Crombie Country Park - Another Day, Another Park

Crombie Country Park
Parking	The park has a good car park but you have to pay and dismay, except in winter when it's free.
Distance	Approximately 2 miles to go around the whole park
Height / Ascent	less than 20m - the park is pretty flat
Bogginess	2 / 5
Strenuosity	1 / 5
Other Info	None

Introduction

 

Right! Off we go again! The script was much the same as before. Iffy looking weather so staying close by. Since Monikie proved quite fruitful last time, we decided to go and visit it's sister park, Crombie.

I was also about to have a stab at HDR photography here. I had read a bit about it and had tried it with my camera's built in setting but the results were rubbish. So I though I would get snapping here and use external software when I got home to try it out. Some of the results are posted here. 

Getting There and Parking Up

 

Crombie sits quite close by to Monikie and is located on the B961 which is the back road running between Dundee and Arbroath. You can get onto this road by turning of the main A92 at Muirdrum and heading North. There is then a left turn at a staggered cross junction which takes you onto this road.

There is a good car park but again they charge from Easter Weekend through to September. There really isn't anywhere else to leave your car, as there is in Monikie, so you will have to pony up the fee.

Parklife

 

So we park up and pay up and head into the park. After a short walk along a wooded path we came out at the main pond / reservoir. It is very pictureque set in a backdrop of mature trees. Plenty good enough for a few photos of just the pond alone. In addition, the weather was brightening up too.

The pictureque reservoir

We then had to decide which way to go. The park has a circular walk around it with a few alternate routes as you go round. There are information boards and a leaflet which detail all of these. We decided to go clockwise around along the bank of the reservoir to hopefully grab some more snaps of it while there were blue skies.

One of the small jettys around the reservoir. Pity its locked off

So after walking by the banks of the reservoir, the path heads into the woods. We then hit a crossroad with one way leading further along the banks of the reservoir and past a bird hide or the other, the 'Fallaws Trail', heading deeper into the woods with the promise of much wildlife to be seen. So we head along the Fallaws Trail. Unfortunately, we didn't see any wildlife in there, just dense woodland and muddy, boggy paths. Great! So after the disappointment of Fallaws Trail we come out at Hairy Nicol's Cottage at the far end of the reservoir.

We don't know who Hairy Nicol was but his / her cottage takes pride of place at the far end of the pond. It's stone built but looks like it has been renovated and inhabited in the not to distant past so it kinda lacks that quaint charm we were expecting. And it's all locked up so no entry. However, it is set in an idyllic garden area and some old bits of farm machinery have been left out to give it that hint of rural kitsch. There is also a bench so we were able to take a load off for a while. Not that the walk was that strenuous anyway.

Hairy Nicol's Cottage. Looks like the weather is on the turn as well.

Some of the old farm machinery around the cottage

So after a sit down and a smoke we headed onwards. The cottage is at the far end of the walk and the path turns back here along the other bank of the reservoir. So off we trot back along the other bank.

As we are walking back through the semi-wooded are we notice am information board telling us about Giant's Heads located in the trees throughout the park. We hadn't noticed any. So we tilted our heads upwards and holy shit, there they were. These huge, malign looking sculptures hanging in the trees. Certainly something to give the kids nightmares.

The tree giants. They're like something out of the Wicker Man.

So after that scare, we head on again. We come into a more wooded area and notice a hide. We had a look inside but couldn't see anything of interest from it, apart from the wasps nest constructed inside. Again, the lack of wildlife is quite worrying.

A wasp's nest. The only hint of wildlife we saw from the hide.

However, we make our way back and have a nosy at the jetty on the bank. It has it's share of boats moored up but nobody was taking them out today.

The rowing boats moored at the jetty. That's an HDR photo BTW

So a walk across the small bridge and we are back at the start. Our interesting walk around Crombie is over. Time to get back before the rain starts.

Heading Home - Reflection

We had a good day out at Crombie. It has a pleasant and picturesque walk around the reservoir taking you from the banks of the pond into woodland areas with some nice curios such as Hairy Nicol's cottage thrown in. We got a lot of interesting snaps and although my first real foray into HDR photography wasn't as rewarding as I'd hoped, I still got some not bad results. All in all a good day.

Worth a Visit?

Definately worth a visit. It's sister park Monikie is geared up more for outdoor sports whereas Crombie is more for nature enthusiats. It has a number of predefined walks all set in an idyllic natural landscape. There is supposedly a lot of wildlife to see but we hardly saw any. That might be better in the warmer weather. However, there is still plenty to see and photograph and the park is well geared up for visitors of all ages and abilites.

Barry Mill - Down to the Dingly Dell

Barry Mill
Parking	Car park provided off Mill Road
Distance	Approx 1.5 miles
Height / Ascent	Less than 20m
Bogginess	3 / 5
Strenuosity	1 / 5
Other Info	None

 

Introduction

 

A week later after out first little excursion we decided to go out exploring again. Like last time, the weather was pretty crappy (you get used to it in this part of the world) so again, we opted against venturing too far. After a quick look at the map we decided to head along to Barry Mill. It ticked all the boxes; it was close by, it had a nice, well maintained Listed building as a centrepiece, and it was free (or so we thought). Ideal place for photo opportunites. So with gusto, we jumped into the car and got going.

Getting There

 

Barry Mill is a doddle to get to. Its located approximately 2 miles west of Carnoustie just off Mill Road. You can access Mill Road either from the small village of Barry or from the A92, the dual carraigeway between Arbroath and Dundee. Once on Mill Road there is a turn off for the Mill approximately half way down the road. It's well signposted all the way so it's hard to miss. Once you turn off Mill Road you have a short stretch down a dirt road before reaching the car park.

A word of note: The dirt track leading to the car park is pretty rough and has a fair peppering of potholes. Thus, I wouldn't recommend taking any low slung sports cars down it. Unless, of course, you like carrying your exhaust home in the boot.

Not like that's a problem I have. The old Megane merrily bounces over the potholes with the exhaust only occasionaly clanking on the ground.

So, after a short journey and a few smacks on the undeside of the car, we reach the car park and head out towards the Mill.

The Miller's Tale

 

When we get out of the car we head down the small path leading down to the Mill and are greeted by this information board. Oh oh, it's owned by the National Trust, which usually means it's time to get your hands in your pockets and pay. And sure enough, you have to pay to get into the Mill itself but thankfully car parking is free and you can walk around outside the mill without having to pay (I think.).

That aside, the information board helpfully details the walk around the Mill

The Information Board for Barry Mill

Just beyond the info board sits the mill itself and it's quite impressive. It's a Category A-Listed watermill and it's still operational so it would be good to see it's inner workings. But screw that, we are not paying £6.50 each to go inside and see it so we will have to make do with going around the outside. Thankfully, you get plenty of nice angles to photograph the building in it's idyllic surroundings and you can see some of the waterwheel from outside. So after getting our photographic fill of the main attraction we head down the mill lade walk.

The impressive looking Barry Mill

We go trotting down the leafy walk by the lade. It's a very beautiful walk through a lightly wooded area and we are getting plenty of nice snaps. Shame the weather wasn't a bit better but at least there are some blue skies starting to peep through. A bit down the path we come across this little pond with a family of swans living in it. A great photo opportunity in itself but we were lucky that one of the swans was a right poser and kept swimming back and forth in front of us. The only downside was the far end of the pond had a bit of a problem with algal bloom. And by a bit of problem, I mean it was absolutely covered in it. C'mon National Trust. At £6.50 a pop you must be raking it in so get your finger out and clean up the pond.

The small pond along the mill lade walk

As we walked further down the path and things started to get a bit muddy and boggy. As nice as it was walking down the path with the little stream by its side, I wouldn't recommend wearing your best shoes to do it in. At the end of the path we are greeted by a wonderful waterfall which sits at the far end of the walk. The views to it are not that great from the path so we decided to clamber down the embankment and hop across the rocks to get better views. It wasn't too treacherous getting down there and it gave us much better views of the waterfall.

Mike getting his fill of the waterfall

After we had finished with the waterfall we started to head back. After a while of trudging back along the muddy path we take the other path back, away from the stream. The grassy path here is thankfully less boggy and it takes us along into a wonderfully idyllic little dingly dell.

The grassy path on the mill lade walk

The dingly dell is a cute little alcove in the woods. Some logs have been left out to sit on and there is an area for a campfire. Although it seemed very pleasant here we both kinda sensed a sinister undertone. It gave us both an unnerving feeling like something that would be used in some wierd ritual or something. I think we have both seen too many tacky horror flicks.

The dingly dell (a bit freaky, isn't it?)

Once we had been suitably freaked out by the dingly dell we headed back along the path and back to the mill. Just beside the mill sits a small orchard and a few sheep so there were a good few photo opps there as well. So we snapped up and packed up and headed off.

One of the resident sheep at the mill.

Heading Home - Reflection

 

It didn't take long walking around the mill even with our constant stopping to take photos. When we got back we had a quick flick through the snaps and were far more pleased with the results. Once again, we were both snap happy but there ws far more to photograph here and we definitely got a far better haul of snaps. All in all it was a good day out that yielded good results. Just a pity the weather wasn't better to get some of that sunny sky action into the photos.

Worth a Visit?

 

Definately worth a visit. Its easy to get to and most of it is free. The walk around the mill and along the lade is very idyllic and has plenty to see considering how short a walk it is. There is also picnic benches set out around the mill if you fancy having a little family outing. We think the entry fee to the mill is excessive but i'm sure its interesting inside (just not £6.50 interesting that's all) but there are concession rates as well.