| Hotels,
Pubs & Restaurants Allargue
Arms Hotel
Corgarff (Cock Bridge) - Well stocked bar &
good bar menu. Approx 7 miles. Tel: 019756 51 410
The Colquhonnie Hotel
Strathdon. Bar meals and a good dinner available.
2 miles. Tel 019756 51 210
The Glenkindie Arms
Glenkindie. A good bar menu which changes regularly
and cosy atmosphere. Tel 019756 41288
The Clockhouse Restaurant
Tomintoul. Very good food and atmosphere. 14 miles.
Kildrummy Castle Hotel
Kildrummy. Formal dining in Edwardian grandeur.
10 miles. 019755 71 288
Balgonie Country House Hotel
Ballater. Excellent seasonal menu. 16 miles. Tel
013397 55482
Goodbrand knitwear
Corgarff. Great for soup and sandwich lunches. 6
miles. 019756 51 433
Distances to nearby cities, towns and services.
Aberdeen is 45 miles away and takes just over one
hour to get there.
Inverness is about 65 miles and takes approximately
one hour and 25 minutes.
The nearest town for food shopping which also have
banks, tackle shops, hotels, restaurants and gift
shops is Ballater (16 miles) on Deeside. Nearly
every shop here is " by Royal Appointment "
as Balmoral is very near.
Other towns include Grantown on Spey (40 minutes)
, Huntly (40 minutes) where there is a good Somerfield
supermarket and Alford (30 minutes) where there
is quite a good large Co-op.
The Spar shop at Bellabeg (half a mile down the
road) is quite a surprising Aladin's cave and has
most things including a post office.
The Clydesdale Bank at Bellabeg opens once a week
on Tuesday morning !
The nearest petrol is now at Glenkindie (15 minutes
towards Aberdeen). Quite a few local petrol stations
have closed within the last two years and it is
best to keep your tank quite full as there is now
no petrol available between Grantown on Spey &
Glenkindie - a distance of almost forty miles !
Aberdeen Airport (Dyce) is just north of Aberdeen
City centre and is very easy to get to without having
to go into any part of the city - it takes about
one hour. |
Local information and other
attractions
 |
Distilleries
and the Whisky Trail
Tornashean is 40 minutes from Dufftown
- the '"Whisky Capital" of the Highlands
and home to Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Mortlach
distilleries. Drive via the Lecht ski area and
turn right just before Tomintoul into Glenlivet.
This is a vert pretty glen which will take you
to Dufftown via the Tamnavoulin, Glenlivet and
Chivas Bros distilleries. There are also many
other distilleries in neighbouring Speyside,
quite a few of which are part of the "Whisky
Trail" and have visitor centres, guided
tours and tastings.
The best place to go for serious whisky tasting
(it also reputedly actually serves food) is
the Craigellachie Hotel which is just the other
side of Dufftown by the river Spey.
From here one can drive back to Tornashean via
the Cabrach (the road between Dufftown and Rynie)and
back up Strathdon.
Map and Directions |
Beaches
Tornashean is about one hour's drive from
the East coast where there is a good beach
at Balmeddie
(just north of Aberdeen) and a similar distance
from Stonehaven (via Banchory) where there
is a wonderfully atmospheric ruined castle
- Dunnotar, which is perched on the cliffs.Map
of Balmeddie Beach
From experience, the best beach to visit is
on the North East coast.
Drive to Findhorn
which is on Burghead Bay (a very long sandy
beach with virtually no one on it !). This
will take one and a half hours, but is a lovely
drive via Criagellachie and Elgin (where you
could visit the Johnstons of Elgin factory
shop and restaurant - full of beautiful cashmere
and clothing).
At Findhorn a good lunch is to be had at the
Crown and Anchor Hotel.
Return to Tornashean via Forres, Dallas (the
original - but still a tiny village), Ballindalloch
and Glenlivet through some more great scenary.
Map
of Findhorn
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Castles
Aberdeenshire is absolutely riddled with many
historic and important
castles: Corgarff, Kildrummy, Crathes, Craigevar,
Castle Fraser, Fyvie and Drum to name but
a few. It undobtedly has the biggest concentration
of castles in the country and is a castle
buff's paradise. |
Gardens
The two most notable gardens open to visitors
are Kildrummy
(ten miles towards Aberdeen and next to Kildrummy
Castle Hotel) and the gardens at Crathes Castle
on Deeside - both will be of great interest
to keen gardeners.
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Places for
Children
"Landmark" at
Carrbridge (50 minutes) just the other side
of Grantown on Spey is a fantastic place to
take children of all ages for a day out. It
has been going many years and has nature trails
and lots of water slides and tasteful amusements
for children as well as a restaurant.
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Game
Shooting
Stag and hind stalking and grouse shooting
can be organised with a number of local estates
if enough notice is given. For stag stalking
and grouse shooting especially, it is best
to plan at least six months in advance.
| Sporting
Seasons of Scotland |
| SHOOTING |
From |
To |
STALKING |
From |
To |
FISHING |
From |
To |
| Grouse,
Ptarmigan |
12
Aug |
10
Dec |
Red
Deer & Silka Stags |
1
Jul |
20
Oct |
Salmon
& Sea Trout |
11
Jan |
31
Nov |
| Partridge |
1
Sep |
1
Feb |
Roe
Buck |
1
Apr |
20
Oct |
Brown
Trout |
15
Mar |
6
Oct |
| Ptarmigan |
12
Aug |
10
Dec |
Fallow
Buck |
1
Aug |
30
Apr |
Rainbow
Trout |
no
closed season |
| Black
Game |
20
Aug |
10
Dec |
Red
Deer, Hinds, Sika Hind & Fallow Doe |
21
Oct |
15
Feb |
Coarse
Fish** |
16
Jun |
14
Mar |
| Pheasant |
1
Oct |
1
Feb |
Roe
Doe |
21
Oct |
31
Mar |
|
|
|
| Capercaillie |
1
Oct |
31
Jan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Common
Snipe |
12
Aug |
31
Jan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Woodcock |
1
Sep |
31
Jan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Duck,
Geese |
1
Sep |
31
Jan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
** Except
on enclosed still waters, where there is no
closed season.
Within these bands dates vary from river to
river according to local regulations for example:
| The Don |
11 Feb |
31 Oct |
| The Tay |
15 Jan |
15 Oct |
| The Tweed |
1 Feb |
30 Nov |
| The Spey |
11 Feb |
30 Sep |
| The Dee |
1 Feb |
30 Sep |
|
 Fishing
Tornashean is conveniently placed as a base for fishing on the Dee
(25 minutes to Ballater) the Deveron (50 minutes to Huntly), the Spey (50 minutes
to Craigellachie and 40 to Grantown). The Avon (tributary of the Spey) is only
20 minutes away at Tomintoul.
We also have our own fishing (1.1 miles of double
bank) which holds some very good wild Brown Trout
(but difficult to catch) and Salmon later in the
season. Tickets only available from the Colquhonnie
Hotel two miles down the road. Tickets for miles
of the surrounding Candacraig waters are also available
from the hotel.
There is also very good fishing available further
down the Don, and if conditions are right there
is good salmon fishing to be had at Alford (Castle
Forbes) - tickets available at the Forbes Arms
Hotel ( 25 minutes) and at Monymusk at the Grant
Arms Hotel (40 minutes) and many of the lower beats.
The salmon Hatchery for the whole of the River
Don is two miles down the road at Forbestown. It
is at the Mill of Newe and is on the left hand side
soon after the Colquhonnie Hotel and has a bright
red door and car park. If any of the bailiffs are
on duty they will be delighted to show you around
the juvenile salmon at their various stages and
explain the life cycle of this most incredible fish.
This is also a very good place to take children
who always find it very interesting.
There is also a little fishery (man made loch)
at Ardgeith (signposted to the right three miles
down the road to Aberdeen). This is an ideal place
for children to learn.
Fishing Contacts:
The Colquhonnie Hotel 019756 51 210
Mrs Taylor, Delnabo Estate on the River Avon at
Tomintoul 01807 580 366 (Good if there is plenty
of water)
Forbes Arms Hotel 01975 562108
Grant Arms Hotel 01467 651226
The best place to find good fishing generally on
all the local rivers is to log on to www.fishscotland.co.uk
which is a fantastic website where an awful lot
of good quality fishing is available - and also
some very good last minute offers.
As mentioned before, Tornashean is a great base
for a week's fishing as it is ideally located
within striking distance of a wide variety of
different types of fishing.
Wildlife
At Tornashean you will have a good chance of
seeing our resident Red Squirrels who live
mainly in the Caledonian Pines across the
river directly opposite the house. They
do also sometimes come into the garden.
We also have rabbits by the hundred (please
keep all gates closed at night because
the rabbits come in and decimate the garden)
plenty of Roe Deer (see them mainly in
very early morning or late evening) in
the vicinity of the house.
More elusive are the Otters ( there is a
pair whose territory includes our stretch
of river), Capercaillie up in the large pine
woods (even more elusive) and adders, - not
normally seen around Tornashean but up in
the hills sunning themselves when it is hot.
We never used to have midges but over the
last ten years or so the winters have been
very mild and pathetic by Strathdon standards
which has meant that some midges can survive
the winter. However, they are not a problem
at all compared to the West Coast beasts
!
Out on the hills you will see Red Grouse,
Blue Hares (they turn white in winter) and
Red Deer. Occasionally one may see Blackgame
(quite rare these days) and Ptarmigan (the
Mountain Grouse - which also turns white
in winter)
Birds of note around Tornashean include
Buzzards, Herons, Oyster Catchers, Sandpipers,
Dippers, Ducks and Goosander. In the garden
we are visited by Siskins and Woodpeckers
and in the woods across the river can sometimes
be seen Scottish Crossbills and Long Tailed
Tits. |
Walking in the
Cairngorms
Tornashean is also ideally located for walking
in the Cairngorms and is located a few miles
within the new Cairngorms National Park.
The starting points for walking into the high
Cairngorm mountains and plateau are villages
like Braemar, Aviemore and Tomintoul and are
all not far by road.
Please
click here to see details of Local walks |
 |
Treat your feet - the essential luxury in
walking socks! - More
info> |
For more information please call Matthew Brooksbank
on 01481 266 451
|
