This easy circular walk is over paved and graveled paths. Distance 1 mile, with Possible extensions of the walk to Craig Stirling and around Cran Hill The starting point is the Mace Shop. There has been a shop on this site since 1912 when the existing grocer moved over from the other side of Skateraw Road to expand his business and open a new post office The post office remained in the shop until the 1970s.
Proceed down Skateraw Road, which is the oldest street,in the village and would formerly have been grassy with open drains, much like Bettridge Road today. Until 1968 there were no street names, merely house numbers (e.g. 22 Skateraw, later 22 Newtonhill). Notice the old fisher cottages, most of them now extended and harled, but with attractive fish-scale tiles. On the right next to number 16 stands the old Smokehouse, a low white-washed building with a square black chimney. This is the oldest and last surviving smokehouse in the village and is probably about 200 years old. Haddock were brought here to be
smoked over wood, after gutting and cleaning in the spring that used to emerge at the top of the road. The fish was mostly for use in the village but any surplus would be carried by the women the twelve miles to Aberdeen on a Friday to be sold at the Green. Notice house number 31, which is the nearest to the original design of a one-storey stone fisherman's cottage. The loft would have been used for storing nets and lines.
At the bottom of the road is the Braehead. It is a fine place to sit and look out at the bay and the North Sea. Five miles or so offshore, lie oil rigs waiting to be towed to their next destination. Many varieties of sea-birds can be seen, as well as grey seals, dolphins, porpoises and even, very rarely, whales. On summer evenings, you may be lucky enough to see bats. The coastal heath on top of the
cliffs is mostly gorse and heather. There are meadow brown butterflies, small mammals such as rabbits and stoats, and flowers such as cut-leaved cranesbill, red campion, scabious and orchids. Behind rhe heath are fields which have skylarks and meadow pipits in summer, and in winter are visited by fieldfares, redwings,
and waders such as redshank, curlew and snipe. The large hill is Cran Hill (252 feet). Some historians think there was a small village called Elsick on the side of Cran Hill several centuries ago but no evidence has been found.

Down to the left you should take the cliff path to the beach. It is now an easy stroll since the construction of a good path by the Newtonhill Village Association in the 1980s. Before that time, it was muddy and steep. In the days of the Skateraw fishing fleet, the women would carry heavy creels of fish on their backs up from the bay, while their men would follow carrying their oars and, hanging over them, their long lines with eight or nine hundred hooks. The women would collect mussels and bait every hook each time the men went out fishing.

The remains of the old pier can be seen at low tide. It was demolished for safety reasons in the early 1980s. In the bay you will often see elder ducks. There are still fishermen's huts, mainly for pleasure use now, though a few boats still pur out for lobsters and crabs. Above the huts are small cliffs where in June the yellow rock-rose and pink thrift bloom. Near the Elsicl; Burn, there is a small colony of common blue butterflies, which fly in July. Look out for brightly coloured goldfinches here.
Cross the stream on the plank bridge, which is occasionally swept away by flood water. Thirty feet upstream, above the second bridge, is an extensive clump of plants that look like red bamboo with large yellowish-green leaves attached This is Japanese knotweed, a garden escapee, now invading much of Scotland There is meadowsweet, with sweet smelling white flowers in summer and clumpl of tall red great willowherb in August, a relative of the rosebay willowherb which takes over railway embankments. On the shore stands an old salmon bothy recently restored as a house and called "The Haven", and behind it is Shore Cottage, originally a boatbuilder's house and yard.

At this point you have a choice of routes:

The road beside Elsick Burn. The walk continues along a road which follows the Elsick Burn up to the railway viaduct.

To Craig Stirling. This is more difficult, along a less well marked path
which takes you quite near steep cliffs, so great care should be taken. It adds an
extra three quarters of a mile to your walk.

The road around Cran Hill. This is an easy route along gravel tracks,
adding an extra mile and a half.


Route la.
The walk continues along a road which follows the Elsick Burn up to the railway viaduct. Up the hill to your right in May is an extensive patch of tall white flowers with a liquorice smell. This is sweet cicely which is not a native plant but is widely found. On the steep banks of the stream to the left are short rose plants, with small leaves. This is the white rose of Scotland, "Burnet rose", which has round black seed hips in the autumn. You will also see larger dog roses, and yellow primroses in May. There is a waterfall, surrounded by heather, honeysuckle and ivy, with dog violets peeping out of the grass in June. In springtime, the willow trees attract sedge and willow warblers and whitethroat. Continue uphill until you reach the viaduct. It was constructed when the railway from Stonehaven to Aberdeen was opened in April 1850. During the Second World War, German planes flew low over the village on bombing raids but failed to destroy the viaduct.

To Choices

Route Ib.
Opposite Shore Cottage (the second house after leaving the beach), there is a steep path up to the right, initially through bracken, to the level of the TV aerial. You should turn right and skirt around the edge of the field along the top of the cliffs to Craig Stirling. This is Newtonhill's answer to Fowlsheugh, the RSPB reserve south of Stonehaven. In spring and early summer there are marvellous views of the nesting herring gulls, fulmars and kittiwakes and glimpses of shags, cormorants, guillemots, razorbills and puffins flying past or on the water.
You would be best advised to return by the same route from this point because, although the path continues northwards, it is very near the cliff edge and quite overgrown in parts. The views are stunning as you look south to Newtonhill and Muchalls and on towards Stonehaven. Return to Shore Cottage and walk up the Elsick Burn as previously described.
To Choices

Route Ic.
Take the path through the bracken opposite Shore Cottage and carry straight on up the side of the field on to Cran Hill. The pile of stones you can barely see is all that is left of the old pier. You can choose to go left or right when you come to the track which circles the hill.
If you go left you pass an old ruined croft and the restored steading before you reach the East Cammachmore road, where you should turn left down the hill to the railway viaduct.
If you go right, you are choosing a longer walk taking you round the north of Cran Hill. You can follow the track which is part of the route to the village of Downies. In the gorse you can usually see linnets, yellowhammers and dunnocks, with the occasional stonechat. Roe deer, hares and foxes have been spotted in the early morning or at dusk. On the farmland look out for skylarks, meadow pipits and oystercatchers. On reaching the farm of Cobbleboards, turn left past Back Burn, over the railway and left on to the East Cammachmore road which will lead you down to the railway viaduct.
The path now crosses the stream beside the 13th century Mill of Elsick which has been restored as a dwelling house. The mill was used to grind barley and oats, and it can still be seen how the water was channelled to turn the wheels. Notice the old mill pond with horsetails and watercress in the middle and yellow marsh marigolds at the outside. Frogs can be seen here and ofteh a pair of grey wagtails.
Go up the gravel path between the fences, past hawthorn and laburnum trees and newly planted rowan and alder to the gate at the top of the hill. Follow the path to the road along the railway back to the Mace shop.