Aboyne

The name “Aboyne” is derived from “Oboyne”, first recorded in 1260, in turn derived from the Gaelic words “abh”, “bo”, and “fionn”, meaning “[place by] white cow river”.[7]

The locale was inhabited since very early times with the west wing of Aboyne Castle dated to 1671 AD.[8] The siting of the castle itself is related to the limited number of the crossings of the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains to the south.[9] In 1715 Aboyne was the scene of a tinchal, or great hunt, organised by John Erskine, sixth Earl of Mar, on 3 September, as a cover for the gathering of Jacobite nobles and lairds to discuss a planned Jacobite rising. The uprising began three days later in Braemar.[10]

Aboyne has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), similar to most of the United Kingdom. Due to its high inland position in Scotland, Aboyne can record some very low temperatures and some high snowfall. Conversely, temperatures can reach exceptional values for the latitude, particularly during the winter months due to the foehn effect; it holds the January and March record for the highest temperatures in Scotland, with 18.3 °C on 26 January 2003 and 23.6 °C on 27 March 2012. The former is also the UK's highest January temperature on record, which it shares with Inchmarlo, Kincardineshire and Aber, Gwynedd. The February record for Scotland was broken on 21 February 2019 at 18.3 °C.[11]

Aboyne as seen from the "Fungle" footpath.

In summer, when tourists visit, the number of people and vehicles increases dramatically. The Highland Games on the Village Green features in August. Aboyne is unusual in having The Green on which events are held, as the village was modelled by one of the first Marquesses of Huntly (inhabitants of Aboyne Castle) on a traditional English village with a green at the centre. The green includes facilities for rugby and football and a play park as well as Aboyne Canoe Clubs storage facility 'The Canoe Cathedral'.

The British Royal Family are residents in nearby Balmoral Castle during the Summer.

Outdoor pursuits include golf, walking, cycling, mountain biking trails, kayaking, canoeing 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 (due to the surrounding terrain). The airfield has two parallel tarmac runways running east–west, a webcam[13] and small weather-monitoring centre[14] on its premises. Aboyne also contains a mountain biking facility at Aboyne Bike Park located in the Bellwood.

The old Aboyne Curling Club had its own private railway station, Aboyne Curling Pond railway station, at the Loch of Aboyne.

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 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 full-size swimming pool and gym run by the adjacent Deeside Community Centre.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aboyne.

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