.
I dropped back down to the road hoping to complete a full circuit around to Nigg Bay. Unfortunately I had not reckoned with the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project which was now blocking the road around Girdle Ness. I could have nipped over the adjacent Balnagask Golf Course, but the course was in heavy use and it would not have been much use as a security fence had been used to seal off the golf course as well. I had to retrace my steps to St Fitticks Road and then on to Nigg Bay. The scale of the Harbour extension project is massive and will alter Nigg Bay forever.
The road soon joined up with the main railway line into Aberdeen where I managed to get back on the Aberdeenshire Coast Path. In the far distance I could see why, when I reached the town of Cove Bay, that I would need to divert inland, due the large quarry at Blackhill’s. I re-joined the main coast road at Burnbanks and followed the road into and out of Cove. This whole area was full of Industrial Parks and new housing.
On the edge of the town I turned down a lane which went right past the Blackhill’s Quarry. The road had very little traffic along and I soon crossed back over the railway line heading for the small village of Findon. At Findon I could have proceeded onto Portlethen Village, but because I would pass through the village on my next leg of the journey, I decided to cut inland along minor roads to the railway station at Portlethen, and so conclude my three days of walking.
NB: I also publish all my Scottish Blog entries on the excellent Scottish Hills website, I use the same narrative, but larger photos and a few extra ones. They can be found here:
http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=25067
Distance today = 20 miles
Total distance =6,003 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 
Sad to see Nigg Bay now and the fact this meant you couldn’t get around. I feel lucky I saw it how it was rather than how it is now and was able to get to this part of the coast. Though I was aware those works were coming. A shame about the weather too but at least you only have a few rain spots on the photos and glad you were able to complete your planned walks.
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