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Aberdeen(The Granite Cite) – A City Guide

Introduction

Aberdeen (The Granite City) is Scotland’s third largest city.
Aberdeen is the chief commercial centre and seaport in the
north-east of Scotland. It boasts the title of Oil Capital of
Europe thanks to the plentiful supply of crude oil in the North
Sea, and stands on a bay of the North Sea, between the mouths of
the rivers Don and Dee.

History

Aberdeen grew up as two separate burghs – Old Aberdeen at the
mouth of the Don and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading
settlement where the Denburn entered the Dee estuary. The
earliest charter was granted by King William the Lion about
1179, confirming the corporate rights granted by David I. The
city received other royal charters later. In 1319, the Great
Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property
owning and financially independent community. The city was
burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was soon rebuilt
and extended, and called New Aberdeen. For many centuries the
city was subject to attacks by the neighbouring lords, and was
strongly fortified, but the gates were all removed by 1770. In
the 18th century a new Town Hall was built, elegantly furnished
with a marble fireplace from Holland and a set of fine crystal
chandeliers and sconces. The 19th century was a time of
considerable expansion. By 1901 the population was 153,000 and
the city covered more than 6,000 acres (24 km). In the late
18th century, the council embarked on a scheme of road
improvements, and by 1805 George Street, King Street and Union
Street were open, the latter a feat of extraordinary engineering
skill involving the partial levelling of St Catherine’s Hill and
the building of arches to carry the street over Putachieside.
The increasing economic importance of Aberdeen and the
development of the shipbuilding and fishing industries brought a
need for improved harbour facilities. During this century much
of the harbour as it exists today was built including Victoria
Dock, the South Breakwater and the extension to the North Pier.

Places of interest

The main places of interest for the tourists in Aberdeen are
the museums, art galleries and the Scotland’s castle trails.
Here is a list of interesting places in Aberdeen:

Museums and Art Galleries

The city is blessed with amenities which cover a wide range of
cultural activities and boasts a selection of museums. The
Aberdeen Art Gallery houses a collection of Impressionist,
Victorian, Scottish and 20th Century British paintings as well
as collections of silver and glass. It also includes The
Alexander Macdonald Bequest, a collection of late 19th century
works donated by the museum’s first benefactor and a constantly
changing collection of contemporary work and regular visiting
exhibitions. Some of the other Aberdeen’s museums and art
galleries are:

Shopping

The main shopping districts center on specialty shops on Chapel
and Thistle streets and the well-known chains on George and
Union streets. Of interest to collectors, Colin Wood, stocks
furniture, wall clocks, and grandfather clocks from the 17th to
the early 20th centuries. Someone may also want to browse
through the eclectic mix of bric-a-brac antiques at Elizabeth
Watts Studio, where items include glass, brass, antique jewelry,
china, silver, and a few small furniture pieces. For one-stop
gift shopping, drop in at Nova, which stocks china, silver
jewelry, rugs, clothing, toys, cards, and gift paper.

Other interesting shops are Grandad’s Attic, which specializes
in Art Deco ceramics and antique pine furniture; Just Scottish,
retailers of quality items — all made in Scotland, including
ceramics, knitwear, textiles, silver, and jewelry; and Alex
Scott & Co. the town’s finest kiltmakers.

Food and Drinks

Although Aberdeen is a well renowned city, it does not have
many restaurants in offer. Mainly all the restaurants and bars
offer continental or British/Irish/Scottish cuisine. Some of the
famous places for wine and dine are:

Education

The first of Aberdeen’s two universities, the University of
Aberdeen, was founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of
Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland. The University of Aberdeen
is Scotland’s third oldest, and the UK’s fifth oldest University.

Robert Gordon’s College (originally Robert Gordon’s Hospital)
was founded in and in the 1990s became co-educational and a
day-only school. It also produced the Robert Gordon Institute of
Technology, which became The Robert Gordon University in 1992.

Gray’s School of Art, founded in 1886, is one of the oldest
established colleges of art in the UK. Aberdeen College has
several campuses in Aberdeen and offers a wide variety of
part-time and full-time courses leading to several different
qualifications. Northern College was a teacher training college
with campuses in Aberdeen and Dundee. In 2000, the Aberdeen
campus of Northern College became the University of Aberdeen
School of Education. Aberdeen Grammar School, (now
comprehensive, despite its name) founded in 1263 and one of the
oldest schools in Britain.

Sports

Aberdeen Football Club was founded in 1903. Its major success
was winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983 and three
League Championships between 1980 and 1986. The club’s stadium
is Pittodrie which holds the distinction of being Britain’s
first all-seater stadium. Aberdeen F.C. holds the distinction of
being the last team to have won the Scottish Premier League
Championship outside the Old Firm and is the only Scottish team
to have won two European trophies adding to their European Cup
Winners Cup success by winning the European Super Cup also in
1983. Well known footballers who have played for the club
include Gordon Strachan (Current Celtic manager), Alex McLeish
(Current Rangers manager) and club legend Willie Miller. Denis
Law, the joint top scorer for the Scotland national team was
also born in the city, but spent his professional career playing
for English and Italian clubs.

Aberdeen Golf Club was founded in 1815. It has two 18-hole
courses at Balgownie, north of the River Don. There are other
golf courses at Auchmill, Balnagask, Hazlehead and King’s Links.

Tours and Sightseeing

The Aberdeen Tourist Information Centre, where the staff can
usually find just the right way to visit Aberdeen. Some other
organized tours and travel agencies are there in the city. These
tours are organized by the operators and vary from its contents,
theme and price. The tours mainly feature the museums, art
galleries, Scottish Castles etc.

Hotels and Accommodations

Because of increasing numbers of tourists and business
travelers to the Granite City — Europe’s offshore oil capital
and less number of hotels compare with tourists — hotels are
likely to be heavily booked any time of year. So reservation in
advance is a must before stepping to the city. Some of the
Hotels in Aberdeen (ranging from Affordable to Luxury) are
listed below:

Transport

There are four main roads serving the city: A90, A96, A93, A92,
A90 now used as a tourist route.

The city’s original ring road, Anderson Drive, which was built
in the 1930s has long since been engulfed by the expansion of
the city, and is inadequate for dealing with today’s traffic. To
this end, a new main bypass road, the Western Peripheral Route,
is planned to divert through traffic away from the city centre.
The road is due to open in 2010.

The city is well served by the national railway network.
Aberdeen has regular rail services to Glasgow and Edinburgh as
well as long distance trains to London via Edinburgh. It is
possible to take the longest scheduled rail journey in the whole
of the UK from Aberdeen. Regular trains also run north westerly
towards Inverness and north to Dyce for the airport.

Aberdeen also has an airport in the neighbouring town of Dyce,
which is operated by BAA plc. As well as connecting the city to
the rest of the UK, Aberdeen Airport (sometimes refererred to as
Dyce Airport) is the largest helicopter terminal in the world,
serving the many North Sea oil installations. The IATA airport
code for the airport is ABZ.

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