Next Tours
NO TOURS 5 MAY - 18 MAY
no bookings accepted for private tours during this time - staff research
SATURDAY 18 MAY 2019:
FORGOTTEN FITTIE - FROM THE KIRKTOUN TO THE FISHER SQUARES
Full-length run of this popular tour! Beginning at St Clement’s Kirk, the old Parish Church of Fittie, (Fittie, never Footdee, an over-correction of the old Celtic word for a sheepfold) we take a walk through the forgotten areas now dominated by the harbour precinct. Learn about the origins of Aberdeen’s most ancient fishing community, dating back to the 12th century when the fishers of Pockraw were the tenants of the Bishops of Old Aberdeen and looking into its rebirth as the city’s first Victorian council estate, and home to the city’s most famous shipyard, Hall Russell’s. And then on to the famous Fisher Squares, built 1807-09, designed by city architect, John Smith (aka Tudor Johnny).
MEET: Outside East St Clement's Church, Church Street, Footdee AB11 7FU (MAP)
STARTS: 1pm
DURATION: 2hrs approx
TICKETS: Click HERE to book online or book in person at the Visit Scotland hub on Shiprow
SUNDAY 19 MAY 2019:
KIRK OF ST. NICHOLAS - GRAVEYARD TOUR
Revival of an old tour, looking at our city's famous dead. The Kirk of St Nicholas, affectionately known as 'the Mither Kirk', being the earliest known church in the city, hosts the graves of many famous sons and daughters of Aberdeen, including architects, academics, showmen, medics, ministers, philanthropists and body-snatchers to mention but a few! We hope to create more graveyard tours soon, Trinity, St Machar, St Fitticks, Nigg, are all on my list!
MEET: Schoolhill Lodge, Kirk of St Nicholas, Schoolhill, AB10 1HF (MAP)
STARTS: 2pm
DURATION: 2hrs approx
TICKETS: Click HERE to book online or book in person at the Visit Scotland hub on Shiprow
MONDAY 20 MAY 2019:
ABERDEEN'S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Beginning in Rosemount, we drop down to the lost artisan street of Hardweird at the foot of Jack's Brae where several different mill workings were based. Then, we pass the iconic art deco Rosemount Square, once the site of a jam factory which has links with a London-based football team! Down into Gilcomston, there are many sites to investigate including Broadfords and the various mills, distillery and brewery which made use of the streams which originally fed the old loch of Aberdeen.
We then focus on Hutcheon Street and the Gallowgate, which include the Combworks, the Porthill Factory, 'Soapy' Ogstons and the McKinnon Ironworks of Spring Garden. We round off with one of the most weel-kent sites, "Soapy" Ogston's or Ogston & Tennant Soap & Candle manufacturers. A must for industrial history fans! A fairly strenuous walk, wear sensible shoes!
MEET: Outside Bon-Accord Free Church, Rosemount Viaduct, AB25 1NS (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: 2hr approx
ENDS: The Soap Factory, 111 Gallowgate, Aberdeen AB25 1BU (MAP)
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2019:
LOST LOCHLANDS - GEORGE STREET & ENVIRONS
Beginning from the site of the old Loch of Aberdeen, we take a trip back in time to recall the shops, churches, schools, cinemas and public baths which were situated in this area. Many folk will remember ‘The Rubber Shop’, Isaac Benzies, Maxwells, the City Cinema, St Paul's School, and the Grandie (Grand Central Cinema) – we hope to recreate those memories and reveal more about medieval George St and the Lochlands when the loch was still the main source of water for the city.
A circular walk beginning and ending at John Lewis', George Street. Suitable for wheelchair users. Total length 1.48 miles
MEET: John Lewis Store, George Street, AB25 1BW (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: 2hr approx
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
THURSDAY 23 MAY 2019:
LOST CINEMAS OF ABERDEEN
Div ye mind gaun tae the picters? Paying with jam jars? Saturday morning specials? Then this tour is bound to appeal! Meeting outside the old Odeon, Justice Mill Lane, which started life as one of Aberdeen's many silver screens from the age of cinema, this tour takes you on a journey into cinematic history, recalling the early days to the high point of the 40s and 50s to the sad decline of our picture palaces to leave us with only four functioning cinemas out of a previous total of around 35. We can't promise to cover them all, but the selection on the walk represents the Union St cluster of the city's picture houses, 'flechy' or otherwise!
Cinemas include: ODEON/ REGENT, WEST END/ PLAYHOUSE, CAPITOL/ ELECTRIC, LA SCALA/ MAJESTIC, SAVOY, MUSIC HALL, PICTUREDROME/ CINEMA HOUSE, NEWS CINEMA/ CURZON/ COSMO2, GAUMONT/ PICTURE HOUSE, BELMONT/ NEW KINEMA/ COLLISEUM
Suitable for all ages
MEET: Old Odeon, Justice Mill Lane (Now Nuffield Health Club) (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
END: Belmont Filmhouse, Belmont St
DURATION: 2 hrs approx
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
SATURDAY 25 MAY 2019: MINI TOURS DAY
FITTIE: ABERDEEN'S PLANNED FISHER VILLAGE 2PM
A brand-new addition to our mini-tours series; beginning on Pocra Quay near the site of the original Block House, a stone fort first erected in the 15th century to protect the city from "English invaders", we follow the fall and rise of the fisher residents of the Kirktoun of Futty, who forced the council into providing them a new home when harbour development threatened to obliterate the old village of Pockraw in the late 18th century. Featuring the picturesque Fisher Squares, designed by city architect, John Smith aka "Tudor Johnny", who also designed the new St Clements' Kirk in 1828.
MEET: Footdee War Memorial, Pocra Quay, AB11 5DQ (MAP)
STARTS: 2pm
ENDS: Roundhouse, Pocra Quay
DURATION: 1hr approx
TICKETS: £5 all tickets; Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY 2019:
THE OLD KING'S HIGHWAY
Trying a new twist on an old tour! Meeting at the start of the "Old Kings Highway", that is, the ancient route from the city's medieval border at Windmill Brae, we head for the Lang Stane and Justice Mill Lane, sites of battles past, head down onto the old Hardgate, the one-time main drove road into Aberdeen from the south. Following the route of the Howburn (transmuted to Holburn St), we cross into the lost suburb of Pitmuxton, see the old Holburn St station site, and head past Outseats House, the home of the Blaikie family, which included two provosts, lawyers, a doctor and the city's first master plumber, John Blaikie, then we join Riverside Drive, architect, John Forbes Beattie's vision for a grand carriageway, over the Packhorse Brig and finishing at the Brig o Dee, which has stood for over 5 centuries as the southern entrance to the burgh of Aberdeen. Full details HERE
A ramblers' special, our longest walk at 3.16 miles - therefore fairly strenuous and not suitable for those with mobility problems.
MEET: Outside To-Go Pizza & Kebab Takeway, 6 Bath Street, Windmill Brae AB11 6HY (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2.25hr
END: Brig of Dee/ Riverside Drive
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
THURSDAY 30 MAY 2019:
TALES OF OLD TOUR (FULL LENGTH TOUR)
We begin at the foot of Sinclair Road, near the heart of the old fisher village, once an independent royal burgh, now a forgotten suburb, come and learn the stories and history of the former Kincardineshire settlement, which finally became part of Aberdeen City in 1891. Including, Torry's early times as property of the Abbot of Arbroath, the lost fisher village, which suffered demolition twice, once in 1872 as a result of the Dee's reroute, and once in 1971, when the oil industry swept all before it. There's the sad story of the sinking of the Oscar, the superstitions of the fisherfolk who defied the kirk to carry out old rituals, and the development of Victoria Road following the herring boom. Full details HERE.
MEET: Junction of Baxter Street and Sinclair Road (Outside former Torry Bar) (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 2.25hr
END: Victoria Bridge
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
MONDAY 3 JUNE 2019:
THE UNION STREET TOUR - ABERDEEN'S MODERN HEART
Union Street represented the break with and indeed the destruction of the medieval city as it cut through the old, crowded streets and lead the way to a new development at the far side of the Denburn Valley which had once been the border of the burgh. This tour aims to show a little of what was there before, including a look at the vaults, the piers which hold up our main street, as well as explaining the fight the business community had to persuade the council to go ahead with this new development. Full details HERE.
MEET: Outside Town House (Union St Entrance), AB10 1AR (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hr
END: Holburn Junction
TICKETS: Adults £10/ Concessions £8; Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
SATURDAY 8 JUNE 2019: MINI TOUR DAY
OLD ABERDEEN SECRETS & STORIES 11AM
A zip through Old Aberdeen's history comparing the 20th century and medieval quadrangles, hearing the stories of Elphinstone Hall, New Kings and 16th century Kings College; visit the hidden remains of the 15th century Snow Kirk and the tales attached to the post-Reformation Powis estate represented today by the impressive gates which replicated the former towers in the old quad. One of our series of mini tours suitable for all ages
MEET: Front of Elphinstone Hall, Kings Lawn, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3FX (MAP)
START: 11am
END: Kings Quad
DURATION: 1hr approx
TICKETS: £5 all tickets. Click HERE to book online or in person at Visit Scotland, Shiprow.
SUNDAY 9 JUNE 2019:
KIRK OF ST. NICHOLAS - GRAVEYARD TOUR
Revival of an old tour, looking at our city's famous dead. The Kirk of St Nicholas, affectionately known as 'the Mither Kirk', being the earliest known church in the city, hosts the graves of many famous sons and daughters of Aberdeen, including architects, academics, showmen, medics, ministers, philanthropists and body-snatchers to mention but a few! We hope to create more graveyard tours soon, Trinity, St Machar, St Fitticks, Nigg, are all on my list!
MEET: Schoolhill Lodge, Kirk of St Nicholas, Schoolhill, AB10 1HF (MAP)
STARTS: 2pm
DURATION: 2hrs approx
TICKETS: Click HERE to book online or book in person at the Visit Scotland hub on Shiprow
MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019: NEW TOUR LAUNCH
KING STREET CHRONICLES: ABERDEEN'S BORDERLANDS 2
Second in our series of "Borderlands" tours; looking at King Street, laid out 1808-10, opening up the new-look Georgian town and studded with silvery granite edifices designed by the city's two top architects, John Smith and Archibald Simpson. But nearby were all the reminders of the burgh's gritty past; Shuttle Lane, home of thieves and hoors; the Modeller, home to vagrants and alcoholics; and the fears of what went on behind closed doors at the Medico-Chirurgical Hall. There were innovations to follow, Tudor Johnny's own home was later used as the city's very first eye clinic before it moved to Woolmanhill; the North Kirk transformed into the Arts Centre, and the city's doyen of children's drama, Catherine Hollingworth began the Children's Theatre in an old Victorian mansion, now connected to both the Arts Centre and Archie Simpson House. Packed with other wee gems of forgotten history, this walk will bring back the lost landscape of the 1800s and early 1900s when King St was a proud showpiece of its north-eastern border.
MEET: Gordon Highlanders' Statue, Castlegate, AB11 5BQ (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: 2hrs approx
END: TBC
TICKETS: £10/8. Click HERE to book online or book in person at the Visit Scotland hub on Shiprow
FRIDAY 21 JUNE:BURKERS & BODYSNATCHERS
MURKY MEDICAL MISDOINGS IN ABERDEEN
Back again for a second run! Learn of the murky medical doings of the surgeons, students and professional resurrectionists in the city from the 1800s to the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832 which put an end to the theft of bodies from cemeteries and legalised the supply of corpses to medical research.
Featuring: the great riot of Hospital Row, when Dr Andrew Moir’s anatomy theatre was torn to the ground by angry citizens; the tale of the half-anatomised man who didn’t quite live to tell his side of the story; the tale of Twice-Buried Mary, the bride who wasn’t quite the corpse! Meet Satan Sangster, the graverobber of Spital Kirkyard who doubled as a nightwatchman at the Gallowgate Port - find out why he had such a nasty nickname! This and other gruesome goings-on inspired by the deeds of the “burkers” of Aberdeen are shared on this city-centre "ghost tour" special.
MEET: Robert the Bruce's Statue, Marischal College, Broad St (MAP)
ENDS: Littlejohn Street, near Six Degrees North (craft beer pub)
STARTS: 7.30pm (be there at least 10min before start)
DURATION: Approx 2hr
TICKETS: £12/10. Click HERE to book online or book in person at the Visit Scotland hub on Shiprow
New dates will be added very soon!
Please note, if dates are not shown it means there are no tours planned yet for those dates or they are free for private bookings.
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