Photos and the City

Author: Ursula Schmitz

Hopeman

I said Good Bye to Aberdeen and boarded the bus and train to Inverness, where I picked up my rental car for the next ten days. My home for the next week was “The Classroom” in Hopeman. A lovely seaside village along the coast of the Moray Firth, founded in 1805 to house people displaced during the Highland clearances. It was and still is a fishing port.

The old Icehouse

The very neat and organized layout of Hopeman shows its past as a model-village.

Hopeman was established as a planned village originally called “Newtown of Hopeman” in 1805 by the local landowner, William Young of Inverugie. He had opened quarries at Greenbrae and Clashach to the east of the site of the village to extract the golden coloured sandstone found here, and he needed somewhere to house the quarrymen and their families. (Undiscovered Scotland)

It was just a few minutes walking from my “classroom” to the two beaches and I visited them every day during my stay – always hoping that would be the time I saw the dolphins….

But no luck, the sea was always too rough – stunning thou!

Hopeman lies on the Moray Coastal walk and one can walk for miles along the coast in both directions.

And a collection of colourfull and fun little beach huts.

Jumping from the pier.

23/01/2020
Dunnottar Castle

After exploring Old Aberdeen and the beach (and my favourite Fittie) it was about time to go outside Aberdeen – for her photoshoot Emma choose the wonderful Dunnottar Castle, about twenty minutes from Aberdeen, as the backdrop.

The romantic ruin of Dunnottar Castle lies picturesquely on the edge of a cliff falling down in the North Sea, near Stonehaven.

William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II have graced the Castle with their presence. Most famously though, it was at Dunnottar Castle that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell’s army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the ‘Honours of Scotland’, from destruction. (Visitscotland.com)

Being fortified since the Early Middle Ages today´s ruins and buildings are mainly from the 15th and 16th century.

21/01/2020
Aberdeen Beach & Fittie

I continued my walk through Seaton Park. From the River Don to the Walled Garden and further up to Brig o’ Balgownie, the Bridge of Don.

Brig o’ Balgownie

The Bridge of Don is Scotland’s oldest medieval bridge, which dates back to 1286 and took about forty years to complete.

Today the bridge is something of a landmark for students at the nearby University of Aberdeen, as it is the place from which many successful graduates jump upon completion of their courses. (Atlas Obscura)

That sounds like a more dangerous tradition than the one in Vienna when you walk down the main staircase in front of the University after you have finished your studies.

Along the river Don, I walked towards the mouth of the Don. Seeing the ocean on one side and Aberdeen on the other one.

Beach of Aberdeen

The beach of Aberdeen goes on for miles I think I walked around 1 hour along the seaside and it was such a beautiful summer´s day!

The next day I came back to the beach and brought the beautiful dancer Eilidh with me…

Footdee – “Fittie”

Right between the beach and Aberdeen harbour lies Footdee, called “Fittie”, a charming little fishing village with the cutest little houses. A mixture of lovely cottages and quirky outbuildings.

rows of almost uniform mid-19th century cottages, organised in neat little squares. The planned community was originally built to re-home the city’s fishermen who were living in poor quality housing around the harbour area. The design dates back to 1809 and was the concept of renowned local architect John Smith who is more famously known for his alterations to Balmoral Castle. (Adventures around Scotland)

The outhouses and shed were built on a common green within each square but as the residents needed more space for fishing gear and washrooms they built all the different and colourfull sheds and outhouses.

Today there is a lovely sense of community and it must be a beautiful oasis to live, right by the sea and still protected from the winds by the way the cottages were built.

17/01/2020