On the way down from Craigellachie we stopped off at Dufftown, mainly to have a look at Balvennie Castle, once the seat of the Earls of Buchan. We couldn’t go into the interior  since the castle was closed on the day.

Balvennie Castle information board:-

Balvennie Castle:-

Entrance:-

Gate:-

Interior through gate:-

From northwest:-

We’d bypassed Craigellachie itself on our trip north in 2023, though I did photograph Thomas Telford’s bridge there.

On our way back down last July I actually stopped in the village to photograph its War Memorial which is a tapering pillar on a square plinth with rounded pediment; the whole surmounted by a cross. It’s beside the main A 95 road through Craigellachie village. The pillar seems a tiny bit squint in this view.

Great War dedication and names:-

Second World War dedication and names:-

A supplementary stone on the ground by the mian memorial is dedicated to Lance Corporal Norman J Duncan, Royal Corps of Transport, 22/2/1989, Northern Ireland:-

Until I looked up Elgin War Memorial before our trip I had no idea there was a New Elgin. It lies to the south of Elgin itself.

We came up via the A 941 after turning off the A 95 at Craigellachie and passed though another Highland League town, Rothes, which has no less than four distilleries, but we didn’t have time to stop there for a look round.

Since I knew it where to find it I was able to stop to photograph New Elgin’s War Memorial. It is a figure of a kilted soldier with reversed rifle above a square plinth with scrolled edges.

Dedication, “To the men of New Elgin, Ashgrove and Mycroft,” and names:-

Great War names. Note Nurse Mary Fraser VAD:-

Memorial’s reverse. Second World War names:-