Day 14: Feteresso to Stonehaven

June 01, 2017

I noted an number of the others were finishing at Dunnotar Castle. That seemed a nice thing to do but I couldn't face the extra two miles or so, after tiring out my legs the previous day.

It was a pleasant enough walk beside the river to get out to the Mergie Stables, at the edge of Feteresso. A few fine-looking horses were there and a troupe of small dogs were making a lot of noise as I walked past.

Walk along the river from Stonehouse in Feteresso Forest

Horses near Mergie stables

It was a fairly easy but a bit boring road walk for 3-4 miles from there to town. The sun was not welcome at this point and there was no shelter on the exposed roads. I passed a few runners and cyclists but no other challengers. Recalling the mention of a tea shop in the Kirktown of Feteresso (possibly Ali Ogden said something about it when we were at Gelder Shiel), I decided to investigate. There was quite a lot of housing development going on when I got there. After noticing that the Kirktown Garden Centre had a restaurant doing all-day breakfasts, the quest for the tea shop was abandoned.

Walking through Stonehaven was a bit of a chore but I found the seafront in the end. I resolved to have a swim in the water but got as far as getting up to me knees in depth before my feet started to sting with the extreme cold, not to mention the pain of walking on stones with bare feet that were already sore. I don't doubt it was probably good for them but I didn't want to stay in long.

The stony beach at Stonehaven

Also at this sea front is the shop that is the infamous home of the deep-fried Mars bar.

Update: I have been reliably informed that this is not the home of the deep-fried Mars Bar after all! This claim has apparently been made by The Carron Fish Bar near The River Carron in the town centre.

Rather than sample this delicacy I decided to go for the pistachio ice cream, which started to melt quickly in the heat. I had a brief chat with Melissa Mullan here; she seemed to be the only challenger around. This is when she told me about the ford across to Heatheryhaugh that I missed the day before. After separating, apparently we independently used Google Maps to walk to the same bus stop to get on to Montrose.