The village of Crathie lies just by Balmoral Estate which is separated from Crathie car park by a bridge over the River Dee designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I couldn’t get to a vantage point to photograph the bridge itself but it has fine views of the River Dee.

Looking west:-

Looking east:-

Crathie Kirk – which is where the royal family attend church when at Balmoral:-

Church door:-

Stone by Crathie Kirk’s Door. Preserved from a former Church at Crathie:-

Side of kirk:-

Bridge Street, Ballater, showing War Memorial:-

Ballater, Bridge Street looking towards bridge. The shop on the corner sold very good ice cream:-

Unfortunately I didn’t get to a vantage point to see the bridge itself but I was able to photograph the River Dee from the bridge. Looking east:-

Opposite view, looking west:-

I poisted about the castle itself yesterday.

Threave Castle Harbour:-

It’s a very small harbour, now of course disused:-

River Dee from bird-watching hide. There are supposed to be ospreys about but we didn’t see any birds close enough to be sure that’s what they were. It’s a lovely quiet spot though:-

Bend in River Dee:-

River from Castle grounds:-

Threave Castle from path to osprey viewing area:-

Threave Castle sits on an island in the River Dee near the town of Castle Douglas (see here and here) in Dumfries and Galloway.

There’s a fairly long walk from the car park and visitor centre to the landing area to get the boat across the river to the castle.

The walk is circular and this photo was taken on the way back to the car park:-

Castle across River Dee:-

The river apparently isn’t very deep but Historic Scotland (in whose care the castle is) is careful about how you cross. You can see the island’s jetty to the right here:-

Threave Castle closer View:-

Exterior of Tower:-

Arrowslits in exterior wall:-

Inside the tower:-

A model of the castle is in the case in the centre:-

Castle model:-

A small model of The Kelpies in Kirkcudbright. The originals are in Falkirk at The Helix. Bridge over River Dee in background.

Side view:-

Just along from the minin Kelpies is a memorial, “In memory of loved ones lost at sea.”

The harbour and River Dee at Kirkcudbright are very picturesque. Many artists have made the town a base. The quality of the light is supposed to be particularly good.

Town and harbour from bridge over River Dee:-

Harbour from part of town:-

River Dee looking seawards from town:-

River Dee looking towards Solway Firth :-

Kirkcudbright (pronounced kir-could-bri) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, though before local government reorganisation its county was Wigtown and Kirkcudbright.

The river Dee runs by the town and there is a rather lovely bridge over it.

Wider view:-

I was looking for a building that no longer exists and wandered across the bridge in the search and so found this plaque:-

Bridge from Kirkcudbright harbour:-

Wider view again:-