ABERDOUR BAY

The red sandstone cliffs around Aberdour Bay are a riot of caves and arches, including an arch at the east end of the bay which is big enough to walk through. This stretch of coast has pathways with views to satisfy the most demanding of coastal ramblers. Just inland from the bay, the village of New Aberdour has a street lined with fishermen's cottages, while Old Aberdour has a ruined church which is one of the oldest in north Scotland, originally founded around 575 by St Columba and St Drostan, although the present church is Norman. St Drostan crops up again in the bay itself in the form of St Drostan's

Well. St Drostan used the water from the well to baptise the local people and he was famed for his miracle cures, so much so that he continued to work his magic from beyond the grave: after he died in 809 AD, his remains were brought to Aberdour and placed in a stone coffin, from where they were thought to be responsible for a number of amazing cures.

In September 2009 there were news reports of a swarm of unusual jellyfish which had shown up in the waters of Aberdour Bay. The jellyfish in question, known as the "crystal jellyfish" and distinguishable by their flashes of blue light, are normally found in the north west Pacific, so their sudden appearance off the coast of Aberdeenshire had marine biologists scratching their heads. The jellyfish were carted off to the Macduff Marine Aquarium, where they found themselves in the company of common moon jellyfish.

Map of the area.

Aberdour Bay, Aberdeenshire - geograph.org.uk - 69739. Photo by Christopher Gillan, via Wikimedia Commons.