Skene Parish Church

Loch of Skene is a large lowland, freshwater loch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) to the west of the village of Kirkton of Skene and 9 mi (14 km) west of Aberdeen.The loch is partially man-made, being dammed at its outflow on the southern shore to form a reservoir. Before 1905, water from the loch was used in the making of tweed and to turn the mill wheel at the Garlogie Mills. When the mills closed in 1905 the water was used to generate electricity. The loch is about 6 foot deep at its deepest.

Elrick (Scottish Gaelic: An Eilreig) is a small village on the A944 road 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) west of the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. The name derives from a Gaelic word meaning a place where deer were driven for hunting. Elrick is also a common surname in the local area. Stagecoach operate services 5 & 6A to & from the city via Queens Road. Also 218 Alford -Foresterhill - Aberdeen. It is to the south and west of Westhill.

Garlogie (Scottish Gaelic: Geàrr Lagaidh) is a roadside hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was, during the 19th century, the site of a textile milling settlement using water from Loch of Skene. The mill is now a museum. Garlogie also has an inn. To the southwest, there is a gas compression and odourisation station which forms part of the National Gas Network.

Westhill is a suburban town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located 7 miles (11 km) west of the city of Aberdeen.

Cullerlie stone circle, also known as the Standing Stones of Echt, is a small stone circle situated near Echt, Aberdeenshire. It consists of eight irregular stones of red granite arranged at approximately equal intervals to form a circle of 10.2 m (33 ft) diameter, enclosing the same number of small cairns. The cairns are characterised by outer kerbs or rings of stones, with a double ring surrounding the central cairn and a single ring in the others. All but one of the cairns have eleven ringstones, with the last having nine. The whole circle sits on a patch of gravel which forms the end of a low gravel ridge linking the site with Leuchar Moss. It is regarded as "a later development from the recumbent stone circle", though its layout with kerbed cairns within the circle makes it unique. At the time that the circle was built in the second millennium BC, the surrounding landscape was characterised by wet bogs, and the stones were transported to the site from higher ground some distance away. The tallest of the stones marks the north side of the circle. They vary in height from 1.09 m (3.6 ft) to 1.80 m (5.9 ft). A 2004 survey of the site discovered that several of the stones had been carved with previously unnoticed cup marks.Excavations carried out in 1934 by H. E. Kilbride-Jones on behalf of the Ministry of Works, showed that the circle was built in stages. The entire site had first been cleared, leveled and burned by setting fire to piles of willow twigs. Then came the outer stones, with their bases shaped into points to make them more stable in their gravel bed. They have been somewhat eroded over time by acidic peat eating away the lower portions of the stones. Oak and hazel were burned within the stone rings, leaving charcoal behind, and cremated human bones were deposited in the ashes within five of the rings. They were then filled with smaller stones to create the cairns visible today.The circle may once have had several companions. In 1820 James Logan wrote: "The small Circles contained in the larger present a curious singularity; and it is also remarkable that, at a short distance to the southwest, are nine others of similar dimensions." However, when the site was excavated in 1934, no trace of these satellite circles could be found.

Westhill Academy is an Aberdeenshire Council secondary school in Westhill, near Aberdeen, Scotland, serving the Westhill, Elrick and Skene areas of Aberdeenshire as well as some students from Kingswells. Its main feeder schools are Westhill Primary, Crombie Primary School, Elrick Primary, Skene Primary and Kingswells Primary. School transport, before and after school, is provided for students who live in Skene. Pupils from nearby Kingswells, which is in the neighbouring Aberdeen City council area, are at liberty to use the regular bus services which exist between the two towns. Westhill Academy opened in the autumn of 1979 with buildings designed to accommodate 500 pupils. The school was extended in 1982 and then again in 1996 raising the capacity of the school to 1000 pupils. The roll of the school, in recent years, has fluctuated between 890 and 1200 pupils. In 2019 the school celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was celebrated by inviting current and ex staff members to look at year books and to see how it has changed through the years.There has been much talk about expanding the school yet again or even building a new school elsewhere in Westhill due to the town's rising population but no plans have been made official. The 2014 local development plan estimated that the school would be at 91% capacity by 2016.

Kinellar is a small but ancient human settlement in Aberdeenshire between Kintore and Dyce just off the A96. It is said that the etymology appears to link to "Caen-ell-er", meaning "the end point of the great battle", reflecting the tradition of a bloody pursuit and defeat of an invading Danish force ending around Kinellar and supported by numerous burial mounds in the parish. However, this theory does not hold weight as the name Kinellar was only adopted in the early 19th century and the land was previously known as Glasgowego/Glasgoego.The parish church lies on or close to a Druidic circle which is largely eradicated but two stones are incorporated in the churchyard wall. An ancient chapel stood in the centre of the circle and indicates an unbroken religious function for several millennia. An aerial photograph of 1978 placed the circle mainly south of the churchyard but intersecting with its south wall.In pre-Reformation times the parish was linked to Kinkell and this link lasted until 1649. The old parish church has a font dated 1534 and the bell-tower was erected in 1615. This was replaced by a new church in 1801.

Blackburn is a rapidly growing village northwest of Aberdeen, Scotland, and is situated in Aberdeenshire. Local amenities include an industrial estate, primary school, nursing home, post office, Starbucks Drive Thru, local Co-op and a community hall which was publicly opened by The Princess Royal on 2 March 2005.

The new Aberdeen stadium is a football stadium under early stages of construction in Kingswells, Aberdeen, Scotland. The new stadium, called Kingsford Stadium, would be the home of Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen FC to replace the existing Pittodrie Stadium. The development, 10.4 kilometres (6.5 mi) to the west of Aberdeen city centre, received planning approval from Aberdeen City Council in January 2018. Construction began in July 2018, with the first phase, a training facility named Cormack Park, opened in October 2019. The stadium had been scheduled for completion by 2023, but in the midst of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, the club confirmed that the project had been put on hiatus, and in 2021 alternative designs at the city's beachfront close to Pittodrie were released.

Drum Castle is a castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. For centuries it was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine. The place-name Drum is derived from Gaelic druim, 'ridge'. The site is located approximately 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 kilometres) northeast of Banchory and 3 miles (5 kilometres) west of Peterculter. The property is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public.

Leuchar Burn is a stream that rises in the Loch of Skene, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland Initially near the headwaters Leuchar Burn flows in a southerly course; as it approaches the Royal Deeside, the watercourse rotates to the southeast, ultimately forming a boundary between Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City. The stream then veers southerly once again before merging to the Culter Burn, which joins the River Dee at the village of Peterculter.

Culter Junior Football Club is a Scottish football club from the village of Peterculter, a suburb of Aberdeen. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently play in the SJFA North Superleague. The club are based at Crombie Park and their colours are red and white. Culter made history, along with Linlithgow Rose and Pollok by becoming the first Junior football teams to enter the first round proper of the Scottish Cup for the 2007–08 competition. This was due to the SFA allowing up to four Junior teams to enter, if those teams had won one of the three Super Leagues or the Scottish Junior Cup. They have played in the Cup on five occasions, in 2007–08, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2023–24, reaching the third round on the first three occasions. The team have been managed since November 2018 by Lee Youngson.