Gateway on the Golden Hill

(Certain members of my family have been complaining I never seem to take landscapes these days...so...)

I took my aunt to lunch in Huntly today, then we drove across country to Insch. Her grandparents came from there, and when they were young she and her siblings used to spend their summer holidays there. We drove around Insch for ages. (It was raining heavily, so we never got out of the car!). It was fascinating to hear about where their house was, where her grandfather (the blacksmith) had his forge, the places they used go and things they used to do. A super way to spend an afternoon :)

Before we came to Insch I spotted this view, stopped, and got rather wet trying to capture it.

The "gateway" is a ruined tower house - said to be the oldest castle of that type on the Scottish mainland - on Dunnideer hill. It actually sits within the ruins of a prehistoric vitrified fort. Although it's not a very tall hill, it's a very striking feature, visible for miles around. Behind it are two of the peaks of Bennachie - the Mither Tap on the left, and I think possibly Oxen Craig on the right.

I've always found these hills extremely atmospheric places, and with the rain and low cloud today that was especially true. I wanted to capture that, and it seemed to come across most effectively in mono. However, despite the rain, the warm golden yellow of the whins (gorse) stood out beautifully; it's another of the things I miss about the North East of Scotland, and I couldn't resists keeping it in!