Scotland's third city - Britain's 38th. Aberdeen is a strange place, granite-grey and gloomy; and rich. It is the capital of the North Sea oil and gas industry. I visited Aberdeen this week while Warsaw sweltered in late-spring sunshine - in north-eastern Scotland it was heavy rain and a mere 11C. Still, an interesting place to visit. First impressions - vast numbers of immigrants - from America, France, Portugal, Lithuania - and of course, Poland. Second impressions - the unremitting gloom. Let me share some of it with you...
Aberdeen, granite city, is a city of turrets. The Scottish Baronial style, harking back romantically to the Mediaeval era, with battlements, crenellations and corbelled turrets aplenty, is to be seen everywhere. Stone dominates - hardly any Bricktorian architecture to be seen anywhere.
A busy, wealthy city, driven by the economy's desire to extract more oil and gas from the North Sea, despite falling reserves. The second-fastest growing house prices in the UK after London, lots of young men driving too fast in expensive cars.
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Local HQ of transport company First Group, on King St. |
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Erroll St Cemetary gatehouse |
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Looking south along King St towards the city centre. Greyness abounds. |
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East North St becomes West North St. Grim edifices project respectability. |
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Castlegate, and in the middle of the photo, the mercat (market) cross. |
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Putting out the flags of the world's nations to relieve the gloom on Union St. |
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The Bridge of Don; looking across the Don Estuary towards the North Sea |
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Marischal St. In the distance, Aberdeen Harbour. |
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The Tivoli Variety Theatre, Guild St, restored to glory, venue to plays once again. |
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Urquhart Rd. The walls adorned not by hanging baskets but satellite dishes. |
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To the left, the 1898 headquarters of the Shore Porters Society, set up in 1497; |
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The Station Hotel, very Baronial. |
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Aberdeen Station - platform 7N for north. |
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Aberdeen Harbour, like the airport, extremely busy thanks to oil and gas. |
A fascinating and very different city to visit, quite a contrast with genteel Edinburgh or rough-and-ready Glasgow.
This time two years ago:
Fans fly in for the football
This time three years ago:
Cara al Sol - part II
This time four years ago:
Still struggling with the floodwaters
This time five years ago:
European elections - and I buy used D40
The time six years ago:
To the Vistula, by bike
This time seven years ago:
Poppy profusion
1 comment:
if you think Aberdeen is dour just wait till you visit Dundee - most gloomy city in the first world
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