Alford

Craigievar Castle

Alford, pronounced without the "L", lies on slightly rising ground just to the south of the River Don as it makes its stately progress towards Aberdeen and the sea.

Alford Main Street Alford Episcopal Church Paper Shop

It was the river, or rather the bridge that Thomas Telford built over it in the early 1800s, that started Alford's growth. What really got things rolling, however, was the building here of the Haughton Arms Hotel in 1850. In 1859, Alford also became the terminus of the Alford Valley Railway which connected the village to the main network through Aberdeen, and its future was assured.

In more recent times Alford has benefitted from its relative proximity to Aberdeen and the oil wealth created there. This has led to a steady growth in services, amenities and population.

The Haughton Arms

Alford Valley Railway

Alford lost its railway in 1966, in common with much of the rest of rural Britain. Unlike much of the rest of Britain, however, Alford regained its railway after the 1966 cuts. In 1983 it became the location of the Grampian Transport Museum, on the north side of the centre of the village. In 1985 the Alford Valley Railway Museum introduced a passenger service on a mile of 2 foot gauge track. Not as a means of transport to anywhere in particular, simply for the joy of travelling such a nice railway to nearby Haughton Park. Visit our separate Feature Pages on the Transport and Railway museums to find out more.

Today's Alford is an attractive place built largely of reassuringly substantial grey stone. The Haughton Arms Hotel still dominates the centre of the village, but is now set within a broad street of shops and large houses. As well as the transport and railway museums it offers residents and visitors a Heritage Centre, a dry ski slope, a swimming pool, and a golf club. It also offers a large parkland camping and caravanning site in Haughton Country Park.

A few miles outside Alford is Craigievar Castle. This is an attractive and very large tower house built in 1626. Viewed end-on as shown on this page, its turrets and spires give it a slightly Disney-esque air. From the side it has a fascinating curve and looks for all the world like the reddish conning-tower of an exceptionally large submarine.

Craigievar Castle has provide so popular that is guardians, the National Trust for Scotland, have been actively not marketing it for some years. By 1995 it was becoming clear that the large numbers of visitors was leading to damage to the structure of the castle, and its plaster ceilings in particular. After a period of closure for restoration and repair it has now reopened, but visitors are admitted only for guided tours, and only in small groups.