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Ellon, Aberdeenshire

Coordinates: 57°21′58″N 2°05′10″W / 57.366°N 02.086°W / 57.366; -02.086
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Ellon
River Ythan at Ellon
Ellon is located in Aberdeenshire
Ellon
Ellon
Location within Aberdeenshire
Population9,860 (2006)[1]
OS grid referenceNJ948306
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townELLON
Postcode districtAB41
Dialling code01358
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
57°21′58″N 2°05′10″W / 57.366°N 02.086°W / 57.366; -02.086

Ellon (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine. Its name is believed to derive from the Gaelic term Eilean, an island, on account of the presence of an island in the River Ythan, which offered a convenient fording point.[2]

Places of interest

Places of interest within the town include the ruins of Ellon Castle, surrounded by walls known as the Deer Dyke, and the Auld Brig, a category A listed bridge across the Ythan, built in 1793 and still in use as a pedestrian bridge.

The Riverside Park offers walkways alongside the Ythan, from which herons, salmon, trout and otters may be observed.

In 2013, a new 5.5 acre eco-brewery, owned and crowdfunded by BrewDog, was opened in a greenfield site just outside of Ellon.

Education

The town has three primary schools:

  • Ellon Primary School
  • Auchterellon Primary School
  • Meiklemill Primary School

Each of these schools has some type of greenspace as well as a concrete playground. These schools feed into Ellon Academy, the local secondary school, which currently has a roll of about 1200 students; however, due to ongoing residential development in the area that figure is expected to rise. A new school (Ellon Academy) was opened in July 2015, on the outskirts of Ellon.

Leisure

Ellon has a community centre, which includes a swimming pool and café.[3]

The Ythan Centre is a building dedicated to serving the needs of Ellon's teenage population. This facility includes a soundproofed room where amateur bands can practise and a large hall with roof to floor length mirrors, which the dance group Refresh uses for their weekly practice.[citation needed]

The Meadows sports centre,[4] located on the outskirts of Ellon, has many sporting facilities and clubs, including football and rugby pitches, an astroturf pitch for hockey, a gym, and a multi-use sports hall. The Meadows is also home to the Ellon United football team, the Ellon RFC and the Ellon HC.

Media

The town has two weekly newspapers: the Ellon Times, published on Thursdays by Angus County Press and the Ellon Advertiser, published on Fridays by Peters of Turriff.

Housing

Ellon has benefited from the North Sea oil demand, and is one of the main dormitory towns for Aberdeen. It is part of the proposed Energetica corridor of development.[5] The population is expanding as young families seek to escape Aberdeen and move to nearby towns like Ellon, Inverurie and Banchory. During 2006, Ellon ranked as the town with the fourth most rapidly increasing average house prices in Scotland.[citation needed]

Transport

Ellon is bypassed by the A90 road, which offers convenient access to Aberdeen to the south and Peterhead and Fraserburgh to the north. Other major road links are the A920 west to Oldmeldrum and Huntly, and the A948 north to New Deer.

Regular and frequent bus services link Ellon with Aberdeen, Inverurie, Peterhead, Fraserburgh and surrounding towns and villages, serving both the town centre and the large Park and Ride facility at the eastern edge of the town.[6]

Ellon railway station was a principal station on the Great North of Scotland Railway line that ran from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and Peterhead. Due to the Beeching Axe, passenger services were withdrawn on the Formartine and Buchan Railway line in 1965. Freight services continued on the line until 1979 (Fraserburgh only, the Maud-Peterhead section was closed in 1970), at which point the entire line was closed.

The former railway line was purchased by Grampian Regional Council in 1981, and is now part of the National Cycling Route network.

Due to the population expansion since the North Sea Oil boom, the A90 has become overloaded between Aberdeen, Ellon and Peterhead. The Aberdeen Crossrail project has looked at reopening sections of the former railway, however as of March 2009 this is still unlikely.

The Boddam Branch that ran to Boddam via Cruden Bay started at Ellon. This closed in 1945.

Notable people

References

  1. ^ General Register Office for Scotland, 2006 population estimate Archived 2008-12-06 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 12 October 2009
  2. ^ Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership Archived 2007-01-24 at the Wayback Machine accessed 5 September 2009
  3. ^ Located in the new Ellon Academy. Ellon Swimming Pool & Community Centre Archived 2009-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Meadows Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Energetica Archived 2010-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Park and Ride details Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine accessed 5 September 2009
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