Robert Spellman
Last year, a travel poll voted Scotland the most beautiful country in the world. The second I clapped eyes on Aberdeenshire I realised why. Its sepia hillscapes and deserted beaches instil a calm that penetrates deep. At 9am I was battling the Sturm and Drang of a London rush hour, but by 11 I was disembarking at Dyce airport and soon the Sands of Forvie opened before me, where I noted more seals than people, as they bobbed and snorted in the fingers of the Ythan Estuary.
For a city sort like me in need of some instant tranquillity, Forvie was perfect. These are muds flats with some of the biggest dunes in Britain.
Wildlife not being a strong point, I learnt that Forvie was home to eider ducks, the UK’s fastest and heaviest variety, whose feathers fill our pillows and quilts, while the seals reside here all year long. Stroll along this peaceful stretch, before visiting some of the region’s other cultural delights.
A few miles east of Forvie perched above Cruden Bay sit the remains of Slains Castle. The site of the castle dates back to 1597 under the Hay clan and has been rebuilt many times, but its most famous guest was perhaps Dracula author Bram Stoker who holidayed at Cruden Bay. He visited Slains at
GONE FISHING Picturesque Gardenstown
the request of the 18th Earl of Erroll in the 1890s and the blackened skies and torch-lit corridors are rumoured to have inspired Stoker’s novel.
Weirdly, the earl eventually removed the roof as a tax-dodging scheme and the castle fell into ruin. You can wander the windy grounds and peer fearfully at the black rocks and crashing North Sea below.
Staying on the Stoker trail, vampire fans should investigate Cruden Bay’s Kilmarnock Arms where the writer stayed on his hols, and the receptionists will show you Bram’s signature in the guest book.
While at the hotel try the area’s cullen skink soup (essentially haddock, potato and onion). There is even a cullen skink world championship, and the nearby Cullen Bay Hotel’s co-owner is the title holder.
If your thirst for blood is still unslaked, then a trip to Peterhead Prison 10 miles up the coast may provide nourishment. It shut in 2013 after 125 years, but Peter