A walk to Drinnie's Wood Observatory...

On the main road that I turn off from toward my little village is a sign that says to Drinnie's Wood Observatory and after all the years of living here I decided the other day to walk through the village and see if I could find it.  I had been told that it was 'open' in the summer months and as we have had some really lovely weather since I got home, it seemed the right time to venture out and see some of the things on my own doorstep.

So I walked through the village past one of the little cottages that is need of some TLC...

past one that has had some TLC...

past the church and through the village...

and then took a couple of miles walk past farms...

and fields of corn...

and stopped and picked raspberries on the side of the road...

and found a bush of yellow raspberries, which were new to me, never seen them that colour before!

walked some more and finally came to the sign that said I had found it. Yay....

oh, right, a bit further on then through the woods is it?

and a bit further.... hmmm, that sign didn't say how far....

past some firs that had been chopped down...

and past the wooden bench that sort of said that it might be a bit further on than I first thought...

oh heck, another seat?  How much further is it?

ooooh what is that I spy through the trees.... 

Voila! The observatory... 

This is open in the summer months, with a lower viewing area reached via a short stair but the upper deck reached via an inner spiral-staircase. From here there are excellent views over the Forest of Deer and the surrounding countryside. The tower was built by Admiral Ferguson of Pitfour, once the owner of the estate. The grand Pitfour House, once the centrepiece of the estate, was demolished in 1928 and the stone used for a housing scheme in Aberdeen.

and the door was open even though it was only 8 a.m. so I went in and had a look about.

up the staircase to the viewing area... but the trees are so tall around the observatory you can't really see very much from this point.

but if you go up the ironwork spiral staircase that runs up through the middle of the building you get a fabulous view from the top windows.

The top windows give you a complete view of the entire area... well worth the walk and the climb!!  I was sort of tempted to phone home and get Chris to come and get me in the car at this point... I could have met him at the picnic area and saved myself a couple of miles of walking but it was such a lovely day and not too warm so I walked all the way back too! LOL