Stonehaven


One of the things I miss in Edinburgh is the sea.  That may sound strange, as Edinburgh lies on a wide estuary, the Firth of Forth, and a short walk from our house brings us within sight and sound of its tidal reaches.  But for all its whitecaps and wheeling seabirds it's a tame sea.  The fields and hills of Fife lie just across the water.

By contrast from Stonehaven, to the south of Aberdeen,  there is only the wide horizon of the North Sea.
 

Below, Stonehaven's setting on a sheltered bay.
 

Even in the town centre, the 'real' sea is always present.  In the gap between the buildings below, a working ships of the North Sea is a counterpoint to land-based traffic.
 

Can you detect that I'm feeling homesick for the North?

Comments

  1. [I may have accidentally deleted my comment, so you may get this one twice.] These photos are splendid. I had a similar experience spending a couple of months this summer near Puget Sound in Washington. It's more like living on a big lake where the only evidence of the ocean are the tides going in and out. There may be ripples along the shore, but no surf. Thanks.

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  2. I remember the North Sea fondly from my time growing up in Holland. Now I'm more than 1,000 miles from the nearest sea, and you're making me jealous!

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  3. I take it you grew up by the North sea? Yes, every once and awhile I get a little homesick for my home state of South Dakota. But Oregon is such a wonderful place to live it soon passes! Happy day to you! :)

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  4. Can you detect that I'm homesick for Scotland? (The sound of weeping coming across the sea from New York is the first clue.)

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  5. Beautiful photos!
    Greetings, RW & SK

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  6. Fantastic clouds in those skies.
    I grew up in Angus and though it wasn't one of the seaside towns nor as far north as Stonehaven I do miss the countryside and the atmosphere of the place (somehow it seems more ancient if that makes sense), and, as you mention in another post, the dark night skies full of stars.

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  7. Reminds me of Cromer in Norfolk where my friend lives - the same view of the North Sea but they have cliffs.

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  8. It was the big skies I first noticed in these photos. Wonderful. And I do like the juxtaposition of buildings and far ship: reminds me of Stromness, where you can catch glimpses of the lifeboat and other ships at the foot of side streets.
    Would a walk at Portobello help at all?!

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  9. Beautiful photos from the sea! :)

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  10. Having left the North-East a few months ago for Glasgow, I can say that I don't miss the sea that often. What I miss about Aberdeen is the forest and the hills to the West (I realise there are forests and hills nearby me now - but I don't *know* them yet). There's a beautiful expansiveness to the North-East -sky, sea, distances- that I really like.

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  11. Thank you all for your comments. I have been pretty much absent from blogging because my father is unwell - in and out of hospital as an emergency admission - and so we have been going up and down to Aberdeen and Speyside, and juggling work all the while.
    But to answer a couple of questions that have been asked - I grew up 15 miles from the Moray Firth (A much bigger firth than the Firth of Forth), and spent 7 years at university in Aberdeen, beside the North Sea. So I need these wide horizons! And thank you for the suggestion of Portobello, Dancing Beastie, but I think I've been spoilt by the North!

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