Mussel Craig

Explorer Tom The Bullers of Buchan is what happens when the sea spends ages arguing with a cliff and finally makes a hole in its point. A collapsed sea cave has left a great rocky chasm with an arch to the water below. Waves rush in underneath, seabirds claim the walls above, and visitors peer over from a path that deserves their full attention. Just north of Cruden Bay, the opening drops about thirty metres. This is not a neat circular well made by human hands; it is a rough coastal amphitheatre cut by erosion. When the breeding season brings birds to the cliffs, you may see kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and puffins. Watch them from a distance and keep the binoculars handy rather than edging forward for a better photograph. The birds have wings. You have a narrow path. The geological story is the real spectacle. Water drove into weakness in the rock, a cave developed, and part of its roof fell away. The remaining arch lets the North Sea keep working on the cavity. Stand back and look for the layered shapes of the surrounding cliffs; the same patient force is writing their next chapter. The path also gives views along a coast that has more sea stacks and coves than any one stop can explain. There is no ticket gate to the Bullers. Reach it on foot from the nearby parking area, allowing for uneven ground and exposed cliff edges. Wind and rain can make the visit hazardous, and the path is unsuitable for anyone who cannot keep a safe distance from the drop. Go in calm weather if you can. The waves will supply enough drama without a storm.

Explorer Tom New Slains Castle has everything a cliff-top ruin could ask for: North Sea wind, a roofless silhouette and a Dracula rumour that refuses to stay in its coffin. Do not confuse it with Old Slains farther down the coast. That earlier stronghold was wrecked on royal orders; this one was the family's attempt to start again with a better view and, eventually, a much bigger bill. Francis Hay, Earl of Erroll, began the new house around 1597 after James VI had his former castle destroyed in 1594. The building grew around a tower and courtyard. A brick gallery was added around the inner court, probably in the seventeenth century, and it is an unusual feature in a Scottish castle. Then architect John Smith gave the outside a Tudor-style makeover in 1836 and 1837, including pink granite details and dramatic chimneys. If the place looks like several different centuries arguing at once, that is because they are. Bram Stoker stayed in the Cruden Bay area and New Slains is often named as an influence on his imagined castle in Dracula. Historic Environment Scotland calls that connection likely, not certain, so I will not claim the Count signed the guest book. The family sold the house in the early twentieth century. Its furnishings went in 1925, and the roof was removed. The remaining walls still show the tower, courtyards and the scale of a house that kept changing with its owners. Come for an exterior view from the paths near Cruden Bay; there is no formal indoor visit. Local visitor guidance warns that the ruin is unsafe to enter and the nearby cliffs are exposed, so stay on the paths and do not climb the walls. Bring a coat for the sea wind. Even without a roof, Slains knows how to make an entrance.