Articles

For nearly 300 years the bell of St Drostan’s kirk tolled the life of the parish in times of peace and danger. Then it disappeared for 30 years

Imagine a city where everything lies within walking distance of home: shops, parks, cinemas, school, a gym, football stadium, and a bus station. How can you fit everything in? The answer: high-rise development.

Nestled in a thicket of trees just beyond New Deer, Brucklay Castle has stood for over 400 years. Originally called Brock’s Hillock, the castle site was no more than a badger set.

Union Bridge is a living structure, an inhabited bridge, with an arcade of shops and offices suspended above the tracks of the Invernes railway line.

Aberdeen is a better-run city than most, but there is concern for its main artery. Union Street used to be jam-packed with shoppers on Saturdays, and you met everyone you knew there.

The Foudland quarries which once supplied the North-East with distinctive roofing slate are being eyed with renewed interest.

Doos have been reared in Scotland since the 12th century. Their doocots – some 500 of them – add charm to our landscapes to this day, but many are reaching the point of no return. Should we intervene, or let them go?

The Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh is shrugging off its shrouds of scaffolding and plastic sheeting, in preparation for the next 100 years, at least, of government. Ron Gauld reports.

John Doran on Haddo House, William Adam’s Palladian Mansion.

John Doran on the history of one of Aberdeenshire’s finest architectural treasures.