1.
Aberdeen
–
Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands. During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, Aberdeens buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite, since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s, other nicknames have been the Oil Capital of the World or the Energy Capital of the World. The area around Aberdeen has been settled since at least 8,000 years ago, the city has a long, sandy coastline and a marine climate, the latter resulting in chilly summers and mild winters. Aberdeen received Royal Burgh status from David I of Scotland, transforming the city economically, the traditional industries of fishing, paper-making, shipbuilding, and textiles have been overtaken by the oil industry and Aberdeens seaport. Aberdeen Heliport is one of the busiest commercial heliports in the world, in 2015, Mercer named Aberdeen the 57th most liveable city in the world, as well as the fourth most liveable city in Britain. In 2012, HSBC named Aberdeen as a business hub and one of eight super cities spearheading the UKs economy. The Aberdeen area has seen human settlement for at least 8,000 years. The city began as two separate burghs, Old Aberdeen at the mouth of the river Don, and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading settlement, the earliest charter was granted by William the Lion in 1179 and confirmed the corporate rights granted by David I. In 1319, the Great Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property-owning, granted with it was the nearby Forest of Stocket, whose income formed the basis for the citys Common Good Fund which still benefits Aberdonians. The city was burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was rebuilt and extended, the city was strongly fortified to prevent attacks by neighbouring lords, but the gates were removed by 1770. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1644–1647 the city was plundered by both sides, in 1644, it was taken and ransacked by Royalist troops after the Battle of Aberdeen and two years later it was stormed by a Royalist force under the command of Marquis of Huntly. In 1647 an outbreak of plague killed a quarter of the population. In the 18th century, a new Town Hall was built and the first social services appeared with the Infirmary at Woolmanhill in 1742 and the Lunatic Asylum in 1779. The council began major road improvements at the end of the 18th century with the main thoroughfares of George Street, King Street, gas street lighting arrived in 1824 and an enhanced water supply appeared in 1830 when water was pumped from the Dee to a reservoir in Union Place. An underground sewer system replaced open sewers in 1865, the city was incorporated in 1891. Although Old Aberdeen has a history and still holds its ancient charter. It is an part of the city, as is Woodside. Old Aberdeen is the location of Aberdon, the first settlement of Aberdeen
2.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Aberdeen City Council
–
Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland. Following the Aberdeen City Council election,2012, the council is controlled by a coalition of Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservative, the council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. However, a sense of Aberdeen as a city, with its own city council, can be traced back to 1900, in 1975, under the Local Government Act 1973, counties of cities were abolished. This district became the now existing unitary council area in 1996, on 9 May 1995, by resolution under section 23 of the Local Government Act 1973, the City of Aberdeen Council changed the name of the local government area of City of Aberdeen to Aberdeen City. Between 2003 and 2007, the council was under the control of a Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, prior to the 2003 election, the council had been considered a Labour stronghold. After the May 2012 election, the control of the council shifted back to the Labour Party, the Council is now controlled by a Labour-Conservative-Independent coalition, giving the administration 23 seats. Aberdeen City Council comprises forty-three councillors, who represent the citys wards, the Leader of the Council is Councillor Jenny Laing of the Scottish Labour Party. On 5 May 2007, it was the first election to use the single vote system of election and multi-member wards. This system was introduced as a result of the Local Governance Act 2004 and this may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotlands councils
5.
Codonas Amusement Park
–
Codonas Amusement Park is an amusement park based in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was established by the Codona Family in 1969 and is managed by the third generation of the family. It is situated adjacent to the Aberdeen Beach and Queens Links on the coast of the North Sea, the first known records of the Codona family begin with Francesco Cardoni when he moved to the United Kingdom in the 1800s. Very little is known of him other than he was likely to have arrived from Italy, cardonis descendants inherited his circus genes working in circuses throughout Europe, but the majority remained in Scotland. Throughout the 19th century the family toured Scotland entertaining towns. In the latter half of the 1800s, some of the Codona family emigrated to the US leading to the formation of the trapeze act The Flying Codonas. The act went on to become International Stars and featured in various films, once the industrial revolution hit in the 1860s, the Scotland-based Codonas were able to purchase steam powered fairground rides which they toured the country with. Gradually expanding their business and receiving criticism by religious groups for their cheap theatre, the first recorded visit by the Codona family to Aberdeen was in 1877 by John Codona to see his son marry. Alfred and Gordon took over their father John Codonas Pleasure Fairs business which ran until 1960. Alfred took over the beachfront amusement park became the Codonas Amusement Park of today. Throughout this exhibition the theme of pirates is extremely evident with the technical special effects that are in use. As well as this the 25 ft volcano and pirate ship are in keeping with the genre, the exhibition is known as one of Aberdeen’s must do attractions. Opening in the March of 2008, this attraction which is located indoors was the first of its kind within the North East of Scotland, Smugglers Cove opened in 2013 and replaced Ramboland. It consists of a play area similar to Ramboland but has the addition of a restaurant bringing the amount of restaurants to 4. When the Wimpy restaurant closed Smugglers Cove was expanded and a disco room and fire station were added as well as a new. The adventure play, which was the first in Aberdeen, consists of two sections, one for children under the age of three and one for older children. As well as providing a three storey structure, featuring a spiral slide from the top to the bottom, and also the free fall. On top of this, there is a role play street, the simulator, which originated from Canada, sits eight people on the ride at once and takes the riders on an exciting expedition
6.
Cineworld
–
Cineworld Group plc is the second largest cinema operator in Europe with 2,049 screens across 221 sites in 9 countries. The UK operations consist of arthouse chain Picturehouse Cinemas and multiplex chain Cineworld Cinemas with 24 and 82 cinemas respectively, all but two Cineworld sites are located in the UK, with one each in Ireland and Jersey. Cineworld is the second-largest cinema operator in the UK with over 800 screens, Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street is the tallest cinema in the world and the busiest, by customer base, in the UK. The Cineworld site with the greatest number of screens is that located at Valley Centertainment in Sheffield and it is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index. Additional sites were opened at a steady rate throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, in 2005, Cineworld also took over the UK and Ireland operations of French cinema company UGC. Post-merger, Cineworld have continued to new locations, as of 2015, Cineworld have 82 locations in the UK, Ireland. In August 2013, The Guardian revealed that Cineworld employs 80% of its 4,300 staff on zero hour contracts, in October 2013, The Chester location was closed due to the landowner wanting to develop the land into a supermarket. This has been the first Cineworld to close without being sold and was the first cinema to leave the chain in 8 years, in 2014 Cineworlds Picturehouse chain was subject to industrial action owing to its refusal to pay the London Living Wage to its staff. The workforce attracted the support of Eric Cantona, on 27 February 2014 Cineworld completed the takeover of Cinema City International N. V. In what can be seen to be a reverse takeover. Each Cineworld cinema has between 1 and 20 screens, which typically show mainstream general-release films, some Cineworlds also show broadcasts of opera, theatre, live music and sports. All Cineworlds also have an area, where food and drink such as popcorn, nachos or hotdogs can be purchased, Candyking pick. Various cinemas sell Ben and Jerrys ice cream but many were switched to Baskin Robbins in late 2013-early 2014 as part of that brands UK expansion, CafeBars and small amusement arcades can also be found at some cinemas. In October 2012, Cineworld began to some of its CafeBars with Starbucks Coffee outlets after agreeing a deal with the coffee chain. As of September 2013, nine Cineworld cinemas have IMAX screens, as new sites open contracts have been signed for installs of both along with further installs of IMAX screens at older sites. Following a recent refit, the Milton Keynes cinema has acquired both a Superscreen and a 4DX screen, the first in the UK, Cineworld intends to roll out further Superscreen and 4DX screens to other sites in the future. In June 2011, Cineworld began a trial of a premium cinema brand, located next to the Cheltenham cinema, The Screening Rooms offers considerably larger, leather seating, premium food, and table service. In early 2014 Cineworld introduced a seating system, starting as a trial in selected sites including Wembley
7.
Green spaces and walkways in Aberdeen
–
The Scottish city of Aberdeen has a number of famous green spaces and walkways. It won the 2006 Scotland in Bloom Best City award along with the International Cities in Bloom award, the suburb of Dyce also won the Small Towns award. Aberdeen City Councils website states the city has six city parks, in rank order these are, NB, little data is available for the area size Aberdeen Beach and Queens Links- this may affect the rankings. Aberdeen City Councils website states the city has seven local parks, some of these are Allan Park, a small park near Cults. Johnston Gardens is situated in the Rubislaw area and it hosts many different types of flowers and plants which have been renowned for their beauty which have led the gardens to winning categories in the Britain in Bloom competitions. Rubislaw Terrace Gardens a small 1-acre park in the centre of Aberdeen, Stewart Park opened in 1894 and is situated in the Hilton area. The park was named after a former Lord Provost of the city, there are sections is reserved for cricket and football matches. Union Terrace Gardens opened in 1879 and is situated in the centre of the city, the gardens are a popular rendezvous in the heart of the city, enjoyed by both locals and visitors. Surrounding the gardens are a number of important ancient protected Elm Trees, and during the season at the north end. The Deeside Way is a walkway and track that is used by cyclists. 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 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 cross over. There are various walks and trails, punctuated by sculptures, through Tyrebagger Woods, west of Aberdeen off the A96 road
8.
Park
–
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural, or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of areas, rocks, soil, and trees. In North America, many parks have fields for playing such as soccer, baseball and football. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities, some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables, the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit, many natural parks are protected by law, and users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are typically overseen by a ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the months and, in some northern hemisphere countries. The first parks were English deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was strictly forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks and these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owners wealth, an aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities, sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were also set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development, in some parks or time periods with high pollen counts, parks tend to be avoided. Park design is influenced by the purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground, a park primarily intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities, the design of a park may determine who is willing to use it
9.
Garden
–
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials, the most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has traditionally been a more general one. Zoos, which wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens. Western gardens are almost universally based on plants, with garden often signifying a shortened form of botanical garden, some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, use plants sparsely or not at all. Xeriscape gardens use local plants that do not require irrigation or extensive use of other resources while still providing the benefits of a garden environment. Gardens may exhibit structural enhancements, sometimes called follies, including features such as fountains, ponds, waterfalls or creeks, dry creek beds, statuary, arbors, trellises. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while some also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their scale, more labor-intensive methods. Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, Gardening is the activity of growing and maintaining the garden. This work is done by an amateur or professional gardener, a gardener might also work in a non-garden setting, such as a park, a roadside embankment, or other public space. Landscape architecture is a professional activity with landscape architects tending to specialise in design for public. See Grad for more complete etymology, the words yard, court, and Latin hortus, are cognates—all referring to an enclosed space. The term garden in British English refers to an enclosed area of land. This would be referred to as a yard in American English, garden design is the creation of plans for the layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Gardens may be designed by garden owners themselves, or by professionals, professional garden designers tend to be trained in principles of design and horticulture, and have a knowledge and experience of using plants. Some professional garden designers are also landscape architects, a formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree. Garden design can be divided into two groups, formal and naturalistic gardens. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the budget, most gardens consist of a mix of natural and constructed elements, although even very natural gardens are always an inherently artificial creation
10.
Cruickshank Botanic Garden
–
The Cruickshank Botanic Gardens in Aberdeen, Scotland, were built on land bequested by Miss Anne Cruickshank to commemorate her brother Dr. Alexander Cruickshank. The 11 acre garden is located in a low-lying and fairly sheltered area of Aberdeen, the Cruickshank Botanic Garden is partly owned and financed by the University of Aberdeen and partly by the Cruickshank Botanic Gardens Trust. The Friends of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden actively promote and support the garden, the Keeper of the Botanic Gardens is currently Professor David Burslem. The Gardens are maintained on a basis by Head Gardener, Richard Walker. Each summer vacation the Friends provide a bursary to allow an undergraduate student interested in botany to gain experience in the gardens. Although open to the public, the gardens are used for both teaching and research purposes. Extract taken from the University of Aberdeen webpage
11.
Duthie Park
–
She purchased the land for £30,000 from the estate of Arthurseat. Originally opened in 1899, the greenhouses had to be demolished, today they are a tranquil place, containing such plants as tree ferns, Spanish moss, anthuria, and banana trees. Within the gardens are railings salvaged from the side of the major bridge in the middle of the citys Union Street. These feature unusual metal cats, derived from the city coat of arms, in 2013 paddle boats were reintroduced to the park. Kayaks are regularly offered in the boating pond, outside the winter garden is the Japanese garden, opened in 1987 to commemorate the dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The park has undergone a £5 million pound refurbishment with funding provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the original 1883 plans were consulted in order to restore some of the long-lost features. Work was completed in 2013 and the reopening was on 30 June 2013
12.
Hazlehead Park
–
Hazlehead Park is a large public park in the Hazlehead area of Aberdeen, Scotland. 180 hectares in size, it was opened to the public in 1920, having formerly been the estate of Hazlehead House, home of William Rose, shipbuilder. A large, heavily wooded park on the outskirts of the city, it is popular with walkers on the tracks through forests, sports enthusiasts, naturalists. Horse riders from the nearby Hayfield horse centre ride on the tracks that snake through it, there are football pitches, two golf courses, a pitch and putt course and a horse-riding school. The park has a significant collection of sculpture by a range of artists and it also has heritage items which have been rescued from various places within the city, and it features Scotlands oldest maze, first planted in 1935. There is a cafe which will be reopening in summer 2012, in September 2007, Hazlehead Park was host to the Northsound Radio concert, Free 2007. It took place on Sunday 2 September 2007, and claims to be the biggest free outdoor event in Scotland, the park is most famous for its two 18 hole and its pitch and putt golf courses. The courses are owned and there are no handicap or other restrictions for those who play on them. The Number 1 course was designed by Alistair MacKenzie, better known for designing the Augusta National, green Spaces and Walkways in Aberdeen Information about William Rose is sourced from The Gilcomston Story, an account of Gilcomston Church from its beginnings to 1945, written by Francis Lyall. The relevant section is the piece regarding Rev. Robert Forgan, Hazlehead Golf Courses Hazlehead Park Free 2007 on Northsound One Website
13.
Johnston Gardens
–
Johnston Gardens is a small public garden in Aberdeen, Scotland. The garden has won the Britain in Bloom competition many times, the gardens are full with flowers and shrubbery which sole purpose is for aesthetics. This is a popular place for wedding photographs to be taken. Johnston Gardens Photo of the gardens
14.
Rubislaw and Queens Terrace Gardens
–
Rubislaw and Queens Terrace Gardens are two small public gardens in Aberdeen, Scotland. Although they are 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. It is located between the streets of Rubislaw Terrace and Albyn Place, in the west-end of Aberdeen approximately 300 metres from the street in Aberdeen. There is a fountain in the park made from pink granite, on the Rubislaw Terrace side of the park, there is a gray granite wall of small pillars along the entire side. The park is used by students of the many nearby schools
15.
Scotstown Moor
–
Scotstown Moor is in the north of Aberdeen, Scotland. Scotstown Moor Local Nature Reserve is located four miles to the north of Aberdeen City Centre, near the areas of Dubford and Bridge of Don. The reserve covers roughly 34 hectares and is owned by Aberdeen City Council and it contains the only example of species rich lowland heath in Aberdeen City. Scotstown Moor once formed part of areas of heath and bog around Aberdeen. This system of land tenure protected the site from enclosure and reclamation by local landowners, records from 1894 show that the site was not maintained without a struggle, being coveted by neighboring lairds, and that several encroachments had been made onto the site. Although the sites gave the public free access, Scotstown Moor was the property of the Bishopric of Aberdeen and was farmed by the proprietor of Perwinnes. Furthermore, the feuars of Old Aberdeen were granted rights of grazing, sod cutting. A Childrens Camp was built on the site and ran from the early 1900s until the start of the Second World War, the camp catered for undernourished children, convalescents, and those showing symptoms of tuberculosis. Throughout the early part of this century Scotstown Moor suffered some habitat degradation, however, the Second World War brought major problems for the site. The need for increased agricultural output led to the reclamation of part of the site and this probably resulted in extensive areas of heather being replaced by grassland. The overall effect has led to fragmentation of the site, particularly serious for the bogs which became more and more isolated, in 1869, there was a much larger area of moorland and rural setting compared with today. Currently, Scotstown Moor is surrounded on three sides by housing, there is a new road and conifer plantations to the north. In April 1943, Aberdeen was bombed heavily by the Luftwaffe, during the 1970s, the site faced further pressures. Ownership of the site had passed to the tenant of Perwinnes, at this time the local authority felt that the site area should remain as a green wedge within new housing planned for the area. However, since the councils Environmental Improvement Scheme involved the clearance of scrub and the afforestation of the moor, in 1972 the site was notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest by the Nature Conservancy Council largely on the strength of its wet heath and bog. This designation probably protected the site from various planned land-uses which would have proved highly damaging, including drainage, afforestation, housing, however, housing developments continued around Scotstown Moor, increasing pressure to the site. In 1980, despite the opposition of the NCC, the University of Aberdeen and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and this resulted not only in the loss of valuable habitat, but also created a new source of pollution close to the moor and almost certainly affected the sites drainage patterns. In 1983 planning permission was granted for housing on over 0.5 ha of land within the SSSI, the remaining part of the SSSI passed into the hands of the local authority, which also acquired land to the north in 1986
16.
Seaton Park
–
Seaton Park is located in Aberdeen, Scotland and is one of the citys biggest parks. It was bought by the city for use as a park in 1947 from Major Hay. The River Don passes along the edge of the park, Aberdeen Football Club often train on the grass pitches in the park. Much of the park is in condition due to flooding. Aberdeen Council page for Seaton Park
17.
Stewart Park, Aberdeen
–
Stewart Park is located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a 5-acre site owned by Aberdeen City Council and it was bought with funds bequeathed by the widow of Mr. John Taylor, a merchant in the city. The park was named after a former Lord Provost of the city, the park contains whale jaw bones presented to the park in 1903 by the Captain of the Arctic whaler Benbow. There is a fountain designed as a replica of an Italian lavabo which was sculptured by Arthur Taylor of Jute Street. There are nearby all weather courts and bordered-off cricket and football pitches
18.
Union Terrace Gardens
–
Union Terrace Gardens is a public park and gardens situated on Union Terrace in Aberdeen, Scotland. The sunken gardens opened to the public in 1879, and cover two and a half acres. The amphitheatre was formed from the remains of Denburn Terrace after demolition. On the parks north side is a formally planted and maintained floral crest of the coat of arms. At the Union Street end of the stands an group of mature elm trees. The trees stand on the remnants of the once known as Corbie Haugh, Corbie in Scots meaning crow. Corbie Haugh is still an apposite epithet for this area as crows still nest in the elms, the trees were originally planted to stabilise the embankment to prevent the newly widened Union Terrace from slipping into the gardens. The arches which run along the length of Union Terrace were designed by architect James Matthews, in 2010 controversial plans were unveiled to transform the gardens. On 19 May, Aberdeen City Council voted in favour of the City Square project to transform the heart of the city into a vibrant, cultural civic space and gardens. At the same time a plan for a contemporary art centre in the gardens. Local oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood pledged up to £85 million of his own money to back the City Square project to ensure the survival of the city centre. The current version of the plan involves raising the level of the Gardens, a technical appraisal carried out by the architectural firm Halliday Fraser Munro estimated the project would cost around £140 million to build. Andrew Dixon, incoming boss of Scotlands new arts and culture body, Creative Scotland, as part of the project councillors stipulated that at least £15 million be provided for a new cultural centre run by Peacock. Peacock Visual Arts had been working in partnership with Aberdeen City Council on a proposal to develop a centre for contemporary arts in Aberdeen. The development, designed by London-based architects Brisac Gonzales, was designed to be built into the slopes in the Gardens underneath the Robert Burns statue. The building, which was budgeted at £13 and this project had received full planning permission, secured £9. The result of a public consultation carried out by ACSEF showed that 55% of those consulted were against the City Square proposals with 44% in favour. Nonetheless, ACSEF, decided to press ahead. with the project and asked the City Council for endorsement to proceed to a further stage, the City Square project has proved highly controversial amongst not only the citizens of Aberdeen, but many expatriate Aberdonians and others from further afield
19.
Westburn Park
–
Westburn Park is located in Aberdeen, Scotland and is a large Aberdeen City Council owned public park. It is a 10-hectare site and one of the cities biggest parks and it does not have flowerbeds or gardens and is mainly grass with some trees. There are two large ponds through which a stream, the Gilcomston Burn, flows through the south of the park, there is a cycle track area for children. This comprises miniature roads with road signs to teach children about how roads work, there is a skateboard ramp and a concrete mini skate- and BMX cycle-park. The childrens playground includes metal climbing frames, the Westburn tennis centre is a large indoor tennis centre with four indoor courts. It provides tennis lessons and court hire, there are also four outdoor all weather courts and four grass courts which are available to members only. There is a bowls green where the British Bowls Championship has been held in the past. From 30 August 2008 to 6 September 2008, the World Singles Champion of Champions Bowling Tournament is being held, the Westburn Lounge, now closed, used to provide food and drinks for those in the park. Aberdeen City Council cited that the venue cost too much to run, although it is still available for special bookings
