Tolquhon Castle

Certainly a ruin now, but not a castle defeated in battle, this was a country chateau in the style of a castle. It fell into ruin after it was abandoned by the family. Built for show rather than defence, James VI and I was a guest here in 1589.

We were here to meet up with a former colleague and fellow blipper who was visiting Aberdeenshire this weekend. Her photo of the same occasion can be seen here. I notice I am also pictured in her extra photo.

It was cloudy and had been raining until shortly before we arrived. Luckily it had stopped as there is a lack of roofing cover at the castle now.

After our visit of the castle we had lunch at the Coffee Apothecary just outside Pitmedden. While she started her return journey we made a quick visit to Pitmedden Garden.

The garden is just a little past its best, we should have visited a few weeks ago. It looks like they will have an abundant crop of apples to harvest. The star shows an arch of apples.