The best running trails around Banff And Macduff

Whitehills Marina is an award-winning village owned marina on the Moray Firth coast of North-East Scotland. It has great facilities for visiting sailors in a beautiful part of the country. The ideal location presents the opportunity for a one day’s sail to Inverness, Peterhead or Wick.

Built as a motte and bailey castle in the 12th century and held by the Comyns, Earl of Buchan. The castle was visited by King Edward I of England in 1296 and also in 1298 after defeating William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The castle was garrisoned with English troops until being captured by the Scots in 1310. It came into the possession of the Sharps, before being sold to Lord Ogilvy of Deskford in 1722. The castle then passed into the hands of the Russells. The old castle was demolished and a mansion house designed by architect John Adam was built in 1750. The remains of the old castle are a scheduled ancient monument.

The Biggar Fountain is an ornate Victorian Gothic drinking fountain with crown head, designed by John Rhind in 1878, commemorates Walter Biggar, one of the founders of the herring trade with the Baltic. The inscription on the Biggar fountain reads 'Presented to the town of Banff in Memory of Walter Biggar Esq. And Mrs. Anne Duff, his wife. 1878.' Biblical inscriptions on the East and West panels.

The cross depicts the Crucifixion on one side and on the other the Virgin and Child. The Mercat Cross originally stood where the Biggar fountain now stands, but because of it's size and it's interference with the traffic was removed in 1767 and custody given to the Earl of Fife, who erected the capital on top of a dovecote at NJ682 632. In 1900 the cross was restored within the bounds of the burgh, and in 1994 an exact replica of the 16th century cross, polychromed as it would originally have been, was placed on its 17th century shaft, and restored to almost it's original location. The original carving was placed in Banff Museum. The Reformation in Scotland was begun by John Knox in 1541, and eventually led to a widespread destruction of artworks and manuscripts by iconoclasts. The Mercat Cross survived and was given a new shaft in 1627. It is a rare survival of such overtly religious pre reformation work.

The church (formerly known as St Mary's) dates from 1778. It is attached to the current hall complex which was built in the 1930s. In the late 1920s a chancel was added, to which the organ was removed. The Roman Doric pilastered tower and tall Gibbsian spire, a prominent landmark, was added in around 1828.

Although golf is supposed to have been played in Banff for 400 years, it was only in May 1871 that organised golf was conceived when the then Banff Golf Club was formed at the Banff links. The Banff Golf Club continued in existence with varying degrees of success until 1924. The Duff House Golf Club came into existence following a gift of land to the towns of Banff and Macduff by the then Duke of Fife following his concern at "the want of ground for golf and other recreational sports." The original course in its present location was laid out in 1909.

One of the landmarks in Wrack Woods is the Ice House, built (circa 1790) as the refrigerator for Duff House..

Local legend has it that the room hidden within the spectacular Bridge of Alvah on Duff House estate was in fact a secret “love lair” used by the married Earl.