Boyndie Parish Memorial

A modest stone memorial stands in Boyndie Parish, just outside Banff in Aberdeenshire, marking something significant enough that locals wanted it recorded. It's the sort of place you'd stumble upon while driving through the northeast Scottish coast - not a destination in itself, but worth a quick stop if you're passing.

The memorial is straightforward: a stone marker commemorating the parish. There's no visitor centre, no gift shop, no interpretive boards spelling everything out. You turn up, have a look, and move on. That's rather the point. Local history types will find it interesting as a touchstone for understanding the area's past, but don't expect crowds or facilities.

It's genuinely free and accessible at all hours, as far as anyone can tell. Allow ten minutes maximum - you're looking at a stone, after all. The real draw is combining it with a proper walk around Banff itself, which has actual character and the sea.

If you're staying at one of the nearby caravan parks - Whitehills is barely half a mile away, Banff Links just a mile further - this is an easy afternoon stretch of the legs between coastal walks. Portsoy Links, four miles on, gives you another excuse to explore a different stretch of the Aberdeenshire coast. Nothing revolutionary, but honest and unpretentious. Exactly what a parish memorial should be.