A glorious natural setting
Places reachable by lovely walks
Surrounding area easily reachable by bicycle (less than one hour)
Places reachable by car or intense biking
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Days are very short in winter but in Spring and Summer we experience a long period of daylight with virtually no complete darkness around the Summer solstice. This means having the possibility to freely walk, bike or drive until late in the "night" in a safe and colourful light!
By hiring a bicycle you can easily reach the countryside, the beach and the seaside forest, cycling in a scenic environment of open spaces populated with shrubs, flowers, traditional stone built Scottish houses with their attractive gardens and the majesty of big trees all around.
The quiet road from Newbold House to nearby Forres town provides such a variety of colours, flowers, trees and beautiful houses it makes the simple act of coming and going from the house a delight.
Newbold House is completely surrounded by woods. If you are lucky you can see a deer looking at you through the windows of the dining room while you are having your meals. 
Cluny Hill is 10 minutes walk by road or 30 minutes walk through the woods. It is a wonderful hill with giant trees and plants, completely enjoyable with nice paths and lonely benches for meditative rest.
Cluny Hill is an enchanting place, especially the "hollow" known as Helgas Hole a small valley in the centre of the area thought to be an ancient ceremonial site. It's planted with all sorts of trees coming from different parts of the world. In autumn the intensity and variety of colour may attract you to stand there for hours. 
At the foot of the hill Cluny Hill College, the main venue for The Findhorn Foundation's courses, shows in its majesty this is one of the main historical place of the community. It includes one of the most beautiful sanctuaries of the community.
A small and beautiful pond at the end of a path running between a quiet stream and big trees.
In neighbouring Forres Gothic like churches and buildings give an interesting skyline. It is full of flowers and trees!
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lovely bay will remain in you forever! 
The Park is the spiritual and social heart of the Findhorn Foundation Community. It is the root of the Findhorn Community, where everything started in 1962. Located on Findhorn Bay it has a lot of places of interest which demonstrate more than 40 years of vitality and creativity of the Findhorn Community including a theatre in The Universal Hall.
In The Park you can see the eco houses, the wind mill cluster, the Universal Hall, Cullerne Gardens and all the "historical " places of the community such as the Main Sanctuary, the original gardens and the 45 years old original caravan of the founders now used as an office. A guided tour from the Visitors Centre is available most days for £2.
"The Village", as people call it, is a cluster of traditional
Scottish cottages and a harbour facing the bay. Here you can hire a
canoe or have sailing lessons from local people. Located at the top of Findhorn Bay this historic fishing village has two pubs, a village shop, a sailing club and a panoramic view of the bay and Culbin forest on the opposite side. It is often the venue for local festivals and events.
On the western side of the bay this large forest is reached in 30 minute by bike from Newbold House.
In 40 minutes cycling you cross the Findhorn River and cruising in the beautiful countryside you can reach Brodie Castle.
Brodie's garden hosts huge trees and a large pond placed by wise gardeners with paths around it and inside the woods. There is also a walled garden with many varieties of thousands of daffodils in the spring.Findhorn River and Randolph's Leap
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It provides different sceneries at various stages of its journey. You can rest on the banks in the last part looking at the calm water flowing in front of you, or you can enjoy the mountain and forest in its higher course. Randolph's Leap is a particular place of the river, where some big stones try to stop its passage creating powerful whirls of water. It is a place full of stories and legends. It is a myth of the Findhorn Community that in this place the veil which separates the material world and the world of nature beings, like Elves and Fairies, is very very subtle, so this is the ideal place to look for them! |
Pluscarden Abbey |
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You can easily reach the Abbey by car in 30 minutes or by a long pilgrimage walking the hills (4 hours) or by bicycle in about 2 hours. For more details see http://www.pluscardenabbey.org . |
The Dava Way |
You can actually join the northern part of the Dava Way just crossing the road leading to Newbold House and pass through Chapelton Farm. When you cycle on the Dava Way you may find yourself utter. "Wow ... we are in Scotland!" . For more details and complete documentation see http://www.davaway.org.uk/ |
The Findhorn river crosses all the area and eventually drops in the Findhorn Bay. 
Pluscarden Abbey is the only medieval monastery in Britain still inhabited by monks and being used for its original purpose. They sing Gregorian chants several times a day as their spiritual practice.
The Dava Way is a way marked trail between the towns of Forres and Grantown-on-Spey, mostly following the route of the dismantled Highland Railway Line which ran 166km from Forres to Dunkeld in Perthshire.
This pleasant and easy route is suitable for both walkers and reasonably experienced mountain bikers. It offers a variety of landscape, flora and fauna along with natural and railway heritage.Places reacheable by car
Lochindorb and surroundings |
Lochindorb is a freshwater lake, home to the ruins of the Lochindorb Castle . It is easily reached by car (about 40 minutes) following a typical one track- two ways Scottish road leading into the "nowhere" of the wide landscape. The surrounding are astonishing giving a moon-like sensation with purple colours during the summer. |
Aviemore - Cairngorms |
The Cairngorms was made a National Park in September 2003 as it is a unique and special place that needs to be cared for - both for the wildlife and countryside it contains and for the people that live, manage and visit it. It is Britain's largest national Park. The Cairngorms National Park has the largest area of arctic mountain landscape in the UK at its heart, with diverse communities around. It is home to 16,000 people and 25% of Britain's threatened birds, animals, and plants. It includes moorlands, forests, rivers, lochs and glens. You can reach the area in about 1 hour by car from Newbold House. For more information have a look at http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/ |
Summary of links for more information in our area:
- http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usmapindexes/northcentral.html
- www.forresfootpathstrust.org.uk
- http://www.forres-net.co.uk/
- http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/forres/dallasdhu/
- http://www.high-lights.co.uk/castles/brodie/
- http://www.pluscardenabbey.org
- http://www.davaway.org.uk/
- http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/
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