Cults, Aberdeen

Cults Scottish Gaelic: A' Chùilt Scots: Cults
Population	3,500 + (2005)
OS grid reference	NJ895031
Council area	City of Aberdeen
Lieutenancy area	Aberdeenshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ABERDEEN
Postcode district	AB15
Dialling code	01224
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Aberdeen South
Scottish Parliament	Aberdeen South and North Kincardine

An aerial shot of Cults, River Dee and Inchgarth reservoir

Cults (/ˈkʌlts/ KULTS) is a suburb on the western edge of Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies on the banks of the River Dee and marks the eastern boundary of Royal Deeside.

Cults, known for its historic granite housing, sits approximately six miles from the coast of the North Sea. Cults maintains village status and many of the societial structures found in a country village, despite its proximity to the west of the City of Aberdeen. The name is a corruption of Coilltean, the Scottish Gaelic word for "Woods". Along with the adjoining village of Bieldside, Cults is known as a wealthy area; it has been recognised as the second wealthiest area in Scotland in a recent survey. There are various green spaces in Cults, the largest of these being Allan Park, a public park situated near the golf club and the River Dee. The park is also home to the Cults Cricket Club.

History

Originally, Cults had two railway stations on the Royal Deeside Railway Line before the line was closed in the middle of the 20th century. The route has since been converted into a cycle path which leads to Duthie Park in Aberdeen in one direction and further into Deeside in the other, running alongside Cults' public park, Allan Park. Cults was also on a tram route between Aberdeen and Bieldside, operated by the Aberdeen Suburban Tramways Company until 1927. Today, public transport to Aberdeen takes the form of buses.

Notable people

• Rev Thomas Jackson Crawford DD FRSE was minister of Cults, living in the manse
• Sir Alex Ferguson
• Anna (Nan) Shepherd, writer, literary critic and teacher
• Archibald Smith, recipient of the Victoria Cross

Amenities

Cults is served by a variety of small shops, churches, modest-sized hotels and eateries, mostly situated in the village centre. Key amongst them are the Kelly of Cults supermarket, a local family-run grocer and bakery which dates back over 100 years; the golf-themed Cults Hotel; the Deeside Golf Club (shared with Bieldside.) Similarly, the local shop situated on Kirk Brae (commonly known as 'Archie's') has been a mainstay of Cults since the 1970s. Cults is also home to the Cults Parish Church, which was formed by the merger of the Cults East and Cults West parishes, with the buildings of the former now housing an outreach centre. Cults was also once home to the Stakis-owned Royal Darroch Hotel which exploded on an October morning in 1983 due to gas build up, killing 6 staff and guests. A few chain stores, such as Tesco Express, Costa Coffee, Lloyds Pharmacy and Subway have branches in Cults, along with the Clydesdale Bank and the Bank of Scotland.

Education

There are four main schools in the village: the state-run Cults Primary School and Cults Academy (one of Scotland's top-performing secondary schools), and the independent Waldorf School. The village is also only a short drive from the International School of Aberdeen (ISA) in Pitfodles and a complex of Waldorf/Steiner Camphill schools in Bieldside.

External links

• Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council
• Cults Academy Online
• Cults Primary Online
• The Cults Hotel