The Dinnie Stanes: The Strongman’s Challenge at Potarch Bridge

Why it matters

Most famous stones in Scotland are famous for being old. The Dinnie Stanes are famous for being heavy. Two lumps of granite, each fitted with an iron ring, they sit by the Potarch Bridge over the River Dee, and in 1860 the greatest Scottish athlete of the 19th century, Donald Dinnie, is said to have carried both of them bare-handed across the width of the bridge. Strongmen from all over the world now come to Deeside to try to lift them, and very few manage it.

The stones

According to the official Dinnie Stones records, the pair weigh about 332 kilograms (733 lb) together: the larger about 188 kg and the smaller about 144 kg. Other sources give slightly different figures, depending on when and how they were weighed. They are said to have been used as counterweights during repairs to the bridge, and the iron rings made them easy to tie to ropes.

Donald Dinnie

Donald Dinnie, born near Aboyne in 1837, dominated Highland Games heavy events for decades, winning thousands of contests in Scotland and on tours around the world, and became one of the first sporting celebrities, his face used to sell everything from whisky to tonic. The story is that in 1860 he carried the two stones across the bridge, a distance usually given as 17 feet 1½ inches (5.22 metres). In his own account, written in 1912, he describes carrying them across the bridge and back.

The stones today

The stones were rediscovered in 1953 and kept at the Potarch Hotel. After the hotel closed in 2013 they were looked after by the Aboyne Highland Games committee, and in 2016 they returned to Potarch, where they now sit outside the Potarch Café on the Ballogie Estate. Lifting them is an established strength challenge with its own guidelines, published by the stones’ guardians. Only a small number of people have ever lifted both at once unassisted, and fewer still have carried them Dinnie’s distance.

Visiting

Potarch is on the B993 where it crosses the Dee, between Banchory and Aboyne, about 25 miles west of Aberdeen. The stones are by the café car park and you can see them any time. If you want to try, read the guidelines first; the stones are heavy enough to injure anyone who is not trained.

Around Royal Deeside

Upriver beyond Ballater, Royal Lochnagar stands by Balmoral and holds a royal warrant from Queen Victoria’s time. North of Banchory rises the Hill of Fare, where the Earl of Huntly’s Gordons were broken by Mary Queen of Scots’ army at the Battle of Corrichie in 1562. Down on the coast beyond Stonehaven is Dunnottar Castle, and in Aberdeen city centre stands the Lang Stane, a much older stone with its own mystery. For the wider area see our guide to Aberdeenshire and the North-East, and for more stones with a story see our guide to the famous stones of Scotland.

Sources

• The Dinnie Stones (official site) — weights, history and lifting guidelines (2024).
• David Webster and Gordon Dinnie, Donald Dinnie: The First Sporting Superstar.
• Wikipedia — Potarch.