Stonehaven War Memorial sits prominently on Black Hill to the south of the town and is also visible from Dunnottar Castle. The winding path from the castle takes you towards Stonehaven and partly up Black Hill from where you can access the Memorial grounds.

View of Memorial from path leading from Dunnittar Castle:-

Stonehaven from Stonehaven War Memorial:-

Memorial from west as seen from the road back to Dunnottar Castle:-

An information board says the memorial was deliberately designed to look like a ruin to symbolise the lives cut short by the Great War:-

Stonehaven War Memorial from north:-

The external lintels are inscribed with the names of Great War battles, here Jutland, Mons, Ypres:-

From south, Zeebrugge, Gallipoli, Jutland:-

From southwest, Marne, Zeebrugge:-

From west, Vimy, Somme, Marne:-

From northwest, Mons, Ypres:-

Waterfall by Dunnottar Castle from approach path:-

Cliffs to south from approach path:-

Rocks below Dunnottar Castle:-

Cliffs to north and sea inlet, from Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven War Memorial on hilltop:-

Stonehaven War Memorial on hill:-

After our visit to Dunnottar Castle we took a footpath which (eventually) leads to Stonehaven. This afforded more views of the northern cliffs:-

And of the Castle looking back:-

Northern cliffs again:-

Cistern in courtyard. This ensured the castle’s water supply:-

Cistern from upper floor of main building:-

Interior (with windows):-

Window seat:-

View from a window:-

Sundial and Lintel:-

Sundial and coat of arms information board:-

Fireplace. Inscribed, “In commemoration of the defence of the honours of Scotland Sep 1651 – Aug 1652 by George Ogilvy of Barras, Governor of Dunnottar and of the help given by his wife Elizabeth Douglas and her kinswoman Anne Lindsay.” Scroll down for the story.

Part of Restored Ceiling (Regi et Regno):-

Restored ceiling (In Defens):-

Castle buildings:-

Small window in above:-

From sea end of site:-

Courtyard area from outside its wall:-

Remains of chapel:-

Interior of chapel:-

Remains (with arch; garden area in foreground):-

Garden area with buildings beyond. (Stonehaven War Memorial on hill in background):-

Buildings (chapel to right):-

Late afternoon shadows (sea beyond):-

Dunnottar Castle lies just south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. We had been meaning to visit there for some time but it wasn’t till January last year we finally made it.

Dunnottar Castle from approach path:-

As luck would have it we visited the National Gallery of Scotland shortly after and saw this stunning painting of the castle by Waller Hugh Paton:

As you can see it is perfectly situated from a defensive point of view, as it is perched on a rock poking out into the sea.

Castle entrance:-

Pattern in Stones on path leading up to castle:-

There’s a small tunnel like construction to go through before you reach the interior and the castle buildings:-

I had two days out really.

On Friday on the way up to Aberdeen the good lady and I stopped at Dunnottar Castle and also took the chance to visit Stonehaven War Memorial which is walkable from there. (Photos of both will be coming eventually.)

Later in the afternoon she made a good trawl of the Old Aberdeen Book Shop in Spital.

Even better pickings were obtained at the Mercat Bookshop in Castle Street the next morning (I even bought two books) and then we had a look at two antique shops before we retired to a modern style hostelry for lunch with my younger son and his wife.

Imagine our surprise when the establishment was invaded by Sons fans who certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves, which the bar staff took in good part. The flag intimated they were from Helensburgh.

On to the match, with ticket at the ready:-

The Sons contingent had several good flags on the wave:-

The pre-match entertainmenmt was way over the top. There’s absolutely no need for this sub-USian rubbish:-

Even if the Aberdeen fans in the Merkland Stand also had a good array of flags:-

The teams emerge. Two more good Sons flags at the bottom here:-

Sons to the fore. This season’s ‘home’ strip – yellow and black wide stripes, with black shorts, on show (and a rather silly-looking Aberdeen mascot at top right. They had at least two mascots, which is probably two too many):-

Sons line up for the game:-