North to the Past

320-mile round trip to see some old bikes and cars? Worth it in this case - the Grampian Transport Museum

- Alex Carnegie

Covid restrictions have meant staycations' instead of holidays abroad, so I decided to do something that had been on my to-do list for a while the Grampian Transport Museum. Because of the restrictions, it was necessary to book a time for my visit, so I chose 2pm, allowing plenty of time to travel north in the morning, and although it would have been possible to do the full trip in one long day, I booked a nearby B&B, just to break up the journey.

Heading off a few days later, I rode overland rather than taking the long, boring motorway route, crossing the Clackmannanshire Bridge, and riding the A977, A91 and A92 to take the Tay Bridge into Dundee. Once I had topped up with fuel and negotiated my way through the city, I had to ride a few miles on the busy A90 before I was far enough north to turn on to the much more interesting B974, meandering through Fettercairn and on towards the museum in Alford.

All went well travelling this old military road until I came to a Y-junction, where my notes said bear left - no maps or GPS for me! Taking the left took me on to a very narrow country road, twisting and turning through the hills which was great fun, but I soon lost my bearings and after asking for directions from some locals, I ended up back on the main B974, which meant a bit of a detour through Banchory. Despite the wrong turning, I managed to reach Alford (pronounced Afford, I'm told) in time for lunch in the museum café.