Pleasant woodland ramble with excellent views from the summit.....Bin of Cullen

Hill: Bin of Cullen (The peak of Cullen)

Type: Sub2k

Height: 320m

As this is the locals hill for the North Coast residents including Buckie, Cullen etc I expected a sizable parking area but as it turned out maybe 4 cars on the earth in front of a ‘do not block’ gate.

It was much windier here at the start so I put on a slightly heavier jacket. Would that be the correct decision?

The walk goes through a lovely woodland setting with birds singing away as if it was Springtime not the end of the season.

As a locals hill the woodland is a like a maze with tracks covering the whole wood. The only issue is that none of them are marked so care was needed to get the right turns to take me to the summit.

The trees were well packed together so no views until the end of the tree line is reached. Down below this is the first that I have seen bracken dying back en masse. I detest bracken but at least the change of colour brightened up the wood.

A plod on a well made track. It was heavily stone packed which I assumed might have been for care and maintenance vehicles but there was nothing I spotted that warranted this.

Two retrievers ran up to me, lots of sniffing then off they went with their owner, faster than me this morning. At this point I regretted the warmer jacket as I was perspiring more than I should have.

Camera aperture not correct for fast shots as the Kestrel blurred, in real life it was pretty.

Above the main trees the surrounding vegetation was a more normal mixed Scottish trees and bushes. A kestrel hovered briefly and disappeared like a Ferrari when the wind caught it.

As the wind caught me I was back to being happy about my jacket choice, zipped up I felt cosy.

Just see the buildings of Cullen

The Moray Firth was now the main focus and on this flank of the hill I could see the villages of Cullen and Portsoy.

When I neared the summit I had changed direction so in the distance Morven looked massive located on the way to Wick. Closer to home and down below it was the turn of Buckie to be the prominent village.

A popular summit with a trig, a viewpoint indicator and a few benches to sit and soak it all in. Grand views. Morven in Sutherland prominent lump in the haze as was Ben Wyviss.

Knock Hill once again

I was happy to stand and wander about but still taking it all in. certainly worth a short ramble if you are in the area.

And again on the descent

Returned the same way listening and looking for the birds, I could hear a large flock of long tailed tits with there soft contact calling. But they were so high up in the canopy that all I spotted was brief glances as the moved tree to tree,

Overall a very good short ramble with views that are worth the small effort. It is too early and too soon after breakfast to find somewhere serving some authentic Cullen Soup, maybe later.

History: according to the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882–1885), the Bin was planted to the very summit in 1744 The Gazetteer for Scotland. This “planting” likely refers to the construction of a cairn or summit marker, possibly with a flagstaff, making it a notable landmark. The hill was accessible via a carriage drive, and from its top one could see distant points such as Wick (54 miles NNW), Buchan Ness (43 miles ESE), Bennochie (28 miles SSE) and Ben Wyvis (65 miles W) The Gazetteer for Scotland.

The description from the Gazetteer also notes that the Bin was conical in shape and crowned by a cairn, and that a smaller nearby hill, “Little Bin,” stood 802 feet high

Ascent: 181m

Distance: 5.3km

Time: 1.21

Wildlife: Robin; Long Tailed Tit; Treecreeper; Kestrel; Great Tit;