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Published: July 15th 2009
Friday 10th July
Onwards to the NorthEast coast
Today its time to move on from Edinburgh up the the northeast coastline and eventually to the Highlands and the west of Scotland.
Our stay in Edinburgh over the past week has been great and we have seen all the attractions that we wanted to from here and achieved more in family research that we could have hoped for.
Our accommodation has been perfect and we will find it a bit more of a chore now unpacking and repacking more often as we go .However,being unable to arrange more home swaps before we stayed this adventure means that we just have to get used to it and try and minimise the impact as we go.
Our memories of Edinburgh will be a city of charm,quiet as far as cities go,history/history/history and of course Scottish raspberries and strawberries which we now pronounce to be the best in the world!!!
Our destination by the end of the day is Aberdeen for just an overnight stop and we have a lot we would like to see and do on the way.
First stop is a return to Broughty Ferry near Dundee to try and hunt down
Mount Rosa,the house built by Gretchen’s relative,one of the Andersons and the “Banker of Dundee”.Gretchen had found a website that confirmed details of the property by way of the architect who designed the house so we had a street name but no number so we will have to walk the street and see if we can find it.
So we took the M90 north,not a road option that we usually favour as we prefer to drive the lesser routes but this would get us to the first stop quicker and leave us more time during the day for other places to visit.
As we neared Kinross we passed by the site of where the first big celebration of the summer in the area is taking place called “T in the Park”.It is to happen this weekend and is a festival of music which draws people from all over.What was amazing were the huge number of tents jammed packed into fields near the highway and then further on caravans and mobile homes all lined up in neat rows.We hope that the weather behaves for them this weekend as the forecast is not so good!!!
We found Seafield Road in Broughty Ferry
with ease and drove slowly up the long road looking out for the name Mount Rosa on a plaque or something that would identify the place.We didn’t find it on the first attempt so we parked the car at the end of the road and walked back.
About halfway along the road and at the point which had the best view out over the Firth of Tay was Mount Rosa!!A large section of land that was probably close to an acre boarded on the road side by a stone wall about 7 feet high.There was a gate of a driveway thast was however open revealing the large house which now appeared to be converted to flats if the number of rubbish bins were anything to go by.
We wandered down the road along the stone wall hoping there might be another way to get in and look at the garden in front of the house but the only other gateway was firmly shut.There was someone in the garden who appeared to be tidying up as there was a rubbish fire burning.
With my arm at full stretch I poked the video camera over the wall and ran the camera so
The Manse,Alyth
My Great Grandparents were married here we had something we could see of what was behind the wall.
So with task 1 for the day satisfied we took the A923 through Dundee city and headed for Coupar Angus,a town that my father used to mention and one that I presume he used to live in.I think also that my Uncle Albert used to be the Bank Manager in the town at some stage of his career with the British Linen Bank.
We were pleased we didn’t give any sightseeing time to Dundee city itself as on our drive through the city it didn’t appear to have a lot going for it.
The shire of Angus is very fertile and the fields are full of healthy looking crops of potatos,carrots and of course those delicious strawberries and raspberries.And the road to Coupar Angus is no exception.
We had our lunch at Coupar Angus and walked the high street to get a feeling for the little town and noted a couple of banks with accommodation over the bank itself, that my uncle,if he did work here,may have lived in.
Next stopping point was the small town of Alyth which we had discovered from our research in Edinburgh was
where my Great Grandparents,John Mitchell Benvie married Margaret McDonald in 1862.
It is a picturesque little town nestled at the foot of where the hills start to rise to become the Highlands with houses that looked like they had been there for a few hundred years.
With help from the man at the small museum we headed up the hill to where a church had once stood to see if we could identify the house that was or had been the manse where my Great Grandparents were married.
There was nothing obvious to confirm what was or still is the manse so we called into another church which had apparently been built to replace the one on the hill.There we met up with a guy doing some maintenance and he gave us a tour of the impressive interior of the church and told us the history of the old church on the hill.He also pointed out the house that had been the manse and was now a privately owned home.So we walked back up and took photos to add to the family tree book once we get it updated when we return home.
We drove on through Kirriemuir another town that my father used to mention and was perhaps his home at some time in his early years.It was very much like Coupar Angus,a small town servicing the fertile rural area around it.
With the afternoon passing by quickly we returned to the main road north,the A90,to speed up the days trip for the last section into Aberdeen.At Stonehaven the road reaches the coast again and there were some fine views of the calm North Sea in the near distance.
The Holiday Inn,our overnight stay,is situated at the Bridge of Don,a well photographed landmark in Aberdeen.Directions I had written down to get to the hotel were via A956 which took a route through the city.....at rush hour on a Friday night!!!
After several turns that took us in the wrong direction off the A956 and an attempt to find the streets I had written down for the directions, from a map in the centre of the city,we finally found the hotel on the northern side of the city.
Without cooking facilities in UK hotel rooms we will now need to rely upon our microwave more often for our dinner and breakfast.However it won’t always be appropriate to haul the microwave,still in its box,through the reception areas of the hotels we stay in,and the Holiday Inn is one of them.So tonight it is going to be McD’s!!!
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KJ
non-member comment
Family skeletons are clanging!
Hi Super sleuths You have been busy in your investigations of the whanau. Enjoyed reading about it and no doubt by the time you have visited the Scottish rellies you'll learn even more.