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The two Dinnie Stones with their iron rings, on a rubber mat at Potarch.
Aberdeenshire

The Dinnie Stones

Two granite lifting stones with iron rings at the Potarch Café by the Dee, 733 pounds together, which the strongman Donald Dinnie carried across the width of Potarch Bridge in 1860.

Welcome

Outside the café at Potarch, beside the old bridge over the Dee, two rounded granite boulders sit on a rubber mat, each with an iron ring set into its top.

They look unremarkable until you learn their weight: 188 kilograms and 144.5 kilograms, 733 pounds between them.

The rings were fixed in the early 1830s, when the stones served as counterweights for the scaffolding on the bridge. In 1860 Donald Dinnie, the great Aberdeenshire athlete and strongman, picked up both at once with his bare hands and carried them across the width of the bridge, a little over seventeen feet. The feat made the stones famous.

They went missing early in the 20th century and were found again in 1953, lying in long grass by the river. Today strongmen and strongwomen come from all over the world to try to lift them, while everyone else settles for a photograph and a cup of tea.

Not farThe Strong Water Co15 milesSee itThe Strong Water Co
Before you go

The stones sit outside the Potarch Café by the bridge and can be seen at any time.

Anyone hoping to lift them for the record arranges an official attempt through thedinniestones.com.

Where
The Potarch Café, by Potarch Bridge on the B993 near Kincardine O'Neil.
Weight
188 kg and 144.5 kg: 733 lb together.

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Where it is

At Potarch, where the B993 crosses the Dee, two miles east of Kincardine O'Neil.

Close byPotarch.
  1. Framed line drawing beside a hanging plant in a white macramé potPotarch CaféThe café by the bridge, where the stones are kept.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. The stone front of the Old Smiddy with a red telephone box outside.The Old SmiddyAntiques, vintage and upcycled finds in the old blacksmith's shop at Kincardine O'Neil.2 miles 4 min by road
  3. The roofless Auld Kirk at Kincardine O'Neil among its gravestones under a cloudy sky.Kincardine O'NeilThe oldest village on Deeside.2 miles 4 min by road
  4. The Burn of Dess tumbling down its gorge among bare trees.Dess WaterfallA short walk on the Deeside Way to a waterfall tucked into a wooded gorge.4 miles 6 min by road
  5. A golden, fruit-studded scone fresh from the oven at Platform 22.Platform 224 miles 6 min by road
  6. Finzean Farm Shop and tearoom with the Feugh valley beyond.Finzean Farm Shop and TearoomA farm shop and tearoom in the Feugh valley.5 miles 7 min by road
Directions
A concrete block on the grassy hill ground above Balnahard, the Finzean hills beyond.ActivityBalnahard Farm4.5 miles
Aerial view of a golf course fairway lined with forest and hills beyondAttractionsBanchory Golf Club6.0 miles
Tease's black shopfront on Banchory High Street, with benches and plants at the door.CafeTease Coffee Bar6.0 miles
The Birdhouse café's teal shopfront on a granite street in Banchory.CafeBirdhouse Cafe Banchory6.1 miles
A bottle of the Strong Water Co.'s own whisky held up at its Banchory shopfront.ShoppingThe Strong Water Co6.1 miles
Ride Coffee House, a white building with a glass gable and garden chairs.CafeRide Coffee House Banchory6.6 miles
Espresso streams into an orange cup on a chrome machineCafeSpider on a Bicycle Cafe6.7 miles
Shelves of floury sourdough loaves at Courie Courie.AttractionsCourie Courie Bakery6.7 miles
Aerial view of a golf course with fairways, bunkers and a river beyondAttractionsAboyne Golf Club6.8 miles

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The Daily for 25 October, from Scotland with love. bare tree stumps standing in an autumn loch, forested hills reflected in the still water

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the stones, and when each is next free.

Woodend
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glen Tanar
  • 7 miles from the Dinnie Stones
Free 1–4 NovWest Millfield
  • Sleeps 5
  • In Glen Tanar
  • 7 miles from the Dinnie Stones
Free 1–4 NovA stone gate lodge with steep gables and green-framed windows sits beside a stone boundary wall, a planter of flowers by the green door.Joiner’s Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Aboyne
  • 7 miles from the Dinnie Stones
Free 30 Oct – 2 NovA round metal garden table with two chairs stands on a lawn beside a bottle of wine and glasses, pink flowering shrubs and a green-framed conservatory behind.Garden Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glen Tanar
  • 7 miles from the Dinnie Stones
Free 10–13 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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