Balmoral Memorial Cairns
As an expat at Christmas, what to do to fill the family gap in yuletide merriment is a big decision. Fortunately we have been kept full these past two years with the prospect of sharing our table and time with our similarly transplanted friends.
After two days of Christmas cheer and Glasgow feasting, we woke up on boxing day to a city blanketed in snow. Only twice in our 12 months here had we experienced snow like that in Glasgow, and it spurred us on for our long drive north to the Cairngorms.
We stayed in the charming town of Ballater, on the eastern side of the Cairngorms National Park. Before feasting again on the leftovers from Christmas, we rounded off our day with a walk along the river and through the town.
The next morning we headed to Balmoral Estate to search for the mysterious Balmoral Memoral Cairns. The snow started falling as we found the car park, and with some very helpful directions from the ground staff of the estate, we headed off towards the forest.
The Balmoral Memorial cairns are hidden throughout the forest on the Balmoral Estate. There are no onsite maps to find the cairns, so we headed out into the snow onto what felt like a genuine exploration.
Most of the cairns were erected under the direction of Queen Victoria, to commemorate marriages of her children. Winding through the forest, you need to climb up hills and slip down tiny tracks to find the cairns to commemorate the marriages of the Princess Royal, Prince Albert Edward, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice. Notably, there is no cairn to commemorate Victoria’s son Prince Alfred and one does wonder why the future Duke of Saxe-Coburg was omitted this great gesture.
The walk itself is beautiful, peaceful and perhaps even better in the glowing conditions of intermittent snow and sun. The joint royal and exploration aspects of this place makes it even more special.
The largest and most grand of cairns is atop the highest hill. This was erected by Queen Victoria and is marked with an inscription that reads: 'To the beloved memory of Albert, the great and good Prince Consort, erected by his broken hearted widow, Victoria R, 21st August 1862’. From all accounts the love between these two was genuine and enduring, and the place the Queen chose to remember their love is suitably peaceful and grand.
After realising we shared this place with the only other explorers we saw on our snow day, we decided to head back down into the forest. We wind back down the hill and passed the final cairn on the way back to the car.
The falling snow, the fleeting sunlight through the trees, the eerie stoniness of the cairns and it all shared with pals made this day feel like a truly special adventure.
The Balmoral Memorial Cairns are well worth the effort to find and explore. Even if writing about them somehow feels like an intrusion into the private and epic memories of a seemingly happy royal family long since passed.
