| Stonehaven is special,
superbly set in the sweeping curve of Stonehaven Bay which rises on either side cliffs 100ft high each
carrying a scenic road. The bay bursts on the visitor like a flower as it
comes into sight."
A holiday town of 10,794 people (Jan 2006), it lies fifteen miles south
of Aberdeen , the oil capital of Europe and
at the southern gateway to Royal Deeside. At the North end and stretching
seawards is long pencil-like Garron Point,
carrying the town's testing 18-hole golf course on top like an aircraft
carrier.
From there looking South is one of the most captivating coastal views in
the country. At its furthest point can be seen the white 150ft high sheer
cliffs of Fowlhaugh, the sanctuary home of
millions of seabirds.
At the south side of the Bay, 1.6 miles from the Garron
stands the cliffs of hump-backed Downie Point,
guardian to Stonehaven's enchanting harbour lying
below the coast road to Bervie. It is one of the
most photographed boat havens in Britain,
spectacular by day, sparkling with lights by night.
Back North across the Bay close to the former fishing village
of Cowie,
at one time a Royal Burgh, lies the town's famous
Art Deco open-air heated swimming pool.
A mile or so to the South of Stonehaven
standing out from the coast on a stupendous rock is the great castle
of Dunnottar.
Where famous people are concerned, Stonehaven's greatest son is Robert
William Thomson the most prolific inventor of the 19th century and inventor
of the Pneumatic (Rubber) tyre.
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