| Tarland walks pages | Introduction | Alastrean | Corrachree | Drummy | Pittenderich |
Walks around TarlandDrummy Woods &Stone Circle Walk |
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| Tomnaverie Stone Circle |
| Parking / Start |
Tarland Square |
| Standard |
Country Hike |
| Way-Marked Colour |
Brown |
| Distance |
4 km |
| Time |
1 hour |
Introduction/Overview
This route links a number of paths and tracks to provide an interesting ramble through the heart of the Howe o’ Cromar. A climb to the dramatic Tomnaverie Stone Circle, is followed by a descent past the abandoned crofts of Scrapehard before proceeding to the pre-historic settlements of Drummy Woods and back to Tarland. Most of the walking is along good footpaths and tracks although some sections of the route may be muddy. Parts of the central section beyond Tomnaverie are rough underfoot where the route lies along the edges of worked fields. In Drummy Woods, the route follows woodland paths
Route Description
Turn right out of The Square and head south out of the village across the hump-back bridge. The start of the path to Tomnaverie is marked by a stone sculpture on your left entitled ‘In The Beginning’ (1). Follow this path across the flood plain of the Tarland Burn, over the wooden footbridge and up the slope to the Aboyne road (2). Cross this road with care. Continue left along the path to the Stone Circle (see information box in next column) which is located on top of the small hill of Tomnaverie (3). Note that cattle may occupy the grazing area round the slopes of the hill and the paths here are currently not finalised (April 2004).
Leaving the stone circle, continue along the brown way-marked footpath towards the south-west, where you will see the surface remains of a Royal Observer Corps bunker.
The recently excavated monument on top of Tomnaverie is remarkable for its unique setting. The stone circle was constructed 4500 years ago around a central cairn, which was itself constructed on top of a cremation site. The monument was built by Bronze Age farmers who occupied the lower slopes surrounding the then flooded plain of the Tarland Burn. Have a look at the interpretation panel (currently under review) for more details of how this fascinating monument was constructed and used.
The Royal Observer Corps bunker was constructed during the ‘Cold War’. to allow a small team of local observers to monitor radiation levels in the event of atomic warfare. Like the other bunkers in the local network, this one is now abandoned. The sealed hatch leads down to a concrete lined underground room which originally housed transmitting equipment.
The walking route now heads down through a field to the abandoned crofting community of Scrapehard (4). Keep to the left edge of the field and look out for way-marking posts leading you through ruined walls and across a marshy area to a farm access track. Turn right on to the track and follow it for 250 metres.
Like many similar settlements in the area, Scrapehard was home to several families until the first World War. All that remains are patterns of foundation outlines and criss-crossing ruined walls on both sides of the track.
Bear left at the first track bend (5) and look for the marked route giving access to the first of three fields. Follow the uppermost edges of these fields for 500 metres and take in the panorama of local hills that can be seen encircling the Howe o’ Cromar. Beyond the third field, follow the way-marked path which swings to the right away from the wall that you have been following and leads through a plantation of young trees to a gate at the Ordie road (6). Cross the road with care and go through the gate directly opposite into the pine-wood. The track through this wood swings gently round to the right and should be followed until a deep ditch is visible just ahead. Turn right at the way-marking post at this point (7) and continue along the woodland track as far as the access road to Newton of Drummy. Turn left and follow this road for about 200 metres before turning right to re-enter the woods using the way-marked track.
For the remainder of the walk, you will be passing through a relatively undisturbed area rich in evidence of past settlement and farming. There are hut circles, cairns, field systems, and what is believed to be the site of an iron age farm. This last site of raised mounds and banks is about 100 metres to the right (east) of the way-marked route at location 8. Where the route leaves the open area near the corner of the field wall, there is a low mound immediately to the right of the path (8). This is the degraded remains of a small cairn with larger stones distributed around it – rather like Tomnaverie but in miniature. More cairns and hut circles are present in the woods to the west of this point and are part of a prehistoric complex that stretches along the higher ground in this general direction for at least 3 kilometres.
The way-marked path back to Tarland winds north-eastwards downhill through Drummy Woods from the corner of the field wall. Look out for the remains of ancient ‘double-dykes’ crossed by the path in at least two places. These are assumed to represent routes for herding stock between pastures in times long past. The way-marked route ends at the Drummy Woods car park (9). To return to Tarland Square, cross the bridge, and turn right at the petrol pumps (10).
The settlement of Scrapehard (4) as it was in 1869
A plan of some of the archaeology near location 8.
Courtesy of Nigel Healey.
The type of substantial house believed to be represented by the many hut circles in Drummy.
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© Nigel Healey