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Photo: Oyoyoy, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Attractive 16th-century castle with turretted tower, thick walls and ivy growing up the cream walls. Extensive garden with carved yew hedges and colourful borders. You can also hike trails in the large estate.
Crathes Castle is a castle built in the 16th century, near Banchory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is in the historic county of Kincardineshire. This harled castle was built by the Burnetts of Leys and was owned by the family for almost 400 years. The castle and its grounds are currently owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
It operates along a mile of standard-gauge line, a fragment of the Aberdeen-Ballater line that perished in the Beeching cuts. In 2022, a limited service of steam trains run Apr-Sep usually only on Sunday, and "Santa Specials" on Saturdays and Sundays before Christmas. They run hourly 11AM-4PM from Milton of Crathes west along the riverside to Birkenbaud then return. The railway society hopes to extend the line to West Lodge.
13th-century tower with 17th- and 19th-century additions (yes, you can see the join) and gardens.
World Horse Welfare
Rescue and re-homing centre for neglected and mistreated horses. They also run centres in Somerset, Lancashire and Norfolk.
This fairy-tale pink castle has witches-hat turrets befitting Disneyland, though Walt was mostly inspired by Neuschwanstein. Built 1576-1626 in Scottish Baronial style, it has the original carved plaster ceilings and Jacobean woodwork. Admission is by guided tour. There is a small attractive garden and woodland, watch for pine martens.