1.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
2.
Scots language
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Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster. It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language which was restricted to most of the Highlands. The language developed during the Middle English period as a distinct entity, although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects do exist, these often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a linguistic continuum. Scots is often regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, alternatively, Scots is sometimes treated as a distinct Germanic language, in the way Norwegian is closely linked to, yet distinct from, Danish. In the 2011 Scottish census, a question on Scots language ability was featured, native speakers sometimes refer to their vernacular as braid Scots or use a dialect name such as the Doric, or the Buchan Claik. The old-fashioned Scotch, an English loan, occurs occasionally, especially in Northern Ireland, the term Lallans, a variant of the Modern Scots word lawlands, is also used, though this is more often taken to mean the Lallans literary form. Scots in Ireland is known in circles as Ulster-Scots or Ullans. Scots is a contraction of Scottis, the Older Scots and northern version of late Old English Scottisc, before the end of the 15th century, English speech in Scotland was known as English, whereas Scottish referred to Gaelic. From 1495 the term Scottis was increasingly used to refer to the Lowland vernacular and Erse, meaning Irish, the Gaelic of Scotland is now usually called Scottish Gaelic. Northumbrian Old English had been established in what is now southeastern Scotland as far as the River Forth by the seventh century and it remained largely confined to this area until the thirteenth century, continuing in common use while Gaelic was the language of the Scottish court. Scots also includes loan words resulting from contact with Gaelic, Early medieval legal documents include a body of Gaelic legal and administrative loans. Contemporary Gaelic loans are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as ceilidh, loch, from the thirteenth century Early Scots spread further into Scotland via the burghs, proto-urban institutions which were first established by King David I. The growth in prestige of Early Scots in the century. By the sixteenth century Middle Scots had established orthographic and literary norms largely independent of those developing in England, from 1610 to the 1690s during the Plantation of Ulster large numbers of Scots-speaking Lowlanders, some 200,000, settled there. In the core areas of Scots settlement, Scots outnumbered English settlers by five or six to one, Modern Scots is used to describe the language after 1700 when southern Modern English was generally adopted as the literary language though Scots remained the vernacular. In Scotland, Scots is spoken in the Scottish Lowlands, the Northern Isles, Caithness, Arran, in Ulster it is spoken in the Counties of Down, Antrim, Londonderry and Donegal. Dialects include Insular Scots, Northern Scots, Central Scots, Southern Scots, many speakers are either diglossic and/or able to code-switch along the continuum depending on the situation in which they find themselves
3.
Aberdeenshire
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Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the old County of Aberdeen which had different boundaries. Modern Aberdeenshire includes all of what was once Kincardineshire, as well as part of Banffshire, the old boundaries are still officially used for a few purposes, namely land registration and lieutenancy. Aberdeenshire Council is headquartered at Woodhill House, in Aberdeen, making it the only Scottish council whose headquarters are located outside its jurisdiction, Aberdeen itself forms a different council area. Aberdeenshire borders onto Angus and Perth and Kinross to the south, Highland and Moray to the west, traditionally, it has been economically dependent upon the primary sector and related processing industries. Its land represents 8% of Scotlands overall territory and it covers an area of 6,313 square kilometres. Aberdeenshire has a prehistoric and historic heritage. It is the locus of a number of Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites, including Longman Hill, Kempstone Hill, Catto Long Barrow. The area was settled in the Bronze Age by the Beaker culture, in the Iron Age, hill forts were built. Around the 1st century AD, the Taexali people, who have little history, were believed to have resided along the coast. The Picts were the next documented inhabitants of the area, and were no later than 800-900 AD, the Romans also were in the area during this period, as they left signs at Kintore. Christianity influenced the early on, and there were Celtic monasteries at Old Deer. Since medieval times there have been a number of paths that crossed the Mounth through present-day Aberdeenshire from the Scottish Lowlands to the Highlands. Some of the most well known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Aberdeenshire played an important role in the fighting between the Scottish clans. Clan MacBeth and the Clan Canmore were two of the larger clans, macbeth fell at Lumphanan in 1057. During the Anglo-Norman penetration, other families such as House of Balliol, Clan Bruce. When the fighting amongst these newcomers resulted in the Scottish Wars of Independence, in 1307, Robert the Bruce was victorious near Inverurie. Along with his victory came new families, namely the Forbeses and these new families set the stage for the upcoming rivalries during the 14th and 15th centuries
4.
United Kingdom Census 2001
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A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday,29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194, the 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Detailed results by region, council area, ward and output area are available from their respective websites. Similar to previous UK censuses, the 2001 census was organised by the three agencies, ONS, GROS, and NISRA, and coordinated at the national level by the Office for National Statistics. In England and Wales these regulations were made by the Census Order 2000, in Scotland by the Census Order 2000, the census was administered through self-completion forms, in most cases delivered by enumerators to households and communal establishments in the three weeks before census night on 29 April. For the first time return by post was used as the collection method. The postal response rate was 88% in England and Wales, 91% in Scotland, a total of 81,000 field staff were employed across the UK. The census was conducted at the height of the crisis, which led to extra precautions being adopted by the field staff. However, it was reported that the outbreak did not affect the effectiveness of the collection process. The census was estimated to cost £259m over its 13-year cycle from the start of planning in 1993 to the delivery of results in 2006. Printing of the 30 million census forms was subcontracted to Polestar Group, the forms were initially scanned into digital format, then read with OMR and OCR, with manual entry where the automatic process could not read the forms. The forms were then pulped and recycled, and the copies printed onto microfilm for storage. Once the data were returned to the statistics agencies it underwent further processing to ensure consistency and this was due to a number of factors, households with no response, households excluding residents from their returns, and addresses not included in the enumeration. In Manchester for example 25,000 people from 14,000 addresses were not enumerated because the database was two years out of date. The Local Authority with the lowest response was Kensington and Chelsea with 64%, hackney had the next lowest response at 72%. Out of all authorities, the ten lowest response rates were all in London. The results from the 2001 census were produced using a known as the One Number Census. This was an attempt to adjust the census counts and impute answers to allow for estimated under-enumeration measured by the Census Coverage Survey, resulting in a single set of population estimates
5.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
6.
Subdivisions of Scotland
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For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as council areas, which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as councils. The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, historically, Scotland has been divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes. Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the government of Scotland, being highly autonomous entities. Even after the Acts of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision, until 1889 administration was on a burgh and parish basis. The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprising counties, counties of cities, large burghs, source,2011 Census for Scotland Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils. The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 resulted in the merger of police and fire services on 1 April 2013 to form the Police Service of Scotland. Policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland, Police and fire service areas date from the era of regions and districts and island council areas. There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax, see also NHS Scotland Until 1 April 2014 the towns of Cambuslang and Rutherglen were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area despite being located in South Lanarkshire. They are now part of NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Government has created seven Regional Transport Partnerships, for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings and these areas in most cases resemble those of the pre-1975 administrative counties with Glasgow being the only current city to form a registration county. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continue to form current registration districts and it should be noted that many boundary changes have occurred over the years and that an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. The base level of sub-division in Scotland is that of communities, the main role of the CCs is to channel local opinion to larger local-government bodies. Otherwise, they have limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland, not all communities have councils, some have joint councils. Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to parishes in England. List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom ISO 3166-2, GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
7.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
8.
Scotland
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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
9.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
10.
Postcodes in the United Kingdom
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Postal codes used in the United Kingdom are known as postcodes. They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been devised by the GPO, a full postcode is known as a postcode unit and designates an area with a number of addresses or a single major delivery point. For example, the postcode of the University of Roehampton in London is SW15 5PU, the postcode of GCHQ is GL51 0EX, where GL signifies the postal town of Gloucester. The postal town refers to an area and does not relate to a specific town. GL51 is one of the postcodes for the town of Cheltenham which is where GCHQ is located, the London post town covers 40% of Greater London. On inception it was divided into ten districts, EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W. The S and NE sectors were later abolished and these divisions changed little, usually only changed for operational efficiency. Some older road signs in Hackney still indicate the North East sector/district, following the successful introduction of postal districts in London, the system was extended to other large towns and cities. Liverpool was divided into Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western districts in 1864/65, in 1917 Dublin – then still part of the United Kingdom – was divided into numbered postal districts. These continue in use in a form by An Post. In 1923 Glasgow was divided in a way to London. In January 1932 the Postmaster General approved the designation of some urban areas into numbered districts. In November 1934 the Post Office announced the introduction of numbered districts in every town in the United Kingdom large enough to justify it. Pamphlets were issued to each householder and business in ten areas notifying them of the number of the district in which their premises lay, the pamphlets included a map of the districts, and copies were made available at local head post offices. The public were invited to include the district number in the address at the head of letters. A publicity campaign in the following year encouraged the use of the district numbers, the slogan for the campaign was For speed and certainty always use a postal district number on your letters and notepaper. A poster was fixed to every box in the affected areas bearing the number of the district. Every post office in the district was also to display this information
11.
Police Scotland
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The Police Service of Scotland is the police force of Scotland. Although not formally absorbing it, the merger resulted in the winding up of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. Police Scotland is the second-largest police force in the United Kingdom in terms of numbers. The Chief Constable is answerable to the Scottish Police Authority, Scotland is also policed by the Ministry of Defence Police, British Transport Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary within their specific jurisdictions. The National Crime Agency also has jurisdiction in Scotland. In 2016, the Scottish Government introduced legislation which will integrate the Scottish division of the British Transport Police into Police Scotland, after a consultation process, the Scottish Government confirmed on 8 September 2011 that a single police service would be created in Scotland. The Police and Fire Reform Bill was published in January 2012 and was approved on 27 June 2012 after scrutiny in the Scottish Parliament, the Bill received Royal Assent as the Police and Fire Reform Act 2012. In September 2012, Chief Constable Stephen House of Strathclyde Police was announced as the future first Chief Constable of Police Scotland and he was sworn into the post on 1 October 2012. The first chair of the Scottish Police Authority, Vic Emery, was appointed in August 2012, as the date of formation approached, it was widely reported that the new Chief Constable and the Scottish Police Authority were in disagreement over the control of backroom staff. In February 2013 it came to light that the previously announced logo for Police Scotland could not be used as the Force had failed to approval from the Court of the Lord Lyon. This new symbol, a stylised thistle upon a Scottish saltire shield, a permanent logo was not approved in time for 1 April 2013 creation of Police Scotland, but the pre-2013 crowned thistle emblem was finally introduced in July 2013. This emblem was designed for the former Dumfries Constabulary by Robert Dickie Cairns. With minor artistic variations, it was the logo used by all regional Scottish police forces before 1 April 2013. Police Scotland has previously denied setting stop and search performance targets for individual officers, also removed from the report were calls for a review of stop and search on children and for clarification of the policys primary aim. In October 2013, Police Scotland announced proposals to close 65 out of 215 police station public counters, the plans were condemned by some opposition MSPs. In November 2016, it emerged that 58 further stations could close as part of an estates review and it was also announced in October 2013 that the number of police control rooms in Scotland was under review, with the possibility of 7 out of 10 control rooms closing. Control rooms considered for closure include Aberdeen, Inverness and Dumfries, in 2014, the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh was opened. The Assistant Chief Constables salary depends on their previous experience and would fall between £90,000 and £106,000 a year
12.
Fire services in the United Kingdom
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The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty fire and rescue services, many FRS were previously known as brigades or county fire services, but almost all now use the standard terminology. They are distinct from and governed by an authority, which is the legislative, public and administrative body. Fire authorities in England and Wales, and therefore fire and rescue services, Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire and rescue services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments. The total budget for services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion. The devolved government in Scotland has an agency, HMFSI Scotland. This Act provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain,1947, Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed entirely in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire,1959, Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act, it dealt with pensions, staffing arrangements and provision of services by other authorities. It was repealed in England and Wales along with the 1947 Act,1999, Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In 2002, there was a series of fire strikes. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the action still ongoing. Bains report ultimately led to a change in the relating to firefighting. 2002, Independent Review of the Fire Service published 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, generally only applying to England and it came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises,2006, The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the National Assembly for Wales powers to pass laws on Fire, promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation. But does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries, There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association. The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons select committee, in June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office, Fire Control On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman and Cllr James Pearson from the Local Government Association, also giving evidence Matt Wrack from the Fire Brigades Union and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association
13.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
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The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013 and it thus became the largest fire brigade in the United Kingdom, surpassing the London Fire Brigade, and the fourth-largest in the world. After a consultation, the Scottish Government confirmed on 8 September 2011 that a single fire, following further consultation on the detailed operation of the service, the Police and Fire Reform Bill was published on 17 January 2012. After scrutiny and debate by the Scottish Parliament, the legislation was approved on 27 June 2012, the Bill duly received royal assent as the Police and Fire Reform Act 2012. This Act also created Police Scotland in place of the eight regional police forces. The mergers were effective from 1 April 2013, eight months after the consolidation, an internal report said the reorganisation had not negatively affected operational response. The service is headquartered are in Cambuslang, Glasgow, which houses a national training centre opened in January 2013. There are a further three service delivery centres in the east, west and north of the country, pat Watters, former president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, was also announced as chair of the service, an appointment to run for three years from September 2012. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended 25,002 fires in 2014/15, the service also delivers a preventative programme, with 65,343 free home fire safety visits conducted in 2015/16. As well as fighting fires, the service attends tens of thousands of specialist services such as traffic collisions, water rescues. In 2014/15 it attended 10,740 non-fire incidents, firefighters are routinely called out to water, flood and boat rescues. For example, during Storm Frank in December 2015 the SFRS received 350 flood related calls in the space of six days, in 2015 the SFRS were called out to 78 wildfire incidents in total, with over half of those taking place in the north of Scotland. As of March 2016, the SFRS operates 356 stations throughout Scotland, stations are split into three categories, Wholetime, A station with full-time firefighters. Retained, Part-time, on a basis and predominantly based in some of the more rural areas of Scotland. Volunteer, On a call-out basis and predominantly based in some of the remote villages. The most northerly station is Baltasound on the Shetland Islands, the most southerly is a volunteer station in the village of Drummore in Dumfries and Galloway. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service National Training Centre opened in January 2013, the facility in Cambuslang features a mock town with ultra-realistic motorways, railway tracks and buildings, including a multi-storey tenement structure. The number of control rooms handling 999 calls was reduced from eight to three
14.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
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Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status. The NHS commissions most emergency services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which gradually merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary contract for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England. The service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was established in 1995 by parliamentary order, and serves the whole of Northern Ireland. The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust was established on 1 April 1998, there is a large market for private and voluntary ambulance services, with the sector being worth £800m to the UK economy in 2012. This places the voluntary providers in direct competition with private services, expenditure on private ambulances in England increased from £37m in 2011−12 to £67. 5m in 2013/4, rising in London from £796,000 to more than £8. 8m. In 2014−15, these 10 ambulance services spent £57.6 million on 333,329 callouts of private or voluntary services - an increase of 156% since 2010−11, in 2013, the CQC found 97% of private ambulance services to be providing good care. These private, registered services are represented by the Independent Ambulance Association, there are also a number of unregistered services operating, who do not provide ambulance transport, but only provide response on an event site. These firms are not regulated, and are not subject to the checks as the registered providers, although they may operate similar vehicles. There are a number of ambulance providers, sometimes known as Voluntary Aid Services or Voluntary Aid Societies, with the main ones being the British Red Cross. The history of the ambulance services pre-dates any government organised service. As they are in competition for work with the private ambulance providers. Voluntary organisations have also provided cover for the public when unionised NHS ambulance trust staff have taken industrial action, there are a number of smaller voluntary ambulance organisations, fulfilling specific purposes, such as Hatzola who provide emergency medical services to the orthodox Jewish community in some cities. These have however run into difficulties due to use of vehicles not legally recognised as ambulances, all emergency medical services in the UK are subject to a range of legal and regulatory requirements, and in many cases are also monitored for performance. This framework is largely statutory in nature, being mandated by government through a range of primary and secondary legislation and this requires all providers to register, to meet certain standards of quality, and to submit to inspection of those standards
15.
Scottish Ambulance Service
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The Scottish Ambulance Service is part of NHS Scotland, and serves all of Scotland. It is a health board funded directly by the Health. The service was known as the St Andrews and Red Cross Scottish Ambulance Service, the Red Cross withdrew from the service in 1967, the service was renamed the St Andrews Scottish Ambulance Service. In 1974 the service was taken over by the NHS, the title being shortened to the Scottish Ambulance Service, St. Andrews First Aid, which is the trading name of St. Andrews Ambulance Association, continues as a voluntary organisation. In 2003 there was a reorganisation of the control centres across Scotland. The original uniform for the service consisted of a blue shirt, black clip-on tie, navy blue sweater. These uniforms were an Irish green colour for Emergency staff and a blue shade for Patient Transport staff. In 2013/2014, the uniform was changed to mirror the NHS National Uniform standard. It is now supplied by Dimensions and is similar to all other Ambulance Services in the UK. All staff, including control centre staff, now wear the national uniform unless otherwise authorised, the national headquarters are in west side of Edinburgh and there are five divisions within the Service, namely, The Patient Transport Service carries almost 1.6 million patients every year. This service is provided to patients who are physically or medically unfit to travel to hospital out-patient appointments by any means can still make their appointments. The service also handles non-emergency admissions, discharges, transport of palliative care patients, Patient Transport Vehicles come in a variety of forms and are staffed by Ambulance Care Assistants, whom work either double or single crewed. They are trained to look after patients during the journey, the service has the only government-funded air ambulance service in the UK, operated under contract by Gama Aviation. In 2015/16, the air crews flew 3,849 missions. One helicopter and one King Air are based at a Gama Aviation facility at Glasgow Airport, the other operating bases are Inverness Airport and Aberdeen Airport. The aircraft based in Glasgow are regularly used by the UKs only Emergency Medical Retrieval Service, the air ambulance service was occasionally featured as part of the popular Channel 5 television documentary series Highland Emergency. In late 2012 a charity was founded to provide an air ambulance, based at Perth Airport. Scotlands Charity Air Ambulance commenced operations in May 2013 with a Bolkow 105 airframe, since November 2015, SCAA operates a Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter
16.
Scotland (European Parliament constituency)
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Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. In 2014 it elected six MEPs, using the method of party-list proportional representation. The constituencys boundaries are the same as those of Scotland, one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, the constituency was formed as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, replacing a number of single-member constituencies. These were Glasgow, Highlands and Islands, Lothians, Mid Scotland and Fife, North East Scotland, South of Scotland, Strathclyde East, the number of MEPs returned by the constituency was eight in 1999, seven in 2004, and six in 2009 and 2014. Elected candidates are listed in bold, brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won. Elections in Scotland Scottish Elections Between 1997 and present
17.
Scottish Parliament
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The Scottish Parliament, is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the city, Edinburgh. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 5 May 2016, as a consequence, both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England ceased to exist, and the Parliament of Great Britain, which sat at Westminster in London was formed. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can make laws – by explicitly specifying powers that are reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster, the British Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999, initial Scottish proposals in the negotiation over the Union suggested a devolved Parliament be retained in Scotland, but this was not accepted by the English negotiators. Suggestions for a devolved Parliament were made before 1914, but were shelved due to the outbreak of the First World War, one of the principal objectives of the commission was to examine ways of enabling more self-government for Scotland, within the unitary state of the United Kingdom. Kilbrandon published his report in 1973 recommending the establishment of a directly elected Scottish Assembly to legislate for the majority of domestic Scottish affairs, the party argued that the revenues from the oil were not benefitting Scotland as much as they should. The combined effect of events led to Prime Minister Wilson committing his government to some form of devolved legislature in 1974. However, it was not until 1978 that final legislative proposals for a Scottish Assembly were passed by the United Kingdom Parliament, publishing its blueprint for devolution in 1995, the Convention provided much of the basis for the structure of the Parliament. Devolution continued to be part of the platform of the Labour Party which, in May 1997, an election was held on 6 May 1999, and on 1 July of that year power was transferred from Westminster to the new Parliament. Since September 2004, the home of the Scottish Parliament has been a new Scottish Parliament Building. The Scottish Parliament building was designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles in partnership with local Edinburgh Architecture firm RMJM which was led by Design Principal Tony Kettle. Some of the features of the complex include leaf-shaped buildings. Throughout the building there are many repeated motifs, such as based on Raeburns Skating Minister. Crow-stepped gables and the upturned boat skylights of the Garden Lobby, Queen Elizabeth II opened the new building on 9 October 2004. In March 2006, one of the Holyrood buildings roof beams slipped out of its support and was left dangling above the back benches during a debate, the debating chamber was subsequently closed, and MSPs moved to The Hub for one week, whilst inspections were carried out. During repairs, all business was conducted in the Parliaments committee room two
18.
Geographic coordinate system
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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
19.
River Don, Aberdeenshire
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The River Don is a river in north-east Scotland. It rises in the Grampians and flows eastwards, through Aberdeenshire, the Don passes through Alford, Kemnay, Inverurie, Kintore, and Dyce. Its main tributary, the River Ury, joins at Inverurie, several streams, the Dhiver, Feith Bhait, Meoir Veannaich, Cock Burn and the Allt nan Aighean merge to form the embryonic Don. Water from the north of Brown Cow Hill drains into the Don, while water from the west side runs into the River Spey and that from the south side into the Dee. The Don follows a circuitous route eastwards past Corgarff Castle, through Strathdon and the Howe of Alford before entering the North Sea just north of Old Aberdeen. The chief tributaries are Conrie Water, Ernan Water, Water of Carvie, Water of Nochty, Deskry Water, Water of Buchat, Kindy Burn, Bucks Burn, Mossat Burn, Leochel Burn and the River Ury. The river was recorded by the 2nd century AD cosmographer Ptolemy of Alexandria as Δηουανα Devona, meaning goddess, near Kintore, not distant from the Don, is the Deers Den Roman Camp. In 1750 the Dons lower reaches were channelled towards the sea, River levels and flows have been measured along the course of the Don at a number of gauging stations since 1969. The lowest of these is the gauge at Parkhill near Dyce, the station measures 97% of the total 1,312 square kilometres catchment area of the river. These were exceeded in January 2016 during the 2015–16 floods, when levels at Haughton reached 5.6 metres, the resultant flooding forced residents along the river to evacuate their homes, in some cases with the help of local rescue teams. Areas affected included Port Elphinstone, Kintore, and Donside in Aberdeen where a number of care homes were evacuated as a precaution. Strathdon attracts visitors for salmon and trout fishing as well as its castles and scenery
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Battle of Alford
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The Battle of Alford was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place near the village of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on 2 July 1645. The battlefield is included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland, having defeated Colonel Hurry at Auldearn, the Marquis of Montrose continued his raiding campaign in the Highlands. Fearing that Montrose intended to attack Aberdeen again, Major-General William Baillie led the Covenanter army to cut him off, the two armies were roughly equal in size at about 2,000 foot, although Baillie had 5-600 horse compared with Montroses 250-300, giving him a slight advantage. However, this advantage was negated by the effect of the presence of representatives of the Committee of Estates on his chain of command and it had the power to overrule Bailies orders. Montrose took up a position on a low hill overlooking the ford across the Don at Alford, Montrose waited until the Covenanting horse was across the river, and the infantry was crossing, before ordering a general attack. A fierce fight ensued around the ford between the Covenant cavalry under Balcarras and the Royalist Cavalry under Lord Gordon, Montrose committed his reserves, a force of Gordon infantry, and the Covenant forces broke. The difficulties presented by escaping across a ford meant that the rout was particularly vicious, Covenant losses were about 1,500 of their 2,000 infantry, although much of their cavalry, along with Baillie, Balcarres and the Committee escaped. The Royalists lost several hundred men, including Lord Gordon, nevertheless, the battle of Alford was one of the few bright moments for the Royalist cause in the aftermath of Naseby, only two weeks earlier. Site of the Battle of Alford 1645 - Wars of the Three Kingdoms
21.
Angus cattle
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Angus cattle, known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world, are a breed of cattle commonly used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire, Angus cattle are naturally polled and solid black or red even though the udder may be white. The native colour is black, but more recently red colours have emerged, the UK registers both in the same herd book, but in the US they are regarded as two separate breeds – Red Angus and Black Angus. Black Angus is the most common breed of cattle in the US. In 2014, the British Cattle Movement Service named Angus the UKs most popular beef breed. Aberdeen Angus cattle have been recorded in Scotland since at least the 16th century in the countrys North East, for some time before the 1800s, the hornless cattle in Aberdeenshire and Angus were called Angus doddies. In 1824, William McCombie of Tillyfour, M. P. for South Aberdeenshire, many local names emerged, including doddies or hummlies. The first herd book was created in 1862, and the society was formed in 1879 and this is considered late, given that the cattle gained mainstream acceptance in the middle of the eighteenth century. The cattle became commonplace throughout the British Isles in the middle of the 20th century, the bull was born on April 19,1878, named Virtuoso 1626 and raised by Colonel Ferguson. The cows were named Aunt Lee 4697 raised by J. James, Angus cattle were first introduced to Tasmania in the 1820s and to the southern mainland in 1840. The breed is now found in all Australian states and territories with 62,000 calves registered with Angus Australia in 2010. The herd comprised a yearling bull, Gladiolus, and a cow, Eyebright, bred by the Earl of Fife, on January 12,1877, Eyebright gave birth to a calf, sired by Sir Wilfrid. It was the first to be born outside of Scotland, the OAC went on to import additional additional bulls and cows, eventually began selling Aberdeen Angus cattle in 1881. On 17 May 1873, George Grant brought four Angus bulls, without any cows, to Victoria and these were seen as unusual as the normal American cattle consisted of Shorthorns and Longhorns, and the bulls were used only in crossbreeding. However, the farmers noticed the good qualities of these bulls and afterwards, on 21 November 1883, the American Angus Association was founded in Chicago, Illinois. The first herd book was published on March 1885, at this time both red and black animals were registered without distinction. However, in 1917 the Association barred the registering of red, the Red Angus Association of America was founded in 1954 by breeders of Red Angus cattle. It was formed because the breeders had had their cattle struck off the herd book, a separate breed was cross bred in Germany called the German Angus
22.
Alford Valley Railway
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The Alford Valley Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway in the Howe of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located at what used to be the terminus of the passenger, the line also served Kemnay Quarry and three other granite quarries in the area. The summit of the line is just west of Tillyfourie at 618 feet where a mile-long cutting 30 feet deep required cutting through particularly hard granite. The train took just over an hour for the 16 mile journey, in 1923 GNSR was incorporated into the London and North Eastern Railway and, in 1948, became part of the Scottish Region of British Railways. The line closed to passengers in 1950 and to goods in 1966, the narrow gauge railway, built from salvaged equipment from the New Pitsligo peat moss railway, was proposed in 1979 and opened in 1980. Originally it ran for 3 kilometres from Haughton Park station through Murray Park Woods, then in 1984 another line was run from Alford station, alongside Alford Golf Course, to Haughton Park about 1.35 kilometres away where there is a platform. However, the original Murray Woods line was then closed, the current station building is on the site of the original granite structure which was demolished after British Rail closed the line. The passenger platform is the original, a small railway museum is housed in the railway station building. The original locomotive shed was situated to the east of the station, to the west of the station the granite carriage shed of the previous railway is now used by the Alford Valley Railway. The Grampian Transport Museum and Alford Heritage Centre are nearby, Alford Valley Railway - official site Grampian Transport Museum British Railways in 1960, Kintore Jn. to Alford
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Grampian Transport Museum
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Grampian Transport Museum is a transport museum and charitable-based trust located in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Follow the history of transport in the north east of Scotland through dramatic displays, working and climb aboard vehicle exhibits, the museum was formed after a group of local transport enthusiasts and collectors in the early 1970s sought to develop a local transport museum. Construction work on the current building was completed in September 1982, an extension was completed in 1998, landscaping and a track added in the early 2000s, and a second building, the Collections Centre, to house larger exhibits in the 2010s. In 2016, the museum completed a new extension to improve the frontage of the museum. Major exhibits include the worlds oldest Sentinel Steam Waggon from 1914, exhibits include historic and classic automobiles, motorcycles, a double-decker bus, bicycles, steam vehicles, an electric tram, toy model vehicles, and transport memorabilia. Alford Valley Railway - located on an adjacent site Official Website
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Craigievar Castle
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Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill and the Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, the setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains. The contrast of its lower storey structure to the finely sculpted multiple turrets, gargoyles. Forbes purchased the partially completed structure from the impoverished Mortimer family in the year 1610, Forbes nickname was Danzig Willy, a reference to his shrewd international trading success with the Baltic states. Williams son became a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I, the Forbes Baronetcy, of Craigievar in the County of Aberdeen, was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 20 April 1630 for William Forbes. He was also a descendant of Hon. Patrick Forbes, third son of the second Lord Forbes, the fourth Baronet represented Aberdeenshire in the House of Commons. The 5th Baronet married the Hon, sarah Sempill, eldest daughter of Hugh Sempill, 12th Lord Sempill. Their grandson, the eighth Baronet, succeeded as seventeenth Lord Sempill in 1884, the titles remained united until the death of his grandson, the 19th Lord and tenth Baronet, in 1965. Designed in the L plan, as was Muchalls Castle, which is located in the same region, craigevar, Muchalls Castle and Glamis Castle are generally considered to have the three finest ceilings in Scotland. The Clan Forbes family was friends of the Clan Burnett of Leys. The ceilings feature plaster figures of the Nine Worthies and other family emblems, by the early 19th-century, the tower had fallen into decay. Roof repairs were undertaken and involved the re-construction of almost the top floor. The windows, external harling and pointing were replaced and it is likely Smith also designed the gardeners cottage, the castle originally had more defensive elements including a walled courtyard with four round towers, only one of the round towers remains today. In the arched door to that tower are preserved the carved initials of Sir Thomas Forbes. There is also a massive iron portcullis or gate covering the door which is named a yett. There is a collection of Forbes family portraits inside as well as a quantity of Forbes furnishings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. The castle also houses two original Henry Raeburn portraits complete with original receipts, the Forbes family also owned a large granite house at Fintray near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. This became the main residence for a number of years until the Second World War
25.
Tourist attraction
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Factory tours, industrial heritage, creative art and crafts workshops are the object of cultural niches like industrial tourism and creative tourism. Many tourist attractions are also landmarks, tourist attractions are also created to capitalise on legends such as a supposed UFO crash site near Roswell, New Mexico and the alleged Loch Ness monster sightings in Scotland. Ghost sightings also make tourist attractions, ethnic communities may become tourist attractions, such as Chinatowns in the United States and the black British neighbourhood of Brixton in London, England. In the US, owners and marketers of attractions advertise tourist attractions on billboards along the side of highways and roadways, tourist attractions often provide free promotional brochures and flyers in information centres, fast food restaurants, hotel and motel rooms or lobbies, and rest area. Such places are known as tourist traps. Within cities such transport tourist attractions as rides by boats and buses are very popular, novelty attractions are not limited to the American Midwest, but are part of Midwestern culture. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some tourist traps, siem Reap town for example is a popular tourist destination in Cambodia, mainly owed to its proximity to Angkor temples. A tropical island resort is an island or archipelago that also depends on tourism as its source of revenue, according to the World Tourism Organization, •698 million people travelled to a foreign country in 2000, spending more US$478 billion. Lists of tourist attractions Attractions at DMOZ
26.
Castle Fraser
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Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland and one of the grandest Castles of Mar. It is located near Kemnay in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland, the castle stands in over 300 acres of landscaped grounds, woodland and farmland which includes a walled kitchen garden of the 19th century. There is archaeological evidence of a square tower dating from around 1400 or 1500 within the current construction. Castle Fraser is contemporary with other castles, Craigievar Castle, Crathes Castle. The castle was modernised in a style in the late 18th century, with a new entrance inserted in the south side. This work was supervised by Elyza Fraser, the lady laird, the interiors of the building were entirely reconstructed again between 1820 and 1850, by Charles Fraser, using the architects John Smith and William Burn. The Library is an example of John Smiths regency style with Tudor detailing. Many of William Burns more extravagant gothic designs for the most important rooms were not carried out, external works during this period included the construction of the twin gatehouses, and a grand domed stair and access corridors with loggias in the courtyard. The castle was given a restoration by the new owners around 1950. The architect and antiquary Dr William Kelly supervised the removal of much 19th-century work to reveal the earlier fabric, Castle Fraser retains the atmosphere of a family home and still contains the original contents, including Fraser family portraits, furniture and collections. The evocative interiors represent all periods of the history, from the Medieval stone vaulted Great Hall to the Regency Dining Room. Castle Fraser was built as the home of the Frasers of Muchalls, the castle was passed down through the Lords Fraser, the Frasers of Inverallochy and then the Mackenzie family who took the name Mackenzie Fraser. In 1897 the last male Fraser of the line, Frederick Mackenzie Fraser. In 1921 his widow, Theodora, sold the castle due to the lack of a suitable heir, the buyer was Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. The Pearson family restored the castle as a lodge and gave it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1976. Legend has it that a princess was once staying at the castle when she was brutally murdered while asleep in the Green Room. Her body was dragged down the stairs, leaving a trail of blood stains. As hard as they tried, the occupants of the castle could not scrub out the stains, and so were forced to cover the steps in wood panelling and it is said she still stalks the halls of the castle during the night
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Drum Castle
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Drum Castle is a castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. For centuries it was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine, the place-name Drum is derived from Gaelic druim, ridge. The original 13th-century tower of Drum Castle has been suggested as the work of medieval architect Richard Cementarius and it is believed to be one of the three oldest tower houses in Scotland. A large wing was added in 1619 by the 9th laird, the castle and its grounds were granted to William de Irwyn in 1325 by Robert the Bruce, and remained in the possession of Clan Irvine until 1975. William de Irwyn was armour bearer/secretary to King Robert the Bruce, Drum played a role in the Covenanting Rebellion leading to its being attacked and sacked three times. The castle is surrounded by late 18th-century gardens, including a rose garden, in the 19th century it was the home of Alexander Forbes Irvine of Drum FRSE. He was responsible for restoring the chapel, today, the castle is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open during the summer months. The chapel, dining hall and estate may be hired for weddings, a variety of local events such as classic car rallies and musical fetes also occur here. There is also a shop and tearoom within the castle. Prehistoric habitation of the area is known through archaeological sites such as Balbridie. Roman legions marched from Raedykes to nearby Normandykes as they sought higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying mosses associated with the Burn of Muchalls
28.
RV park
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A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as pitches. Allocated space facilities may include, AC power connection, the term caravan park is used to refer to both, and RV park and trailer park are never used, even to the point of not being understood by most Australians. Caravan sites in Europe range in facilities depending on their age, most new sites will be built to high environmentally friendly standards and have facilities compatible with the newest vehicles. The Caravan Club has 1 million members in Europe with around 200 self-owned campsites and over 2,500 third party certificated locations, more commonly known as CL sites. The Camping and Caravanning Club is an organisation which has been running for over a century and has over 400,000 members and 100 campsites in the United Kingdom. In France, Germany and Italy, to a degree also in Norway and Netherlands. These sites are called Reisemobil-Stellplatz in German or Aire de Camping-car in French, while these sites can usually not be compared to North American RV sites regarding size and facilities, they still fulfill the same purpose. In New Zealand motor camp, caravan park or holiday parks are the terms for overnight or long term vehicle based camping. As well powered caravan or campervan sites the parks usually offer tent sites and cabins, RV parks range from rustic facilities with no or limited utility hookups, as often found in state/provincial parks and national parks, to luxury resorts with amenities that rival fine hotels. Some high-end resorts restrict the type of RV that can stay to motorhomes of a length or longer. Most RV parks are open to allcomers and rent spaces on a nightly or weekly basis, a few parks operate on a time-share basis. Membership campground networks like Thousand Trails operate like clubs, with paying an initial membership fee. There are over 13,000 privately owned RV parks and over 1,600 state parks that cater to RVers in the USA. Many of these RV parks offer WiFi hotspot access on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, occasionally, most RV parks are independent or operated by a government entity. In the United States, Kampgrounds of America, is the largest and best-known chain of RV parks, with Yogi Bears Jellystone Park Camp Resorts a distant second. Good Sam Parks are mostly independently owned RV campgrounds endorsed by the Good Sam Club, listings of RV parks can be found in printed directories, the best known are the annual ones by Woodalls and Trailer Life Magazine. Online RV directories are provided by MobileRVing. com, eCampGuide, CampRate, Reserve RV, RVThereYet, RVParkReviews, AmericaOnWheels. com, RoverPass. com and others. Mobile Apps are available as well, including the MobileRVing Mobile App, overnight rates for most USA RV parks are US$15 to US$50, although some in city and country parks may be US$10 or less, even free
29.
Aberdeen
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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
30.
Kintore, Aberdeenshire
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Kintore is a town and former royal burgh near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, now bypassed by the A96 road between Aberdeen and Inverness. It is situated on the banks of the River Don and its Town House dates from 1747. The name Kintore comes from the Gaelic, Ceann Tòrr, Ceann means the head, or the end, and Tòrr means a round hill. So the name signifies that the town was at the head or end of a round hill and this probably refers to Tuach Hill to the south of the town. Established in the ninth century AD as a burgh, Kintore had its royal charter renewed by King James IV in 1506. But the area has clearly been a settlement since prehistoric times. Recent archaeological excavations show Neolithic finds dating to at least 5000 BC, nearby are the remains of Hallforest Castle, former stronghold of the Earls of Kintore. Kintore is said to be the fastest growing town in Aberdeenshire in percentage terms, the population in the 2001 census was 1696. By 2001 Aberdeenshire Councils figures gave the population as 2170, with a predicted 2521 in 2006, the 2011 census recorded the population of Kintore at 4,476. NECR is a radio station based in School Road in Kintore. Kintore is the site of Deers Den Roman camp and is thought to relate to Agricolas campaigns into Scotland, moreover, the Romans, it is believed, were attracted by the belief that Scotland was rich in natural resources, including gold, silver and tin. That march used the Elsick Mounth, one of the ancient trackways crossing the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains, James Park, 1857-1946, studied science in London, worked as sheep farmer in New Zealand, became professor of geology in Dunedin then Auckland. Father of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, Defender of London Battle of Britain 1940, alexander Keith, 1895-1878, writer and local historian. Andy Beattie, played for Inverurie Locos FC and Preston North End, normandykes Kintore Golf Club Kintore in the Gazetteer for Scotland Community website Parish Church Map sources for Kintore, Aberdeenshire
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Kemnay
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Kemnay is a village 16 miles west of Aberdeen in Garioch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. With a population of 3,830 residents aged 16 or over, Kemnay is the third largest settlement in the Garioch after Inverurie and Westhill. The village name Kemnay is believed to originate from the Celtic words that mean little crook in the due to the village location on the bend of the River Don. Kemnay House is classified by Historic Scotland as a category A listed building, there are two pubs, the Bennachie Lodge and the Burnett Arms Hotel. Kemnay Quarry was opened in 1830 by John Fyfe, and became commercial in 1858 and they also travelled to quarries in California, the Mississippi Levees and Odessa. Golfer Paul Lawrie, who won the 1999 Open Championship is a pupil of Kemnay Academy. There are two primary and one school, Kemnay Primary School Alehousewells Primary School Kemnay Academy, which unveiled a £14.3 million extension in 2014. Citations Bibliography grid reference NJ7316 * Kemnay Village Web Kemnay Academy A guide to the Place of Origin
32.
Charles Murray (poet)
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Charles Murray was a poet who wrote in the Doric dialect of Scots. He was one of three poets from the north-east of Scotland, the others being Flora Garry and John C. Milne, who did much to validate the literary use of Scots, Charles Murray was born and raised in Alford in north-east Scotland. However he wrote much of his poetry while living in South Africa where he spent most of his life as a successful civil engineer. His first volume, A Handful of Heather, was privately printed and his second volume, Hamewith, was much more successful. It was republished five times before he died and it is this volume for which he is best known, the title of the volume, which means Homewards in English, reflects his expatriate situation. He served in the Armed Forces during the Second Boer War and he published his last volume, In the Country Places, in 1920. After his death a volume of poetry, Last Poems was published by the Charles Murray Memorial Trust in 1969. He returned to Scotland when he retired in 1924 and settled in Banchory, Doric dialect The University of Aberdeens Charles Murray website Charles Murray index entry at Poets Corner Examples of his poetry
33.
Stewart Milne
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Stewart Milne CBE, DBA, DTech is a Scottish businessman and football club chairman, from Alford, Aberdeenshire. Milne founded the Aberdeen-based Stewart Milne Construction Group in 1975, a housebuilding contractor and he started off his business renovating bathrooms. As its chairman and chief executive, he earned the 2005 Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year award, in 2008, he received his Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the house building industry in Scotland. Milne is a shareholder and chairman of Aberdeen F. C. a position he has held since 1998. He joined the board of directors in 1994 to replace Dick Donald
34.
Aberdeen F.C.
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Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were promoted in 1905. Aberdeen have won four Scottish league titles, seven Scottish Cups and they are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, having won the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup in 1983. Aberdeen were the last club outside of the Old Firm to win a title, in 1984–85. The team has enjoyed success since this golden era, though a 19-year wait for a major trophy was ended by winning the 2013–14 Scottish League Cup. Aberdeen have played at Pittodrie Stadium since their inception, the ground currently has a capacity of 20,866 and was the first all-seated and all-covered stadium in the United Kingdom. Pittodrie was also the first football stadium to feature a dug-out, the clubs colours have been primarily red and white since 1939, before this, they played in black and gold vertical stripes. Aberdeen attract support from the city and surrounding areas, as they are the senior team within a wide area. Aberdeen have no close rivals, their nearest neighbours at the same level are in the city of Dundee. The current Aberdeen F. C. was formed following the merger of three based in the city—Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion—in 1903. The new club played its first match on 15 August 1903 and that first season produced a win in the Aberdeenshire Cup, but only a third-place finish in the Northern League. The club applied for membership of the Scottish League for the following season, in 1904, the club were managed by Jimmy Philip. At the end of its first season, despite having finished seventh out of teams, Aberdeen were elected to the new. They have remained in the top tier of Scottish football ever since, from 1906, the club made steady progress, with a Scottish Cup semi-final appearance in 1908 and another in 1911. In that season of 1910–11, Aberdeen recorded their first victories over the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers, and led the league for a time, wartime affected the club as much as any other, despite spending cuts and other economies, by 1917 the situation became untenable. Aberdeen dropped out of football, along with Dundee and Raith Rovers. Senior football returned on 16 August 1919, and Aberdeen resumed with a fixture against Albion Rovers, Philip was still in charge, and continued to oversee a team capable of isolated good results, but never quite able to sustain a challenge long enough to win a trophy. In 1923, Aberdeen were drawn against Peterhead in the Scottish Cup, Philip retired a year later, and was replaced as manager by Paddy Travers
35.
Lord Forbes
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Lord Forbes is the senior Lordship of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. The title was created sometime after 1436 for Alexander de Forbes, the precise date of the creation is not known, but in a Precept dated July 12,1442, he is already styled Lord Forbes. Browns 1834 Peerage of Scotland gives a year of 1440. Alexanders descendant, the twelfth Lord, served as Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire and his great-grandson, the seventeenth Lord, was a general in the Army and sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1806 to 1843. His son, the eighteenth Lord, fought at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and he was succeeded by his son, the nineteenth Lord. He was a Scottish Representative Peer from 1874 to 1906 and his nephew, the twenty-first Lord, served as a Scottish Representative Peer between 1917 and 1924. As of 2017 the title is held by his son, the twenty-third Lord Forbes, Lord Forbes is Chief of Clan Forbes. Hon. Patrick Forbes, third son of the second Lord Forbes, was the ancestor of both the Earls of Granard and the Forbes baronets of Craigievar, also, the Lords Forbes of Pitsligo were descended from Sir William Forbes, brother of Alexander Forbes, 1st Lord Forbes. The family seat is Forbes Castle, near Alford, Aberdeenshire, neil Malcolm Ross Forbes, Master of Forbes. The heir apparents heir apparent is his son, Geordie Malcolm Andrew Forbes, Clan Forbes Earl of Granard Lord Forbes of Pitsligo Forbes baronets genealogics. org
36.
Rangers F.C.
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Rangers Football Club are a football club in Glasgow, Scotland, which plays in the Scottish Premiership, the first tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Their home ground, Ibrox Stadium, is in the south-west of the city, Rangers were the first British club to reach a UEFA tournament final and won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 after being runner-up twice in 1961 and 1967. A third runners-up finish in Europe came in the UEFA Cup in 2008, Rangers have a long-standing rivalry with Celtic, the two Glasgow clubs being collectively known as the Old Firm. The four founders of Rangers – brothers Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell, Rangers first match, in May that year, was a goalless friendly draw with Callander on Glasgow Green. David Hill was also a founder member, in 1873, the club held its first annual meeting and staff were elected. By 1876 Rangers had its first international player, with Moses McNeil representing Scotland in a match against Wales. In 1877 Rangers reached a Scottish Cup final, after drawing the first game, Rangers refused to turn up for the replay, Rangers won the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup the following year against Vale of Leven 2–1, their first major cup. The first-ever Old Firm match took place in 1888, the year of Celtics establishment, Rangers lost 5–2 in a friendly to a team composed largely of guest players from Hibernian. The 1890–91 season saw the inception of the Scottish Football League, the clubs first-ever league match, on 16 August 1890, resulted in a 5–2 victory over Heart of Midlothian. After finishing joint-top with Dumbarton, a play-off held at Cathkin Park finished 2–2, Rangers first-ever Scottish Cup win came in 1894 after a 3–1 final victory over rivals Celtic. By the start of the 20th century, Rangers had won two titles and three Scottish Cups. During William Wiltons time as secretary and then team manager. Taking over as manager from William Wilton in 1920, Bill Struth was Rangers most successful manager, on 2 January 1939 a British league attendance record was broken as 118,567 fans turned out to watch Rangers beat Celtic in the traditional New Years Day Old Firm match. During the wartime regional league setup, Rangers achieved their highest score against old firm rivals Celtic with an 8–1 win in the Southern Football League, Rangers also lost by their biggest Old Firm margin of 7–1. Rangers reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1960, losing to German club Eintracht Frankfurt by a record aggregate 12–4 for a Scottish team. In 1961 Rangers became the first British team to reach a European final when they contested the Cup Winners Cup final against Italian side Fiorentina, Rangers lost again in the final of the same competition in 1967, by a single goal after extra time to Bayern Munich. The Ibrox disaster occurred on 2 January 1971 when large-scale crushing on an exit at the culmination of the New Years Day Old Firm game claimed 66 lives. An enquiry concluded that the crush was likely to have happened ten minutes after the final whistle and to have been triggered by someone falling on the stairs
37.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
38.
Marr
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Marr is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 34,038, someone from Marr is called a Màrnach in Scottish Gaelic. To the west, the environment of the Cairngorms National Park sustains a well-developed tourist industry based on heritage. Forestry and livestock farming are key industries, particularly in remoter areas, part of the area has qualified for EU financial assistance. To the east, Marr has experienced growth due to its strong commuter links with the city of Aberdeen. Marr is named after Mar, one of the districts of Scotland. Like other such districts, it was under the rule of a mormaer in the Middle Ages, in the 12th century an earl took his place, but no definite succession of earls appears till the 13th century, nor is any connection established between them and the mormaers. In the eleventh century Malcolm III introduced the office of sheriff to Scotland and he and his successors Edgar, Alexander I and in particular David I divided the country into sheriffdoms or shires. Marr formed the portion of the shire of Aberdeen, which, as Aberdeenshire. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
39.
Aboyne
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Aboyne is a village on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, approximately 26 miles west of Aberdeen. It has a pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis courts. Aboyne Castle and the Loch of Aboyne are nearby, Aboyne has many businesses, including a supermarket, two banks, several hairdressers, a butcher, a newsagent, an Indian restaurant and a post office. Originally, there was a station in the village. The station now contains shops and the tunnel running under the village is now home to a firearms club. The market-day in Aboyne was known as Fèill Mhìcheil, the locale was inhabited since very early times with the west wing of Aboyne Castle dated to 1671 AD. The siting of the castle itself is related to the number of the crossings of the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains to the south. The uprising began three days later in Braemar, Aboyne has a Temperate climate similar to all of the United Kingdom. The Highland Games on the Village Green features in August and the population of the village doubles, few Scottish towns have such an asset. The British Royal Family are residents in nearby Balmoral Castle during the Summer, there are many outdoor pursuits available including golf, walking, cycling, and gliding from the airfield just outside the village. Aboyne has become popular with gliding enthusiasts from Britain and Europe due to its suitable air currents, the airfield has a webcam and small weather-monitoring centre on its premises. It is the only gliding airfield in Scotland to have a tarmac runway, the close-by pass of Ballater is a rock-climbing area. The village of Dinnet is a few miles west and is the first being located inside the Cairngorms National Park, walkers and cyclists can ascend Mount Keen by cycling as far as they can from Glen Tanar forest before walking to the summit. There are leisurely activities, such as sitting at local cafes, Aboyne is a place for younger children, as there is a large green which includes facilities for rugby and football and a play park. There are two schools, Aboyne Academy and a primary school, the academy has around 650 pupils, about a third from Aboyne itself, with the remaining two thirds from surrounding villages. The school has access to a swimming pool and gym run by the adjacent Deeside Community Centre. Aboyne Academy Website Aboyne Rugby Football Club Aboyne-Dinnet Church Deeside Gliding Club grid reference NO525985 The Aboyne and Deeside festival
40.
Ballater
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Ballater is a burgh in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of 213 m, Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water and it is home to more than 1500 inhabitants. Ballater railway station was closed in 1966 but remains in use as a centre with an exhibition recording the villages royal connection. Many buildings date from the Victorian era and the centre of the village is a conservation area, the old railway station/ visitor centre was substantially damaged by fire in May 2015 and is now closed. Balmoral Castle, the British Royal Familys holiday home, lies approximately 12 km west, birkhall lies about 2 km south-west of Ballater. Victoria Barracks is used by the Royal Guard for the castle, local stores had for decades Royal Warrants bestowed upon them. Five years after the passing of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who had granted them, several shops still display the arms marking the royal warrant. A Met Office weather station collects weather data at Balmoral, just over 7 miles to the west of Ballater, like the rest of Scotland and the British Isles, Ballater experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. Its upland position means temperatures throughout the year are cooler than lower-lying areas, Ballater is a centre for tourism in Royal Deeside, with the Cairngorms and Balmoral Castle nearby. There are two bike hire shops in the village, the old Ballater station, containing Queen Victorias waiting room, is now a visitor centre with a replica royal carriage. Balmoral Castle is a 10-minute drive from the village, there are many walks from the village. For the easy going walker, there is Craigendarroch, a small, about 12 km south-west of Ballater is Loch Muick. From there experienced walkers can head up the prominent mountain, Lochnagar, Ballater is the home of many challenging walks due to the abundance of Munroes in the area. The River Dee flows through Ballater, and is famous for salmon fishing, events in the town include, The Ballater Walking Festival each May attracts many hillwalkers of all levels. Participants are guided through the hills and valleys of the eastern Cairngorms, the Ballater Boules Challenge, on alternate Sundays from November to March each year, provides an alternative sport when the weather is not cold enough for the traditional game of curling. Victoria Week, held annually in August, is a celebration of Ballaters connection with Queen Victoria, the village has its own tongue in cheek, on-line newspaper, the Ballater Bugle. Recently five Ballater residents refurbished the Automobile Associations Patrol Box at Cambus OMay, there is a bus garage located near to the village centre which provides an hourly public service to Aberdeens Union Square bus station. The bus company was granted permission to build a new site at Pannanich Road in December 2014, in April 2015 the bus station was re-opened as a Co-Operative supermarket
listen) Scots: Aaford or Awfort, Scottish Gaelic: Athfort) is a large village in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, lying just south of the River Don. It lies within the Howe of Alford (also called the Vale of Alford) which occupies the middle reaches of the River Don.
