THE LOWDOWN

Persley Bridge to join the path along the north bank of the River Don. We stopped to admire the Walled Garden, a hidden gem. The walled gardens were reclaimed from the world famous – but unfortunately now demolished – Crombie Mills Estate. It was acquired and restored by Aberdeen City Council in 1997 as part of the Scottish Trade Union Congress in commemoration of Workers’ Memorial Day.

Crossing the bridge, we joined the riverside path. There are several paper mill lades on this part of the river, showing how important this industry was in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Just west of Grandholme Village we came across the Mother Earth statue. The sculpture was created by Andy Scott and his assistant at the time, George Potter, and took around six months to complete, being installed on site in 2005.

Continuing east, we crossed the Diamond Bridge to pick up the path on the south bank of the river. Shortly after we came across the Donside Hydro – Aberdeen’s community power station, driven by the UK’s widest Archimedes screw. Since it started operating in September 2016 it has produced more than 1 million kilowatt hours of pollution-free energy from the River Don, which is sold to the national grid.

The path continued on to Donside Village, between the river and Tillydrone. Somewhat incongruously we passed a shop, Donside Stores, where we could have had a cold drink or ice cream had we wished. This was the site of the old Gordon Mill, which is evidenced by the “Papermill” theme to some of the street names.

A section of boardwalk then led us towards Seaton Park. We skirted the park and followed the path to Brig o’ Balgownie, always worth a stop for the view, before crossing the main road at the Bridge of Don crossing. We then headed for the Beach Esplanade, passing the bird hide of the Donside Nature Reserve on the way. Lesser known, and near to the bird hide, is the Omega Stone, the final of the Aberdeen March Stones marking the boundary of the ancient Freedom Lands.

There was a fresh southerly wind blowing, which hadn’t affected us until we turned south at the Windows To The Sea sculpture, created by Lourdes Cue, of the Scottish Sculpture Workshop at Lumsden and donated to the City by Mobil in 1984. The ebikes proved their worth against the wind and by the time we passed the Beach Ballroom we were ready for some sustenance. It had to be the Inversnecky, an Aberdeen fixture, allegedly founded in 1908. We had a light lunch there before pedalling the short distance to our destination, Fittie. Hazlehead to Footdee 12 miles

2 hours (3 hours with stops) Easy

The Omega Stone, the final of the Aberdeen March Stones