T is for Tomintoul, highest village in the highlands

We're up to T in the A to Z blogging challenge (still haven't found a V but have had some helpful suggestions from my friends at work) and we've visited the village of Tomintoul which is 39 miles from us.

Tomintoul is the highest village in the Scottish Highlands and was founded in 1776 by the Duke of Gordon.

Tomintoul is in the Cairngorms national park and was a planned village so is focused around a central square with some of the original Georgian and Victorian buildings still there.

We stopped for a snack in the Old Fire Station Tea Room which has got lots of old fire fighting memorabilia including lots of hose nozzles, fire station related toys, helmets all around the walls, and hanging from the ceiling are fire shirts from several different countries.

As we wandered along the one street of shops, which includes several galleries and gift shops, we found this very ornate ring for tying your dog to - it reminded me a little of the door knockers in the film Labyrinth and of course I've included a video of that scene as I love that movie.

At the end of the main street there is a park with walking tracks through the forest. Along the way we found these three interesting characters in amongst the trees and the bog. Bramble decided to make friends with one of them.

As we walked through the forest we came across an adventure playground which is always a bit too tempting to the two big kids that we are. Now I semi restrained myself due to a little bit of an incident last year where I had a spectacular fall off the children's assault course in Nairn, but Ken couldn't resist the zip wire and decided that Bramble would want to do it with him.

Tomintoul has a whiskey distillery that is quite a distance out of the town, but unfortunately it wasn't open for visiting when we got there. I did like all the barrels lined up with their different coloured tops.

There was a lovely old church and graveyard on the road between the distillery and the town so of course we had to stop and look around.

Just two headstones for you today - these two crosses are so different and yet both so interesting. The one on the left is white marble and has stayed so pristine looking, whilst the one on the right looks like something out of medieval times.

Our next stop on the road was the Bridge of Avon, which was built in 1754 and originally called the Bridge of Campdalmore. It's no longer used for vehicles but is part of one of the many walking tracks.

Last two photos are of the entrance to the Urlarmore farm bed and breakfast - I love how they've used an old knife sharpening wheel for their sign, and decorated the area with a beautiful bathtub garden.

There you have it, a brief look around the village of Tomintoul - because it's so high up it's one of the first areas that has the snow gates shut on the roads during winter. Before you go, why don't you pop over to the A to Z blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for the letter T - Click Here to visit.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a wonderful week.

Pamela & Ken
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