Ireland day 1282. Wednesday 02 April 2025- Banchory 2

Today’s summary	Went to Graham’s funeral service at Baldarroch crematorium, just down the road from Banchory where we are staying. James and Katie flew up from Luton to join us. Reception at the Falls of Feugh restaurant afterwards. Nice to see old friends again despite the sadness of the day. Val and I had dinner later in the evening at the Saffron Garden Indian restaurant
Today’s weather	Stunning. After a cold and frosty start, we had brilliant clear blue skies and full sun all day. Almost no wind. Appx 13c

Today’s overview location (The red mark shows our location)		Close-up location (The red circle shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Banchory

Commentary

I don’t think anyone enjoys funerals; I know I certainly don’t. Neither of us were looking forward to today’s proceedings very much, though in the end, the day turned out to be a lot better than expected.

For a start, the weather was spectacularly perfect all day. It was so lovely when I woke up early this morning that I got up and went on a short walk along the banks of the Dee – which runs along the hotel boundary – before anyone else was out and about.

Then our son James and his wife Katie very kindly agreed to fly up to Scotland to join us for for the day. They arrived from Luton via EasyJet and a hire car at soon after 10am, so were able to join us for a late breakfast. It was wonderful to see them again, albeit only for a day.

And even the funeral service itself, at Baldarroch crematorium (ten minutes’ drive down the road from Banchory), was a much more upbeat affair than I had expected. It focused on the happy moments in Graham’s life and there was barely a dry eye in the house by the time the celebrant had finished.

Finally, today was a great opportunity to catch up with old mutual friends – some of whom we hadn’t seen for decades. The three hours at the reception in the Falls of Feugh restaurant – just across the river from here – flew by, as there was so much to to catch up on with so many people. In fact one of my main sadnesses, apart from the obvious loss of Graham, was the sudden realisation that I may never have occasion to see most of these people ever again. We both resolved afterwards to make a big effort to keep in touch with people, as you can’t afford to let old friends go.

Anyway, once the event was over, the guests had dispersed and we’d had a final cup of tea with James and Katie, Val and I decided that it was time we went and had a quick look round the town of Banchory itself. We had driven through on numerous occasions in the past, but had never stopped. It’s an attractive town, laid out along the main road as so many settlements in the Highlands (and Ireland!) are. While we were out, we were seduced by the scent of fresh curry, so on the spur of the moment we went into the Saffron Garden and had a spontaneous and tasty Indian meal for dinner.

Anyway I’m stopping now as it’s been a draining day, and I think we would both welcome an early night.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


If you look closely among the boulders on the far shore of the Dee, you might just be able to make out a fly fisherman casting his line first thing this morning	Falls of Feugh restaurant, where the reception was held

Dinner time! An absolutely massive meal in the Saffron Garden. Our first decent Indian meal since the Kathmandhu Kitchen in Malahide closed down a couple of years ago	Hotfooting it in the gloaming back to the hotel this evening, after dinner



On the banks of the river Dee for a stroll before breakfast this morning. Absolutely stunning