(I actually wrote this back in 2019 for a university blog that fell through…but now I’m back in the office and therefore back working in cafes I thought why not publish this finally on my own blog!)
I don’t know about you but I appreciate a change of scenery and find it difficult to sit and work in the same place for hours or days on end. I get fidgety, I start to worry that I’m bothering my colleagues, I get distracted and then I just start wasting time. As such, I’ve already sussed out a handful of cafes around Aberdeen that I love to work in. Sometimes I just go to one before or after some office time, sometimes I spend the whole day away and take myself on a little café circuit. Strangely that almost feels like a little holiday. I’m a great believer in the saying ‘a change is as good as a rest’.
Short disclaimer – obviously check with your supervisor that it’s okay for you to go AWOL for a day. Open and honest communication between you and your supervisors is key but every supervisory relationship is different.
My first café stop is the Union Café and bistro on the corner of Union Street and Shiprow. From mine I can walk past two of my favourite sculptures in Aberdeen to get there. The giant cat perched up above the restaurants opposite the Marischal College and the Nuart piece of the little men perched near or on balcony’s on the side of The Illicit Still. Once at the Union Café I like to sit on the high chairs by the window so that I can people watch in between working. I’ve only had coffee and cake there before but they have an extensive range of cakes, some of which are more inventive flavours than those you’d normally find. I had a great piece of rose and pistachio cake in there once.
When I’m ready to stretch my legs or go for another coffee/snack I potter down to Contour Café in The Green. This is really close to the harbour so if I’m in need of a little fresh air and a walk I go and have a look at the ships. I appreciate that this isn’t every ones cup of tea but I briefly worked in the merchant navy on a standby vessel and some of that interest still lingers. There is actually a ship tracking app which lets you know which vessels are in harbour so that you can go and visit any favourite ships. Some of them have pretty cool patterns painted on their bows or interesting names and you start to learn who the regulars are. It’s pretty much train spotting but with ships. Don’t judge me! So, once I’ve appropriately nerded out in the harbour I grab any seat I can in Contour Café. There are some quite big tables in there to spread out on and they’d work pretty well for a group meeting. This place has THE best vegan sausage baps with ketchup. I don’t know if it’s the fresh bread or the sausages or the love that they’re made with but they’re just so good. I’ve tried lots of other things in there and they’re all nice but I always come back to the vegan sausage bap. They also do 10% student discount (or at least they did when I wrote this in 2019!).
After leaving Contour and on my way to Food Story I’m greeted by my favourite door in the Painted Doors Project. I heard two American tourists describe it as disturbing once, but to me, a doughnut worshipper, there is nothing better than two glazed parent doughnuts cradling a baby doughnut. Food Story is on Thistle street just off Union Street. The walk between the two is perfect for me to pop into any shops that I’d rather avoid on a weekend. Food story has great food, great coffee and a great atmosphere but one of the reasons it stands out for me is it’s bulk shop upstairs and it’s all round efforts towards sustainability. The store upstairs sells bulk grains, spices, beans, pasta (including gluten free), cereals, dried fruit and although I’m not sure if they do it at the moment I’ve got both olive oil and balsamic vinegar in there too. The staff are really relaxed, helpful and friendly so they’re more than happy to help you figure out the weighing system and answer any questions on how to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle. In case you’re a die-hard carnivore that can’t contemplate a single meal without the addition of something meaty you unfortunately (for you) won’t find that here, there is some dairy though. I think it’s probably also the most child and dog friendly of the places that I go to but seen as I have neither one of those it’s a little hard for me to judge properly.
After I’ve worked in Food Story and decided that it’s time to move on I pop over to Cup on Gaelic Lane off Belmont Street. Cup splits opinion a little in that many of my friends feel that it’s too busy in there to work…I guess maybe you have to time it well. I like the background noise though and the hustle of general activity. Just down the street from Cup there’s also a really great shop nearby called MacBeans that sells loose leaf teas and coffee beans. Treating myself to a nice new coffee that I can share with my colleagues (we’re all coffee fiends) is normally enough to lure me back up to the zoology department!
It’s probably worth noting that I never really use wifi when I’m working in a café so I have absolutely no idea of the wifi capabilities or speeds in any of these places. I just come armed with a pile of papers and make sure the things I want to work on are downloaded and offline. It probably doesn’t need to be said but I obviously buy something in every place I work in and try not to overstay my welcome, but I’ve never felt in any of these places that me working away was bothering anyone.
For a bonus ‘out of the office’ working location I love Brewdog on Gallowgate for the early evening. They make incredible pizzas and although I don’t suggest it’s a good work/life balance ethic to work into the evening I have enjoyed dinner and a bit of reading or writing in there on occasion. They have really big windows for people-watching and the window tables leave you feeling a little cosy and tucked away. There are always dogs in Brewdog too and that’s great for the morale, right?!
Hmm, so I’m not going to lie, I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired the last few months and I was really struggling to think about what I was going to write about for April. (I promised myself that I was going to write a blog a month). Then I remembered just how many parks Aberdeen has and thought I’d give you a whistle stop tour of a few of them until my inspiration comes back.
Johnson Park
Well, let’s start with Johnston Park (Johnston Gardens). I’ve only been to this small park once as it’s a fair walk from where I live, but it’s really pretty. If I lived near here though I’d definitely be popping into this park all the time. It’s packed with greenery layered above a large pond area. It feels quite private, and in some ways a little secret. There’s also a bright blue bridge which is perfect for photography if you’re into that. It’s also a great area for spotting kingfishers! In terms of history, these gardens used to be part of the Johnston House estate, but it was gifted to the city in the mid-30s. I’m certainly glad that we have public access now.
Victoria Park
Victoria park, named after Queen Victoria, is one of my favourite parks to go to. I don’t do it very often, but I love going to grab a coffee (and maybe a cinnamon bun) from Cult of Coffee and then heading to the park to enjoy it. There’s one specific bench that is literally the perfect suntrap, I won’t divulge which one…too many people seem to know about it already! This was Aberdeen’s first public park, and it was created in 1871. I can’t imagine a city without a park, but maybe as Aberdeen was smaller and there was more green space in general it wasn’t quite so necessary until that point. It was however created out of ‘a desire to improve the urban and industrial environment’, so maybe it was more necessary than I’m imagining. There’s a path around the whole park, which seems good for runners, there’s a small rose garden, an area for chess or drafts (I can’t remember) and a few other cute nooks and crannies. The main feature though is a huge granite fountain which is apparently made from 14 different types of granite quarried in Aberdeenshire and donated by granite polishers. That’s a lot of granite!
Westburn Park
Westburn park is literally next door to Victoria park. It’s just a busy road that separates them. For a long time I though that historically it was the same park but it had just been divided over time by a city that needed more roads! But, actually, Westburn park was once belonged by Westburn House, a mansion built in the mid-1800s. The house became a tea house in 1901, but unfortunately, it’s now a ruin. It’s such a shame as it would make the cutest café. I have to say it’s not my favourite park, but if I’m honest I’m not sure it’s meant for me. It seems like the perfect place to take your dog or your children, and I have neither. It even has a children’s cycling proficiency track. There’s also an open section of water called the Gilcomston Burn running through the park. It’s unsatisfyingly asymmetrical!
Seaton Park
Seaton park is another one of my favourites and is definitely the park I visit the most. The park is huge and feels wild, there’s even a wetland area. There are parts of the park that make me feel like I’m not in the city at all and I love that. It’s been a great comfort during the pandemic to grab a coffee from Shelter or Kilau, walk past the St Machar’s Cathedral and down to the River Don. The park is full of wildlife; lots of different birds, red squirrel and otter. Sometimes when I want a slightly longer walk I wander east to the little village by the ‘Brig O Balgownie’ and dream about living here or west to the Wallace tower. It’s such a cool place. When I was writing this I also found out about Mr Therm! Mr Therm is a former steam engine which used to transport coal to the harbour, but it’s now in the children’s play area. I’ve never noticed it before because I don’t pay much attention to the playground. But, that sounds pretty awesome to me!
Duthie Park
This is another park I’ve only been to once. I was meant to go again before I wrote this, but I had an ME flare up and I didn’t make it. It’s a big park set back from the River Dee but it’s the Winter Gardens that I really fell in love with. They are currently closed to the public due to COVID, but once they’re open again I really recommend a visit. The park has a tonne of Victorian features like boating ponds, bandstands and fountains. I’ve driven passed lots of times and seen folk doing group exercise. It looks like a really nice spot for that.
Hazelhead Park
Hazelhead is huge. It’s also quite far out so I’ve only been there once. It’s not my favourite, but to be fair I wasn’t in the best mood when I was there, and it was winter. I should probably visit again! I particularly need to go and see the rose gardens when they’re actually in bloom. They’re really quite extensive. I actually went because I wanted to visit the memorial to the Piper Alpha incident (I’ll let you google that). It’s a really cool monument. I also stumbled across another monument to the Aberdeen crematorium scandal. I’ll let you google that too if you’re interested, I learned something really quite shocking.
In addition to the park there’s also an area of woodland nearby. In fact, there are two areas of woodland which kind of merge into one (Den woods and Anderson woods). They also join up with Countesswells woods to make the largest woods in Aberdeen. If you live nearby or you have a car, I think this is the perfect quick escape from the city.
There are of course plenty more parks in Aberdeen, but these are the ones I’ve visited. Green space is so important, and I think it’s become more important since the pandemic…so, get out there and enjoy it.
This blog took way longer than I imagined! In October, whilst I was looking at the driving route to Loch Muick (I want to walk around it at some point) on my trusty OS map I noticed just how many tiny little markers there were along the roads that indicated ‘places of interest’. I decided it would be a great idea to visit every one of those, probably underappreciated, sites all the way from Aberdeen to Balmoral. I thought that we (my partner and I) would be able to knock it out in a day. 12 places of interest, 1 day, blog ready in time for my November post. Fool! That was a bit optimistic, to put it lightly, especially with that quickly fading Autumn light. A lot of the sites were difficult to find and once we’d taken the time to locate them, we wanted to linger and enjoy them rather than hurry off. I’m glad we didn’t rush it.
So, with a few months delay I’m going to tell you a tiny bit about those sites! Most of them have tricky parking, as in you just need to find somewhere as safe as possible along the side of the road and just go for. I also think it helps having an OS map, whether that’s on your phone or a physical copy, because most of them are literally just dots on the landscape with no signage. I think that’s part of the fun though. Just seeing something marked on a map and exploring until you find it.
1. Binghill Stone Circle.
This was the first stop for us, and it was a great way to start. To find it we pulled over and parked out of the way on the side of the road near Milltimber woods on Contlaw Road, and then walked through some gates with ‘private property’ signs and asked for some help in locating the circle. We spoke to a super helpful chap who owned the land and he said he thought it was easier to park and access the circle from Binghill Road…something I’d definitely suggest trying if you want to check out this site. In terms of directions once you’re off the road all I can really say is walk uphill into the woods and search around the area marked as “Recumbent Stone Circle” on Google maps. You really just have to follow your gut instinct and have an explore.
Once you get there only 3 of the stones are still standing, including the recumbent, although some of the smaller kerb stones are also in their original position. By ‘recumbent’ I mean that it is, as the name suggests, lying down…on purpose! The recumbent is flanked by two tall stones and then the other stones follow around in a circle, graded in height. Apparently, these recumbent stone circles are unique to Aberdeenshire, in Scotland and Cork and Kerry, in Ireland. They’re not quite sure what these recumbent stone circles were used for, but they think they could have been used for ritual purposes related to the moon. By ‘they’, I guess I mean historians! This stone circle is dated as Neolithic/Bronze Age, so around 3000BC. It’s hard to fathom anything that long ago!
History aside, this place just feels magical. We sat here for quite a while just chatting about the past, wondering what things might have been like, how the land might have lain, where people could have lived, what relationships were like…just pure conjecture and wild imagining!
2. Park House Symbol Stone.
Hmm, this is an odd one. To start with, I still have no idea where you should park if you want to see this. I struggled to understand the access to the area (coming from England, I still sometimes struggle to understand access rights and I get scared). We ended up parking precariously off the side of the road and scrambling up a bank onto the Deeside Way, and then walking onto the Park House Estate. There must be better ways of doing this!
Anyway, at Park house is a Pictish symbol stone which is thought to be early Middle Ages (5th to 10th century AD). The symbol stone is actually sat on top of a replica (an apparently inaccurate replica). This shows what it ‘should’ have looked like in its heyday with a mirror and a double-sided comb, a notched flower, a crescent and a V-rod. I have no idea what that all means!
3. Gibbet Stone – Mill of Dess.
This large mill stone shaped stone is easy to see from the road, but I would have had a hard time guessing what it was before reading about it. For parking you just have to find some vaguely okay space on the side of the road to stop! The same goes for most of these sites. This gibbet stone is thought to be the place into which a gibbet tree was inserted. What’s a gibbet stone, gibbet tree or indeed gibbet I hear you ask? Well, there’s no nice way to put it, a gibbet is something you hang somebody from/in. Whether that’s as a punishment (i.e. displayed in a cage but not left to die), directly as a method of execution (hanging by the neck or starvation in said cage) or as a warning (by leaving or placing a body there until it fell down – you can imagine what a state that would’ve been). So, a gibbet stone was what you stuck or fixed the gibbet tree/gibbet into. Gibbets or gibbet trees didn’t always require a stone, but it was thought that this particular gibbet stone was placed and used on the nearby Gallows Hillock.
I’m a fan of dark history so I was looking forward to seeing this one!
4. Aboyne Stone Circle.
This was one of the sites we spent the most time trying to locate, and then once we found it we wondered why it ever took so long! Parking in Aboyne is easy as it actually has carparks and safe places to pull over. Wherever you stop in Aboyne (it isn’t big), the stone circle is easily reached after walking past one of the local cemeteries (possibly belonging to St Margaret’s) and up the main path through the woods. On google maps the street is called ‘Aboyne Stone Circle’ and I think there is a sign directing you vaguely the right way, so it’s not totally hidden. At some point there’s a track that trails off left (North West) into the woods and the stone circle sits not far away from a field. If you’ve reached a farm gate on the main path then you’ve gone a bit too far, but head left (West) into the woods from that point and you should be alright. I appreciate it’s a fairly poor description, but it’s better than what we had!
The circle, once you find it, is very, very small at about 2.5 metres wide. This alone makes it pretty interesting. Apparently one of the stones, although firmly situated, might not be in it’s original place. My incredibly untrained eye couldn’t tell you which one though! The circle is dated somewhere in the Bronze Age (2200 BC – 800 BC) and the thoughts are that it could be a four poster stone circle. I’ve just learned that means there are four (or sometimes more) upright stones in an irregular quadrilateral. The circle is either this or a transition from a four poster circle to something else!
5. “Stone”!
So, this one outfoxed us for far too long! On the map it’s just a black dot that has ‘stone’ written next to it and I was therefore convinced it must be a standing stone. It’s marked as being right on the side of the road, so every time we drove through the area I’d peer intensely out of the window looking for it, but I never caught sight of it. Anyway, it came time to stop and look for it, so we stopped at the pull in next to the big ‘YOU ARE NOW IN THE HIGHLANDS’ sign. We walked up and down the road several times, scrubbed about in the bushes and even asked a lady coming out of her house, but we couldn’t find it. She said that her mother was interested in local history and had never mentioned a standing stone nearby. Eventually, it dawned on me that the ‘YOU ARE NOW IN THE HIGHLANDS’ sign is the stone marked on the map!
6. Loch Kinord Crannog, Castle and Castle.
So, this is a little off the direct Aberdeen to Balmoral road but I counted it as part of my route because I can do what I want! Plus, it’s a nice walk around Loch Kinord. There are 3 historical things of note there. Firstly, the crannog. A crannog is a manmade island constructed from wood (and presumably other bits) and this one was built around 2500 years ago. There would have once been a hut on top of the island but now it’s just the island itself, and you would 100% think it was natural. Secondly, is Kinord Castle. Okay, there’s no castle there anymore, just another island…but, you can imagine! Kinord Castle was burned down in the 1600s but as far as I know it had stood for about 600 years up to that point! Thirdly, and finally, is the Kinord Cross. Kinord Cross is a kite-shaped pink granite stone with an elaborate cross carved into it. This Christian monument was made sometime in the 9th century. It was moved to Aboyne Castle in the 19th century and then finally moved back to the loch in the mid-1900s.
I can’t imagine any of these sites will change your life but, as I say, it’s a nice walk around Loch Kinord.
7. Tullich Church and Souterrain.
Tullich Church is a great place to park for the souterrain, and it’s worth checking out too. This is a ruined medieval church (built on the site of an even older church) and it has a collection of very cool Christian and Pictish stones held safely behind glass. There’s a great information board all about the stones so I’ll let that do the talking if you decide to visit.
We actually visited for the souterrain though (not the church) and found it on our last trip along this route. I kept putting it off because there were always cows in the field and I’m super wary (read scared) of cows! Luckily on the last visit there were no cows around and we strode confidently across the field to a rocky/scrubby area and located the souterrain. Unfortunately, you can no longer get inside but we shone torches into the cavities and imagined what life was like around 0 AD when this was thought to date back to! The souterrain is an underground space, but it’s not really known what they were used for. Storage for grains? A place to hide? Or a bit of both? What do you think?
If you want to visit a really cool souterrain that you can crawl inside, I definitely recommend the Culsh earth house near Tarland.
8. Abergain Castle
I wasn’t expecting much from this ruined castle but this was definitely a hidden gem! We pulled off the ‘main’ road and parked on the side of a farm access road (out of the way of farm traffic) and then walked across some sheep fields and up into the woods. Abergairn is what remains of a small tower house built in the early 1600s and because of its small stature it was thought to be a hunting lodge. It’s a stunning area. We went whilst the Autumn colours were at their peak, which definitely made everything look beautiful, but there was a stillness and peace there that made you want to linger for as long as possible.
9. St Manir’s Standing Stone.
To visit this stone there’s a super handy forestry commission carpark just down the road. From the parking area you just need to hop over a stream and a fence and then you’re at the standing stone. A very mini adventure! As well as the stone this is also apparently the site of a burial ground and a church but little/no evidence of that remains to someone like me (i.e. not an archaeologist). Apparently, the 6th century chapel that used to be situated here used this standing stone as a reading desk and much later, unbaptised children were buried here up until the 19th century.
In the comments section of a random Aberdeenshire history post I also read that from this standing stone you can see the hill on which the last Deeside witch was burned. I have no evidence to back this up, but I choose to believe it! That’s my ethos for many a historical tale!
10. Abergeldie Castle.
Abergeldie Castle is a 16th century tower house which prompted me to enter the lottery more regularly. I spent the whole time walking around this area deciding which bit I’d turn into an Airbnb or a granny flat for my parents, what I’d plant where, where I’d put the barbeque, what I’d use the pit prison for etc… (Probably wine to be fair). Not long after we got back from our day trip I asked Twitter whether anybody knew the status of this house. There were lots of incredibly old private signs that made it seem like it probably wasn’t private anymore, all gates were open, no lights were on, nobody was around and everything looked very unloved. But, on the other hand, we felt like we were trespassing, there were enough possessions (like work jackets and spades) still around that we felt somebody could have lived there recently or perhaps be thinking about renovating and it definitely had been very loved at some point. It was all a bit mysterious. Anyway, it turns out that the man that had lived there had moved into an old people’s home many years prior and had recently passed away. Which is all a bit sad. It is a really beautiful spot and whoever gets to live there next is incredibly lucky…and wealthy!
To get to this castle we parked by the red phone booth/book swap just down the road, which is worth stopping at anyway.
11. Scurriestone.
This is an easy one to get to. We just parked at a little pull in and then walked into the field where the stone stands. Apparently, it’s thought to mark the spot where “the road diverged to the fords of the Dee and the Muick”, but that’s a little tricky to imagine now. It’s just listed as prehistoric which spans a large wedge of time…basically, it’s very old.
12. Knock Castle.
I think this is now amongst my favourite castles in Aberdeenshire. Knock sits on top of a hill surrounded by larches and it unquestionably pretty.
Knock is a 16th century tower house, which is full of tragedy. It was owned by the Gordons who had beef with a neighbouring clan, the Forbes. One of the Gordon’s, Henry, was killed by the Forbes clan so the castle went to Gordon’s son, Alexander. At some point Alexander’s son secretly married a Forbes girl, which as you can imagine did not go down well. The father of this girl had Alexander and 7 of his brothers killed whilst they were digging peat. I think there’s some chat about how they were armed and digging peat on Forbes land at the time (so not wholly innocent) but, after this long it’s probably hard to know the ins and outs of it. Anyway, the brothers (including Alexander) were then beheaded and their heads were spiked on top of their spades. Charming! On hearing this news Alexander fell to his death down the Knock Castle stairs and apparently his miserable and tormented ghost still haunts the ruins. The Forbes did not get away with this scot free however, and the head of the Forbes clan was executed by the law, his lands were also taken away and given to Abergeldie.
To get to Knock Castle we parked off the road at a quiet junction and just walked up to it, but I saw that other people had driven much closer to the castle and just parked in the middle of the road! It’s another one of those places where you just have to find a spot that looks acceptable and go for it!
I think if I can conclude anything from this series of excursions between Aberdeen and Balmoral it’s that this county is just packed with history. You can barely move without tripping over some ancient site and because of that I imagine there’s something for everyone. Unfortunately, however, there’s often not a lot of easily available information on most of these places and you end up trawling random sites with numerous search terms just to find a golden nugget of information. But, maybe that’s part of the fun, I guess not everything should be easy and I don’t necessarily think you need to know exactly what you’re looking at to enjoy it. Two of the best websites in terms of standing stones, circles and souterrains were https://www.megalithic.co.uk/ and https://www.canmore.org.uk/ if you’re ever interested in finding out about anything in your area.
I wanted to do something in-keeping with October and Halloween but noticed that ‘haunted Aberdeen’ has been done more than once AND promoted on all ‘Visit Aberdeen’ social channels! So, I thought, how about a guide to the kirkyards and cemeteries of Aberdeen city?! Although, if I’m honest, I don’t find them spooky at all!
I considered ‘the city’ as anywhere within walking distance and I considered that as having the Don and Dee as Northern and Southern boundaries, Anderson Drive as my Western boundary and, well, the sea as my Eastern boundary. Obviously! There were 9 cemeteries and kirkyards that I could find but please let me know if I’ve forgotten any. I couldn’t find much interesting historical or official information on most of the places so it’s more about what I happened upon whilst I was having a mooch about.
Before we get into it, there are 3 things I want to say about visiting cemeteries or kirkyards. Firstly, it’s crazy what you can learn about people and the local history just from reading headstones. Secondly, it’s interesting what kind of conversations walking around a cemetery with another person can spark. Thirdly, it doesn’t have to be a morbid or morose event but obviously be respectful of where you are. Don’t be a dick!
St. Machar – The Chanonry
St Machar Cathedral is in Old Aberdeen. It sits above Seaton Park, near Cruickshank botanical gardens and the pretty part of the University of Aberdeen and because of that I think this is the prettiest and most peaceful out of the 9 to go for a wander.
I first came here because it’s close to work and I wanted to go for a wander over lunch…but also, I had read in multiple places that the left upper quarter of William Wallace was interred in the cathedral behind a star. I then found out from the lovely staff at the cathedral that this is very much not true. It seemed to be something that they get asked a lot! Deep down, I still hope that part of William Wallace is there and that for some inherently mystical reason the cathedral staff have to throw tourists, like me, off the scent!
As St Machar is the first place I visited when I intended to write this blog it’s the first place I noticed the square and compass mark of the Freemasons with the G in the middle. Apparently, this stands for God, Geometry or Great Architect depending on your persuasion. I guess it doesn’t tell you much, other than the owner of the grave is a Freemason, but once I’d seen it on one headstone, I started to see it everywhere!
Snow Kirk – College Bounds
I’ve actually written about the Snow Kirk before in another blog (https://fromakingdombythesea.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/aberdeen/). The Snow Kirk, also known as the kirkyard of St Mary of the Snows, is a secret graveyard tucked right in the midst of the Old Aberdeen university campus. It was once the home of a Catholic church and, as such, the Snow Kirk is a Catholic place of burial. As we all know Catholics weren’t super popular during the reformation but what happened to the Snow Kirk during this time of upheaval is apparently a matter of debate. The church no longer stands but the graveyard still remains and is still in use, although rarely. As far as I know, very few people know that the Snow Kirk is there and even fewer have actually visited. It’s worth going. I think it’s a weirdly haunting place, not because of the dead, but because of where it is and what surrounds it now. It’s almost like people just shut it away and forgot it was there.
St. Peter’s – King Street
St. Peter’s spans a large area between King Street and Spital, although, as far as I’m aware, the gate leading onto Spital is always locked. This graveyard is really quite stunning with lots of trees, a small mausoleum (although that sounds a bit grand), a fair bit of wildlife and some very old and interesting gravestones. In fact, now I think about it, it might just top St. Machar as the most beautiful graveyard.
Having said that, it also feels a bit dark and isolated in parts. Or, maybe it’s better to say I felt a bit isolated when I visited there alone! I walked right to the back of the graveyard towards Spital where the oldest graves are and noticed that the exit was locked…and then I noticed how many hiding places there were…and then I thought about the couple of lone men I’d seen walking around towards the King Street part of the graveyard. (Men who were almost definitely just minding their own business!) For some reason the Margaret Atwood quote, “‘Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” then came to mind and I powerwalked out of St. Peter’s so fast I probably looked like I’d seen a ghost!
But before I ran away, I did spot a few interesting things. This graveyard holds a lot of people who had very grand jobs; tea planters, magistrates, accountants and authors, including the author of ‘Thrummy Cap’. I suggest you look it up, it’s pretty cute. I always like to spot old job titles and also find the oldest headstone. In this case, the oldest grave I found was from 1806, one Euphemiae Mathison.
I also came across the pretty tragic story of Thomas M. Stuart born in 1860. He was the Chief Engineer of the Arrow Liner, Principia. The Principia was on fire for 3 days before it was wrecked on “a dark stormy night” off the Faroe Islands in 1885. He was thought to have survived in the sea for 40 hours before he “perished of the cold”. He was picked up 2 days after the wreck and buried on the Faroes, only to be re-interred in Aberdeen later. This was all written on the monument in St. Peter’s. I later found out that only 1 man was rescued from the Principia disaster and 27 men drowned.
Like the Snow Kirk I’ve also talked about Trinity Cemetery before, specifically the Titanic story, which is in the same blog post I mentioned earlier (https://fromakingdombythesea.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/aberdeen/). In short, buried here is the Cornishman Robert Hichens. Robert Hichens was the steersman and quartermaster of the Titanic and was at the helm during it’s tragic accident. He survived the Titanic in a lifeboat alongside an American millionairess, but tragedy apparently followed him until he had a heart attack of the Aberdeenshire coast. He was buried by the shipping company in a cheap grave without a marker. But years later, his family who thought he’d been buried at sea, learned about his situation all the way up here in the Northeast of Scotland. Originally, they laid a wooden cross in his space but later funded a new memorial which has only recently been placed. As a nice touch it also pays tribute to another man that was interred with him.
Before and After: Unmarked to Marked
There is also an interesting memorial “in memory of those who gave their bodies for the increase of knowledge and the advance of medicine”. (It’s at the top of the hill, closest to the sea.) It’s not big or fancy but I’ve just never seen anything like that before.
John Knox – Mounthooly
The John Knox church on the Mounthooly roundabout has now been converted into flats but of course the pretty kirkyard behind the old church still remains.
I actually went here a while back, way before I thought about doing this blog because I’d heard about an interested wooden plaque/headstone/monument…I can’t quite remember now! I couldn’t find it. I can’t find any pictures of it and information on it is scanty, which makes me wonder if it’s really there at all. I would like to go back in winter though when there are fewer leaves to have another look. If you know if it exists or where it is, please give me a shout!
St. Nicholas – Union Street
St. Nicholas is a very old and higgledy-piggledy kirkyard, which seems to be full of interesting folk such as Captain William Penny, an arctic explorer who assisted in the Franklin search expeditions. It’s too long a story to tell here but tale of the Franklin expedition and the search parties that followed is really interesting. I really need to go back at some point and have more of a read around. St. Nicholas is right in the centre of the city, on Union Street so it’s definitely an easy place to locate and walk through.
I came to St. Nicholas with my best pal, Anneli, and she provided me with the story I’ll tell here. I haven’t found it yet, but the grave of John Henry Anderson is in this kirkyard. My guess is that you’ve never heard of him, but Houdini certainly had, and he actually paid for his memorial. John Anderson was an excellent illusionist and great at promoting himself. At his height he had a theatre in Glasgow and performed all across the globe. Apparently his most notorious illusion was the ‘Great Gun Trick’, also known as the ‘Bullet Catch’. From these names I bet you can guess what that entailed! The young Houdini admired John Anderson so much that he paid his grave in Aberdeen a visit. Once he was at the graveside however, he noted how poorly kept the grave and memorial was so decided to pay for a new one. That memorial is still in St. Nicholas.
East St. Clement’s – St. Clement Street
St. Clement’s is the kirkyard I almost missed. I read that there was something in the old fishing village of Footdee but I didn’t remember it and when I went to have a look I couldn’t find it. Footdee is tiny so if there was a kirkyard then I would have seen it…so I thought whatever I’d read was wrong and I went home! Luckily whilst I was making the map for this blog I noticed a church and kirkyard in the centre of the harbour industrial area near Footdee. It’s not the prettiest area and the kirkyard is unfortunately littered with condoms, but despite that, the boarded up church and old kirkyard are rather nice.
This, like many of the graveyards in Aberdeen, is the home to many folk with seafaring careers. Mostly Ship Builders, Shipmasters, Ship Owners, Tide Masters (Customs Officials) and Merchants. There are however also a few Stay Makers (Corset Makers), Bookbinders and Skinners.
There was one headstone in particular that caught my interest. Robert Cattanach (Shipmaster) died in Jamaica in 1824. His son, a Shipmaster, died in Laguna, South America in 1839. Another son, also a Shipmaster, died at the mouth of the Danube in 1847. Finally, a Son in Law was ‘lost at sea’. All of the men in this grave died young, all of the women lived well into their 70s. I think that probably says something about the life and times of seafaring folk in the 1800s!
Nellfield – Nellfield Place
I went to Nellfield with my very good friend Anneli. She’s a great friend for many reasons but the fact that she didn’t skip a beat in agreeing to come to a couple of graveyards with me and the ease at which she can chat about anything, including death, are definitely good reasons! It’s not often that you can turn to your pal and ask ‘buried or cremated’?!
This cemetery was very peaceful and certainly worth a wander around. Anneli is Swedish and told me that many of the cemeteries in Sweden are more like parks with plenty of benches for people to come and enjoy the space as well as paying their respects. I think Nellfield would be a lovely place to sit and take a break but it doesn’t really seem to be ‘the done thing’ over here! I think people here would probably think you were a bit weird and disrespectful if you whipped out your picnic next to a load of headstones. Such a shame.
There are lots of important sounding folk interred here including an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Members of Parliament, a Lord Provost, a Naval Commander and a Customs Commissioner in China. In fact, the memorial to the folk working in China is really quite cool.
The only other thing I saw that definitely feels worth mentioning is a memorial to Mary Scot Bryce, it just seems quite sad! She was a native of South Carolina and the memorial states she ‘visited this country in search of her health but found a grave’. Poor woman!
Allenvale – Riverside Drive
I’ve passed by this graveyard multiple times when heading out towards Banchory and thought, ‘I must go there’. Mostly because the view from the road reminds me vaguely of the Necropolis in Glasgow…although I didn’t think it was so alike once I was walking around. (The Necropolis is super cool by the way.) I’m not going to lie, Allenvale was a bit of a rush job. We still spent about 45 minutes there and walked around the whole area but didn’t stop much. This place is huge! Maybe it was because I was with an Italian but we noticed a lot of Italian graves…and also a lot of military graves if that floats your boat.
So that’s it, the 9 kirkyards and cemeteries of Aberdeen city. Maybe I wouldn’t quite suggest doing what I did, tracking down burial sites and then systematically visiting them all, but I would definitely suggest having a wander in a graveyard once in a while. It’s surprising what you can learn and how much it can clear your head, they’re peaceful places. I’m going to leave you with a poem that I found written on a headstone in St. Peters;
How are the roses on that cheek decayed,
Which late, the purple light of youth displayed.
Health on his form cach sprightly grave bestowed,
With life and thought cach speaking fouture glowed.
And yet while fate delays th’impending, we
Are roused to thought anticipate the blow.
Last thus encompassed with funereal gloom,
Site one, ye bend o’or some untimely tomb.
O’ur my dust, loved parents, friends, thy fears, pain.
You know by what means I am gone but rouse thy state.
One of my biggest bugbears is when I move to a new area and people tell me you can’t explore without a car. When I moved to West Wales people told me I was lucky I had a car otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get out and about (which isn’t true) and when I moved up to Aberdeen people told me it was a shame I didn’t have a car because I’d struggle to get out of the city for mini adventures. I admit that in many ways having a car makes things much easier and sometimes I do miss having my own (I sold my car to fund my masters…and my ME was bad enough at the time I thought I shouldn’t drive). BUT it is entirely possible to get out and about using public transport, you just have to plan a little more. So, here are 5 places in the shire of Aberdeen that I would very much recommend and are totally accessible without a vehicle.
Crathes Castle and Drum Castle by bus
Crathes CastleCrathes Castle grounds
Drum Castle
(If you’re reading this from the other side of the pandemic then you won’t need to pay attention to some of these details, but, if you’re mid pandemic there’s just the odd statement on how much these sites are open.)
The stagecoach 201 regularly leaves from Union Street and stops pretty much outside Drum Castle and then Crathes Castle, you just have to walk up the drive. When I first arrived here and first took a bus trip out to Crathes (for a beekeeping course) an old Aberdonian lady I’d been chatting to at the bus stop took it upon herself to sit next to me and point out things from her life spent in the area. It was really quite lovely but I can’t guarantee friendly old ladies if you take the 201! Anyway, Crathes Castle, which is run by National Trust Scotland, does castle tours, has a shop and café, a woodland play area and extensive grounds for walking. At the moment, only the grounds are open, but looking at the website it seems like they maybe planning for the rest of it to re-open around the 1st September. Normally everything’s open all year.
Just up the road, or down the road, depending on how you look at it is Drum Castle. They have castle tours, a café and shop, a rose garden and lots of land to roam on. Currently, only their outdoor spaces are open, this means that their toilets are closed too. As above, I think that they may be planning to re-open some more bits on the 1st September.
I’m not sure what else to say really. I mean they’re National Trust for Scotland properties, ‘it does what it says on the tin’. Good castle tours run by knowledgeable folk, great cafes, expensive shops and outside spaces humming with wildlife. I feel like you know what you’re getting when you turn up somewhere like this! I guess if you’re really keen you could do both castles in one day but alternately there is enough at each place to spend and enjoy a whole day. Depends what you’re looking for.
Newburgh seal colony and Forvie nature reserve by bus
The Stagecoach 61 takes you to the town of Newburgh and from there you can walk to the Newburgh grey seal colony which is down Beach Road past Newburgh Inn, or you can walk to the North and over the bridge across the River Ythan and enter the Forvie Nature Reserve. Right now the website for Forvie says ‘BUSY – PLEASE AVOID’ and I imagine that is probably also true for the seal colony. I don’t know if it has been busy or if they’ve been expecting it to be or what, but be sensible, obviously! As Nicky S says, if it looks busy, then it’s too busy! I think this is especially true for the seal colony. Just be respectful, don’t approach seals, don’t run around shouting, mind your dog, don’t be a dick. When I’ve been there the seals have been on the beach the other side of the river and in the water, so it’s been easy to just find a cosy spot on the sand and watch them. Forvie also has seals but is known for it’s colony of breeding eider ducks, which is the largest in Britain and the four species of tern that hang out there. The habitat here is really varied so it’s always interesting. There’s always something new to see. My supervisor has even seen a whale off the estuary, I can’t remember what kind…as a wild guess Minke maybe…but that’s certainly a story that keeps me returning to Forvie to scan the horizon!
Stonehaven by train
So, I’ve chosen a poor time to write this. I chose Stonehaven and Dunnottar castle partly because there’s a really quick and easy train there from Aberdeen. Not only is Aberdeen in its second week of local lockdown as I write this (meaning you shouldn’t travel more than 5 miles from the city) but there are no trains between Aberdeen and Dundee until the 3rd September due to a tragic derailment. There is of course a bus replacement service though. Hopefully even if you can’t go anywhere right now, this might inspire you for the future.
Anyway, Stonehaven is a lovely little town. It has a museum, some cute little shops like ‘My Beautiful Caravan’ and eateries like the ‘The Marine Hotel’, which has a restaurant and bar run (?) by 6° North. …Actually, I’m not 100% sure what the full involvement of 6° North in The Marine Hotel is! Sorry! But I do know that the food and beer is excellent! There’s also a really cool harbour festival every year which I believe happens around August and a yearly new year’s fire festival. I haven’t been to that, yet, but I hear good things. Also in Stonehaven are the Dunnottar Woods, I’ve only been walking there once but they were much bigger and cooler than I expected.
The main attraction in Stonehaven, however, is Dunnottar Castle, which is a 30ish minute walk along the cliffs from the harbour. I’ve been twice, once in winter and once in summer. I’m already biased because I strongly dislike summer and I love winter but I would recommend a visit to the castle in the depths of winter! I first went in February and made sure that I got to the castle as soon as it opened. This meant I had the whole castle to myself for about half an hour. Walking up to that imposing structure on my own whilst the weather was cold, grey and hazy gave me so many feelings. Walking alone around the castle, including into dark little rooms that held witches (aka women!) and peering over the walls and down to the cold, unforgiving sea below gave me even more feelings! When I went in summer, the castle and surrounding cliffs were crawling with people. Crawling. Obviously it’s great people want to visit a historical site and I would never begrudge a place in need of constant upkeep earning £’s over the summer period BUT, personally, busy places are not my jam. Right now (August 2020), during the pandemic, the castle is open but you have to buy tickets online before you arrive.
Cruden Bay and New Slains by bus
Just up the road from Newburgh and Forvie, still on the stagecoach 61, is Cruden Bay and New Slains. Cruden Bay is a nice, well umm, bay, with a long beach… and just a short walk away through a wooded area and past a field is New Slains Castle. New Slains is a ruin resting on top of a cliff and colonised by seabirds. Its free to enter and there are no barriers so you can explore to your hearts content. If you’re feeling fit you can also walk North along the sea-cliffs to the Bullers of Buchan and at the right time of year these cliffs are busy with guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmar. I’m not sure how busy it gets here but I’ve visited before in August and there’s only been a handful of groups/families about and there’s plenty of room for you to avoid each other! I’ve heard that in it’s heyday this Baronial mansion saw the likes of folk like Bram Stoker who took inspiration from New Slains for his novel Dracula. Apparently, the building slowly fell into ruin after the roof was removed for tax avoidance reasons. I love nuggets of information like that.
Peterhead prison museum by bus
Also on the route of the Stagecoach 61 is Peterhead and in Peterhead is the Peterhead prison museum….which is currently open, but, like Dunnottar, I think they’re asking you to buy tickets online before you arrive. This museum is so cool for so many reasons. For a start it’s just interesting to see inside a prison that was still in use until 2013. There are also tonnes of stories about general prison life, a mock up of a dirty protest (which is definitely an assault on the senses) and loads of information on the Peterhead Prison riot back in 1987. I won’t say too much about it because I won’t do the story justice and I’ll definitely get stuff wrong, but the riot saw intervention by the SAS after the prisoners took hostages, including 56 year old Jackie Stuart. 33 years later, at 89 years old, Jackie Stuart is still regularly frequenting the museum and talking to tourists. It was so crazy interesting to meet him and have a chat. A prison might seem like an odd place to take a day trip but trust me, this place is awesome.
I’ve mentioned the Stagecoach 61 three times now (they’re not paying me!!!), and incidentally this bus also stops at another cool place that’s worth a very brief mention. I’ve not explored Ellon extensively but I have been to two places there that are worth visiting; ‘Coffee Apothecary’ and the BrewDog mothership. Getting public transport to one of the best breweries in the UK is obviously a very sensible idea!
So, if you aren’t able to drive or just don’t want to these are 5 great options that’ll hopefully give you some inspiration for exploring the county by public transport. If you are able to drive but you don’t have your own vehicle then I can definitely recommend co-wheels car club. They’re a company that have cars dotted about all over the UK but they have lots within Aberdeen. They’ve got manuals and automatics, electrics and petrols, smalls cars, big cars and vans! I’ve used them a lot for day trips and I’ve regularly decided that I don’t want to come home yet and extended my booking just by tapping a few things in the co wheels app. I’ve lost my access card, called the co wheels number and gained entry with a regular chip and pin in my wallet within minutes. Anyway, I’ll stop trying to sell co-wheels to you now (I don’t have shares!), just know they’re a good option!
I love Aberdeen! It’s a bit of a marmite city, I know. The most common negatives I hear are that it’s ugly, it’s unfriendly and there’s nothing to do and I would disagree (and frequently do) on all of those points. I get surprisingly defensive of this city that is absolutely not my own, as in I didn’t grow up here and I haven’t lived here that long!
Now, having said that, when I came up here to meet my now supervisors, I flew and then took the bus into the city from the airport. The stretch of Aberdeen that bus route follows is mostly pretty bleak and as soon as I could I phoned my mum all teary that I didn’t think I could live here. My memory of Aberdeen from my navy days was really shoddy, I remembered bits of the harbour, the maritime museum and the beach but that was it. It wasn’t enough to make me feel better about moving here. Luckily though, I stayed at the Carmelite hotel near The Green and the harbour and walked to the university through old Aberdeen and the Cruickshank botanical gardens. This turned things around an awful lot. I mean, obviously! I live here now and as I said I love it. Now, if my friends fly up I tell them to close their eyes on the bus! When they’re here, at some point in their stay, I take almost everyone on the same walk…or at least portions of it, because altogether it’s a long one. As lockdown has now eased a little and we have some more freedom to move around I thought it seemed a good time to mention my favourite places along that walk. Maybe it’ll give you some inspiration.
Old Aberdeen
The ‘tour’ starts with a solid walk from Mounthooly (because that’s where I live) to Old Aberdeen and that takes about 20 – 30 minutes. I found out very recently that Mounthooly lies on an old leper colony, which was mercifully unnecessary by the early 1600s. Luckily, the bodies weren’t buried along my street so I didn’t have to lie awake at night thinking about that for too long! The first stop on my tour is what remains of the ‘Snow Kirk’ which was originally founded way back in 1497. This is a tiny little Catholic graveyard hidden behind high walls within college bounds. For me, the most exciting thing about this is that barely anyone seems to know it’s there! I don’t really know the ins and out of the reformation but I do know that it wasn’t a great time to be a practicing Catholic. Many held Mass secretly and buried their loved ones in secret Catholic kirkyards in keeping with their faith. The Snow Kirk, or the kirkyard of St Mary of the Snows, was, for a time, one such secret graveyard.
Snow Kirk
From the kirkyard I take people through Powis gate, which looks like a classic Disney castle tower and towards Kings College. Kings College was founded by William Elphinstone in 1494 and there’s a fetching memorial to him outside. The interesting thing, I think, is that the memorial was meant to be fitted on top of his tomb, inside the chapel. But, when it was transported to Aberdeen it turned out to be too big to go through the door. Doh!
Powis Gate
Just up the road from Elphinstone is my favourite university campus café, Kilau. Great coffee, great food, magnificent brownies! This place on my ‘grand route’ is a great time to stop so I normally encourage it!
Sometimes, I take people through the alleyway near Kilau to go and look at the library. It’s pretty impressive and although I rarely take people inside it has a cool internal structure too. I gather there are some mixed opinions about the practicality of this though! Another rare but occasional detour is the Cruickshank botanical garden and rarer still the universities zoology museum. Both are definitely worth a visit though. The gardens are a nice spot for a picnic, I saw my first red squirrel and my first waxwings here.
Seaton Park and the River Don
This next stretch is again about 20 – 30 minutes…obviously much longer with stopping for coffees, taking photos or just generally looking at stuff!
The next ‘stop’ is St Machar Cathedral. To get there you have to walk down the Chanonry. This is a pretty area but it was once terrorised by ‘Spring-heeled Jack’. ‘Spring-heeled Jack’ could silently leap over high walls and breathed fire. He had clawed hands and red eyes and wore numerous disguises. This assailant normally resided in London but appeared in Aberdeen in the late 1800s. People saw him well into the 20th century. Crazy!
When I first arrived, I read on the internet somewhere that the left upper quarter of William Wallace was rumoured to be buried behind a star in St Machar cathedral. I’d tell my friends this in my best impression of a castle tour guide’s ghost story voice but just at the beginning of this year I found out that was certainly not true. Damn internet facts! Despite the lack of famous historical body parts the cathedral is still worth a visit. The ceiling in particular is pretty astounding.
St Machar Cathedral
Just behind St Machar is the enormous Seaton Park. There are areas here where I feel like I am absolutely not in a city anymore. The walk along the river to the beach is really lovely, I’ve seen seals from the Brig o’ Balgownie and although I haven’t seen them here personally, people have reported really good views of otters.
After Seaton Park is left behind (and I’ve taken my friends across a super busy road) the Donmouth nature reserve starts. There are some little paths that wind through the estuary and there’s a small hide just off the road. If I’m honest I find this section a little disappointing but without it it’s a long stretch of boring pavement until you reach the sea.
River Don
Aberdeen Seafront
I don’t have an awful lot to say about the seafront. I mean, it’s just nice to be by the sea, isn’t it? Between Donmouth and the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom it’s just you and the sand but after that there’s one or two things I sometimes point out. The first thing is ‘the last tram line’ which is on the Links between the Hilton hotel and the beach there’s a little stretch of tram line still visible. I normally point at them and say “that’s Aberdeen’s last tram line”. That’s it! That’s all I have. I’m pretty sure no one but me has ever thought this was cool. But I’ll keep trying!
Just as a little interlude (because I’ve never taken anyone here), there’s a place nearby called Trinity Cemetery. Within it is the unmarked grave of the Cornish steersman and quartermaster, Robert Hichens, who was on the Titanic. I’ve read somewhere that at the time of the accident he was at the helm…of course steering under the orders of an officer. He survived in one of the few lifeboats alongside an American millionairess, but life wasn’t particularly rosy for him following the tragedy and ended with him being placed in an Aberdonian cemetery without a marker.
Incidentally this cemetery is very near Gallows Hill, which, as you can probably guess is where people enjoyed watching the odd hanging up until the late 1700s. The last fellow to lose his life there was Alexander Morison, who murdered his wife with an axe. The death wasn’t quick or clean and he was left there hanging in chains as a warning. If you haven’t noticed by now I’m drawn to some of the darker parts of history!
But anyway, back to ‘the tour’! Carrying on down the Beach Boulevard from the Beach Ballroom there are some shops and cafés plus adventure golf and a funfair. But, for me, the place of note is the Highland Bus. Again, I don’t have any pictures but it’s an old double decker bus by the sea with a café in it! I mostly just really like the novelty but the food’s pretty good too.
Footdee
After tea and cake in the bus, the next stop is Footdee. Footdee, pronounced ‘Fittie’, is about a 20-30 minute walk from Donmouth along the beach. Footdee is a really pretty old fishing village full of little cottages that surround squares mostly containing ‘sheds’ and garden areas. I put ‘sheds’ in apostrophes because this doesn’t quite do them justice, they’re very cool and very creative. The whole area has a really folksy, arty vibe. I think it’s important to remember that people do actually live here though. It’s great to enjoy the space but with the respect owed to any residential area.
One of my favourite stories relating to Footdee is that, at some point in time, when the fishermen went out to sea their wives would not wash any clothes. They feared that by churning up the wash water they would also churn up the sea causing potentially fatally bad weather for their husbands. I think I read that at the Aberdeen maritime museum, which is just along the harbour and definitely worth a visit.
Aberdeen Harbour
From Footdee I like to walk along the harbour all the way towards Union Square, which takes about 20 minutes. Aberdeen Harbour is apparently Britain’s oldest recorded business, first being mentioned way back in 1136. These days it’s full of standby and supply vessels from the oil fields and the odd ferry. A lot of this is about reminiscing for me…I mean, I really didn’t enjoy the navy but I like to think about it sometimes and, objectively, I still find the ships, the big anchors and huge chains pretty cool. I always hope my friends will too! I also love some of the ship’s names: “Standard Viking” is among my favourites. As you get closer to Union Square there’s also a very cool Nuart painting. Nuart is all over Aberdeen but this, I think, is the first one featured along this walk.
The Green
Just before reaching Union Square I turn off and head into ‘The Green’. There’s not a huge amount I have to say about this area but there is some great Nuart around, including my favourite, the doughnuts. There’s also a fab little café called Contour café here and a great pub called CASC, which sells good coffee, ale, Scotch whisky and cigars.
Home
From The Green there are a couple of options. Not far away are a couple of my favourite pubs, Fierce beer and the Castlegate Brewdog, enough said. If we’re not ready for a drink and my friends aren’t ready to kill me after a brutally extensive ‘tour’ there’s the Tollbooth museum. I love this place, which, like the maritime museum is free. The Tollbooth is an incredibly well preserved 17th century gaol and has loads of sweet information about the evolution of the city, witches, the people that were gaoled there and escape attempts. If my friends weren’t ready to go home before, they almost definitely are after the museum. Home is passed another Brewdog and along Gallowgate. Gallowgate was the execution site before Gallows Hill and I’ve read somewhere that it saw the end of multiple witches but I haven’t been able to find this information again since! Aberdeen has an incredibly rich (and terrible) witch hunting history that I really want to learn more about.
This ‘tour’ is bloody long and it only covers a small part of what the city has to offer. Aberdeen is full of history, art, nature, good beer and although I agree it’s pretty shite at advertising itself, it’s normally full of cool events. I feel like people can give this Northern city a hard time but, although its not perfect, it’s 100% worth a visit, or exploring more if you’re already here.
Most of this information is gathered from a couple of books and an extensive website, which I’ll mention below, and the rest of it is from who knows where! They’re just tidbits of information I’ve gathered from here and there and they may or may not be true! I’d reckon that those tidbits are from museums and castles I’ve visited but you know how those facts get skewed once you’ve not touched on them for a while!
“Hidden Aberdeen – History on your doorstep and under your feet” by Dr Fiona-Jane Brown
“The guide to mysterious Aberdeen” by Geoff Holder
In A Kingdom By The Sea 