Bervie Water

Bervie Water is a river in Aberdeenshire that begins high in the eastern Grampians near Drumtochty Forest. It winds south-east in an S-shape across The Mearns before reaching the North Sea at Inverbervie. The river is about eighteen miles long and drains roughly fifty square miles of countryside. Its source lies on the Hill of Gothie, more than 1,500 feet above sea level, where it descends from the Braes of Fordoun. Near the coast it passes through the grounds of Allardice Castle. The waterway is joined by the Bothenoth Burn, also called the Burn of Healing, to the east of Arbuthnott House. At Arbuthnott the river has carved a steep-sided valley where terraced gardens once ran down the south-facing slope. These terraces are divided by diagonal grass paths that intersect across the slopes. A short distance from the sea the river crosses Bervie Bay on the Bervie Jubilee Bridge, built in 1935 to carry the A92 into Inverbervie. The older masonry bridge of 1799 still stands beside the modern crossing. The river ends in a small bay where the water meets the North Sea. Walkers can follow paths along the terraces and beside the water before reaching the bridge. From there the view stretches across the bay and along the coastline towards the Mearns hills.