The Scottish city of Aberdeen has a number of green spaces and walkways. The parks, gardens and floral displays which include 2 million roses, 11 million daffodils and 3 million crocuses have led the city to win the Royal Horticultural Society's Britain in Bloom Best City award many times, including a period of nine years straight.[ citation needed ] It won the 2006 Scotland in Bloom Best City award along with the International Cities in Bloom award.[ citation needed ] The suburb of Dyce also won the Small Towns award. [1] [2]
Aberdeen City Council's website states the city has six "city parks". [3] In rank order these are:
NB, little data is available for the area of Aberdeen Beach and Queens Links - this may affect the rankings.
Park | Size rank | Size | Opened date / by | Coordinates | Named after | Facilities |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hazlehead Park | 1 | 180 hectares / 1,800,000 m2 | 1920 | 57°8′19″N2°10′43″W / 57.13861°N 2.17861°W | Formerly the grounds of Hazlehead House, home of William Rose, shipbuilder | Large area forested, football pitches, two 18-hole golf courses and one 9-hole, horse riding stables |
Seaton Park | 2 | 27 hectares / 270,000 m2 | 1947 | 57°10′18″N2°6′9″W / 57.17167°N 2.10250°W | Seaton House, home of the Hays of Seaton | Flowerbeds, football pitches |
Duthie Park | 3 | 50 acres / 202,000 m2 | 1899 / Princess Beatrice | 57°7′49″N2°6′14″W / 57.13028°N 2.10389°W | Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston | Winter gardens and other ornate gardens. |
Victoria Park | - 4 | 13 acres / 53,000 m2 | 1871 | 57°9′6″N2°7′21″W / 57.15167°N 2.12250°W | Her Majesty Queen Victoria | Ornamental park |
Westburn Park | - 4 | 13 acres / 53,000 m2 | 1901 | 57°9′13″N2°7′22″W / 57.15361°N 2.12278°W | The Westburn (watercourse) | Indoor and outdoor tennis, large grass pitches, children's cycle track, bowls lawn |
Aberdeen Beach and Queens Links | ? | ? | ? | 57°9′11″N2°4′38″W / 57.15306°N 2.07722°W | ? | Beach leisure centre (swimming, wall climbing, ice rink NOW RE-OPENED), 18 hole links golf course, beach |
Aberdeen City Council's website states the city has seven "local parks". [3] Some of these are
St Fitticks Park, Torry. An area of open space with woodland areas and a renaturalised wetland, created in an award winning project in 2012, converting a polluted burn into a beautiful wild space with abundant wildlife. (https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/News/Press-Archive/Article?title=Award%20for%20city%20environment%20project)
The Deeside Way is a popular walkway and track that is used by cyclists and walkers. The trail runs from the Duthie Park to Peterculter along the former Deeside Railway which has had its tracks lifted.
The Formartine and Buchan Way is a walkway along old railway route the Formartine and Buchan Railway which ran from Dyce to Fraserburgh. The current walkway is along the entire old route where the tracks have been lifted much like the Deeside Way. The track runs almost parallel to the National Cycle Network track between Dyce and Auchnagatt, where the tracks cross over.
There are various walks and trails, punctuated by sculptures, through Tyrebagger Woods, west of Aberdeen off the A96 road.
Aberdeen is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous Scottish city. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas, and has a 2020 population estimate of 198,590 for the city, making it the United Kingdom's 39th most populous built-up area, and 227,430 for the wider council area including outlying localities. The city is 93 mi (150 km) northeast of Edinburgh and 398 mi (641 km) north of London, and is the northernmost major city in the United Kingdom. Aberdeen has a long, sandy coastline and features an oceanic climate, with cool summers and mild, rainy winters.
Cults is a suburb on the western edge of Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies on the banks of the River Dee and marks the eastern boundary of Royal Deeside.
Dyce is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated on the River Don about 6 mi (10 km) northwest of the city centre. It is best known as the location of Aberdeen Airport.
Union Terrace Gardens is a public park and gardens situated on Union Terrace in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The area of the county, excluding the Aberdeen City council area itself, is also a lieutenancy area. The county borders Kincardineshire, Angus and Perthshire to the south, Inverness-shire and Banffshire to the west, and the North Sea to the north and east. It has a coast-line of 65 miles (105 km). The county gives its name to the modern Aberdeenshire council area, which covers a larger area than the historic county.
Gordon is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster), which elects one member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency first returned a member in the 1983 general election, but has undergone boundary changes since that date.
Dyce railway station is a railway station serving the suburb of Dyce, Aberdeen, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line, with some trains operating on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line and Glasgow to Aberdeen Line also extended to call at Dyce and Inverurie. It is sited 6.25 miles from Aberdeen, being the first stop north of the station.
The Formartine and Buchan Way is a long-distance trail in Scotland, extending from Dyce north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh in the Buchan and Formartine districts of Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It follows the track of a former railway line, the Formartine and Buchan Railway, and is open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The railway closed in 1979 (Fraserburgh) and 1970 (Maud-Peterhead). The walkway opened in the early 1990s, and is managed by Aberdeenshire Council. It is listed as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. Places of interest along the way include Drinnes Wood Observatory, Strichen Stone Circle, Aden Country Park, Deer Abbey and The White Horse at Strichen.
Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen.
Duthie Park is a public park in the Ferryhill area of Aberdeen, Scotland located near the River Dee. It comprises 44 acres (180,000 m2) of land given to the council in 1881 by Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston, in memory of her uncle and of her brother. She purchased the land for £30,000 from the estate of Arthurseat.
Rubislaw and Queens Terrace Gardens are two small public gardens in Aberdeen, Scotland. Although they are officially two parks, they are bisected only by one road which runs between the 1 hectare rectangular area it covers, so can be considered as one park for this article.
Johnston Gardens is a small public garden in Aberdeen, Scotland. The garden has won the Britain in Bloom competition many times.
Ellon railway station was a railway station in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Maud Junction railway station was a railway station in Maud, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, now housing the Maud Railway Museum. It was a junction where the line north from Aberdeen split into two routes to the coastal town stations of Peterhead and Fraserburgh, both of which are now closed.
The Formartine and Buchan Railway was a railway company operating in the north-east of Scotland. It was built to link the important fishing ports of Fraserburgh and Peterhead with Aberdeen. It had a junction with the main line of the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoS) at Dyce. Due to shortage of finance, the line was opened in stages as money became available. The section from Dyce to Mintlaw opened in 1861, and from there to Peterhead in 1862. The Fraserburgh line opened in 1865. The Company was never profitable, and it was heavily supported financially by the GNoSR; it was formally absorbed by that company in 1866.
Aberdeenshire West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Mills of Drum railway station was opened in September 1853 by the Deeside Railway and served the rural area around Park House and Crathes estates at the Mills of Drum or Drum Mills, corn mills, that lay close to the River Dee. The Deeside Railway was taken over by the GNoSR in the 1860s. Mills of Drum only remained open until 1863 as an intermediate station on the Deeside Railway that ran from Aberdeen (Joint) to Ballater. Mills of Drum station was located in Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Campaign for North East Rail (CNER) is an organisation campaigning for the reinstatement of railways in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.