Tag Archives: Penny Farthing

#Scotland 2015 Day 8 – Penny Farthings, Pictish Stones, and Stone Circles

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 18, 2015

We’d stopped at the derelict St Mary’s Kirk on previous visits to this area of Scotland but found ourselves back there again on our way to the Grampian Transport Museum.

Pictish Stones
St Mary’s Kirk near Rhynie

We stopped in at the museum in 2013 but it was late in the day (as in almost closing time) so we decided that the next time we would go early in the day so we could see all of the vehicles on display.

Pictish Stones
Billy Connolly’s trike that he rode on his World Tours
Pictish Stones
Trojan 200 Bubble Car
Pictish Stones
Austin Mini Cooper (1962)

This looks like a spaceship but it’s an HGV (heavy goods vehicle) simulator.

Pictish Stones
HGV Simulator

The Penny Farthing bicycle was one of the “hands on”… or should I say “bums on” displays. How people ever got on these is beyond me. It was hard enough despite it being securely fastened to the steps.

Pictish Stones
Don ‘riding’ a Penny Farthing
Pictish Stones
Me ‘riding’ a Penny Farthing

I had to include this next picture because I remember my mum telling me about the Durant her father had and how the kids would pile into the rumble seat to go to Athens or Brockville with him. The museum plans on restoring this vehicle once they raise sufficient funds.

Pictish Stones
Durant Tourer (1924)

Before we left the museum, I picked up a leaflet for the Pictish Stone trail and the Stone Circle trail. Post codes and Ordnance Survey coordinates both were included in the information for each stop. Once we determined which ones we wanted to see, we began our Pictish Stones/Stone Circles tour. The first stop was at the Migvie Church to see the Migvie Stone.

Pictish Stones
Migvie Stone
Pictish Stones
The other side of the Migvie Stone
Pictish Stones
The Migvie Church

After this, we planned on going to the Kinord Cross because it was nearby but it wasn’t signposted well (not even from the car park that the sat nav took us to) so we decided to go on to the Midmar Kirk and see the recumbent stone circle in the churchyard.

Pictish Stones
Midmar Kirk
Pictish Stones
The Midmar recumbent stone circle
Pictish Stones
Me ‘semi’ recumbent on the recumbent stone

It took longer to find the churchyard in Kintore than the stone in it. The leaflet indicated a couple of places to park, but we found a nice place down behind the graveyard and walked up the narrow street. The Pictish stone was almost next to the gate.

Pictish Stones
Stone in the Kintore Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Kintore Churchyard

Since Inverurie was on our way back to Kennethmont, we stopped at the Churchyard there to find the stones. It took us some time (it’s a big place) but we found them.

Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
The Bass in the Inverurie Churchyard

By now it was time to get back ‘home’. It was our last night at the farm in Kennethmont. We had planned from the first night we were there that we would have our second bottle of champagne and get a Chinese Takeaway for our meal.

The weather had finally been dry long enough that David was able to get out on the combine and make a start on cutting the grain so it would be a late supper.

Their youngest daughter surprised us by driving up from Aberdeen and their oldest came up with her husband to see us before we left. It was great to see everyone together again (the first time I stayed here, the girls were just wee things).

We had a wonderful night and toasted to good friends and family.