Montrose Air Station – Biplanes, Jets and Lunch by the Links
A few hours.
The route
On the northern edge of Montrose, the Royal Flying Corps opened Britain's first operational military air station in 1913, and its old huts and hangars are now a museum run by volunteers.
There are full-size replicas of First World War aircraft, a Tornado and a Jaguar in one of the original hangars, and the stories of the people who served here. Lunch is at Roo's Leap, an old golf clubhouse looking over the links to the sea. Children under 16 go free.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book a table at Roo's Leap on 01674 672157 for after the museum, and say if a dog is coming, as dogs eat in the lounge at lunch by phone booking only; it's closed on Tuesdays.
The day
Montrose
Old wooden huts full of stories, a hangar of jets and a pair of First World War biplanes, then a long lunch by the golf links.
About four hours
Montrose Air Station Museum
An attraction
Park at the museum on Waldron Road, on the northern edge of Montrose, and start at reception in a restored wartime hut. The Royal Flying Corps flew from here from 1913, and the 1915 headquarters building now holds the medals, a short film made by the volunteers and the Station Commander's office as it was in 1940. In the Robertson Building hang full-size replicas of a B.E.2a and a Sopwith Camel, which the museum says you can see together nowhere else in Scotland. A short walk away, in one of Burke's Sheds of 1913, stand a Tornado, a Jaguar and a Hunter. Allow a good two hours. It's £10 for adults and free for under-16s, and dogs on leads are welcome. Paths between the huts are smooth, though the old wooden buildings have narrow doors. There are drinks machines but no café.
6 min by car
Roo's Leap
Lunch
Lunch is at Roo's Leap on Traill Drive, 6 minutes' drive south, in a sandstone golf clubhouse looking over the links to the dunes. It's known for its charcoal-grilled steaks and burgers, with fish, pasta and a children's menu, and dogs are welcome in the lounge at lunchtime if you book those tables by phone. Lunch runs from noon on Saturday and Sunday and to 3pm on weekdays; it's closed on Tuesdays. Book on 01674 672157. Afterwards the beach is just beyond the dunes for a walk.
If it rains
The museum is mostly indoors, in its huts and the hangar, with short walks between them, so it suits a wet day; leave the beach walk for another time.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Angus.
Photograph by Jussi Päivinen via Google