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The Royal Cairns Balmoral – Sunday 22nd January 2006
At 8 a.m. virtually a
full busload of Stockets set off for Balmoral to walk a circuit of the
Royal Cairns. One was built to celebrate each of Queen Victoria’s
childrens’ marriages, one for Prince Albert, and one to mark the purchase
of the estate. Was it 7, 8, or 9 cairns? I lost track…
Before leaving the bus,
our President implored us to stick together, remarking that with the walk
being predominantly through forest, we were likely to get lost, lose
someone, or both.
 We
began our walk around 9.45 a.m., crossing the picturesque white suspension
bridge and entering the estate, passing close to the Lochnagar distillery
en route.
Within no time we found
the first cairn, a rough hewn but sturdy structure perhaps 5m high. Derek,
perhaps inspired by film posters depicting King Kong atop the Empire State
with a blonde, decided it had to be conquered. He was the first of a few
Stockets, including our young guests Craig Stephen and Ross, to scramble
to the top.
On
to the second cairn, which we came across surprisingly quickly. Built in
honour of Prince Albert, this was the most impressive of the lot, a
pyramid of close fitting granite blocks, which can be seen from the road
below. No climbing this smooth face, but everyone took the time to admire
the workmanship, and great views of the surrounding countryside.
We reached the third
cairn at 11 am and stopped for refreshments. Despite Peter’s fears, we
were finding our way unerringly from cairn to cairn, in great part due to
the excellent reconnoitre work done in advance by Liz, the walk organiser.
Nor did we lose anyone (on the walk at least), as the group stuck closely
together, even the A-team seemingly
happy to strike a slower pace and enjoy the views.
On we went from cairn to
cairn, stopping to admire an aerial view of Balmoral Castle. Designed by
William Smith, City Architect of Aberdeen, it replaced the original house
on the estate, and the foundation stone was laid was laid by Queen
Victoria on 28th September 1853, just over a year after purchasing the
estate in 1852 (it had been leased prior to that since 1848). Resemblances
you may have noticed with Aberdeen’s Salvation Army Citadel of 1896 are
not accidental, as architect James Souttar modelled it on Balmoral.
After lunch, we set off
towards the Falls of Garbh Allt, on past the Norwegian Hut, a royal
wedding gift from the King of Norway, then rounded the walk off by
crossing the old bridge to Keiloch car park, taking in a dramatic view of
Lochnagar on the way. Many remarked that it felt like a longer walk than
the 12km listed in the membership card, and sure enough on the website it
is 16km! Perhaps Steve had a hand in guesstimating the original figure?
Not to worry, a good day was had by all, and the weather remained kind
throughout the day.
 We
stopped at the Inver but, in Peter’s words, it had “gone too Horse &
Hound” to want a bunch of hillwalkers lowering the tone. Off to Ballater,
where we descended on the usual hostelry to find a roaring fire, and a
folk session in full swing. Put off the by the queue or the music, a
splinter group headed next door to the Prince of Wales.
Back on the bus
suitably refreshed, we realised that Iain was
missing. After a frantic search he appeared, unruffled – he had formed a
splinter group of 1 to watch the footie! With all 30 accounted for, we
headed for home.
Liam Naughton
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This site was last
updated
26/01/2008
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