NCN 1 Stage 17 Stonehaven to Maud
A Great Crown of Stone - Badentoy Stone circle
Ride overview
If the National Route 1 was a Grand Tour, the stage would be labelled as a transfer day - a day when the breakaway would be given its head as the leaders rested up in the peleton. Stage 17 starts beside the sea and rides through the Granite City of Aberdeen. Thereafter it heads inland in order to avoid the coast-hugging trunk road. Much of the day is spent beside the river Dee and on one of Scotland’s Great Trails, the Formentine and Buchan Way. It’s all very pleasant, pastoral and quiet and discounting Aberdeen, there’s little to distract you from just covering the ground on a relatively easy day.
Ride practicalities
The route is well signed throughout as NCN 1
START/FINISH: Stonehaven/Maud DISTANCE: 102km TOTAL ASCENT:1015m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: quiet country lanes, cycle lanes in Aberdeen, and the traffic-free Formatine and Buchan Way. RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS/ACCOMMODATION: Maud; Platform 5, Saplinbrae Hotel. NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Aberdeen PLACES TO VISIT; Aberdeen; St Machar Cathedral,Dunfermline Abbey, Loch Leven Castle, Falkland Palace, St. Andrew’s Castle LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: NCN1 stage 14, Stage 16
Ride notes
It’s a bit of a climb out of Stonehaven first thing in the morning, but once up on th erolling hills, you ride on a single lane road through farmland. The soil is dark and rich with barley with much of it used by the Speyside whisky industry. A little distance off-route there are Pictish stone circles which are more ancient and intact than the one you ride beside at Badentoy. That said, the four original stones within the modern enclosure are atmospheric and photogenic.
It’s a lovely ride rolling along the undulations between stone walls and wild borders of willow-herb and fresias.
Willowherb
Without much fanfare, the oldest existing business in the UK (according to the Guinness Book of Records) Aberdeen harbour, appears before you. David I granted a charter to establish the port back in 1136. Houdini, the international escape artist, one of the first global superstars, was thrown into the cold, grey waters of the harbour in 1909, chained and schackled. Ninety seconds passed and it was thought by the huge crowds that this had been a deed too far until he resurfaced triumphant. Today, it’s Europe’s premier off-shore oil port. A new deep sea port opened in 2023 to accomodate both cruise ships as well as the Off-shore wind sector. As the oil diminshes, Aberdeen Ports - to give them their re-branded name - are re-positioning themselves as the principle off-shore renewables port.
Robert Bruce in Aberdeen
In sunshine, the city glints and sparkles like a diamond ring, due to the high mica content of the granite. There’s an archtectural calm to the city due to its cosistent use of the grey stone, which gives it a homogenous if heavy, air. Leaving the city, you bump along the cobbled streets of old Aberdeen and pass the magnificent St. Machar’s cathedral, founded in 580. It is the ninth cathedral of the route to date. (Another two to go).
The River Dee
For the next ten kilometres, yo have the river Dee as company. Dark pines, a rippling river that until its decline by over fishing, was one of the most important salmon rivers in Scotland. The river is clear and fast, the water bounces over stones and settles in crystal pools. The river is still world famous for the quality of its salmon, but prior to mid - twentieth century upwards of 10,000 fish were pulled out of the river every year.
The Formentine and Buchan Way
Now you join what has been designated as one of Scotland’s ‘Great Trails’, the Formatine and Buchan Way. Old railways made into cycle tracks are sometimes bemoaned as ‘boring’ for the embankments hide the views. It’s not a view I share, since the embankments are usually smothered in wild=flowers. The F&B way is no exception. It’s a thirteen mile flower=fest. There are cafés along the way and at Ellon, Brewdog have their brewery around which you can have a tour. (Book early).
The track can be a little wearisome to ride; the surface is could be a little smoother. That said it is still perfectly manageable with a laden touring bike. Generally you sail along as the Aberdeen Angus cows chew their cud and watch you as you pass. In Maud, there’s a good cafe, Platform 5, and a small collection of hotels in and near to the village. Nearby, there’s Deer Abbey, founded by that hard-man saint Columba and his nephew Drostan. When Columba left in order to return to Iona, Drostan cried. His tears gave the monastery its name Deer Abbey, Deer being the Anglicised version of Dèara - Gallic for tears.
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