Pocket Mountains - The Dee - From Source To Sea

Pocket Mountains - The Dee - From Source to Sea

Rivers have been at the centre of Scottish life for thousands of years. For the earliest settlers a river meant survival – a source of food, drinking water and transport.
Over the centuries villages, towns and all of Scotland’s cities have grown and developed along the banks of a river. From the Industrial Revolution, when Scotland was one of the manufacturing powerhouses of Europe, until the long decline of heavy industry in the 20th century, rivers were integral to Scotland’s economic development. As towns and cities attempt to reinvent themselves in the wake of that decline, rivers and riverbanks are crucial to regeneration, providing key destinations for residential developments, offices, leisure and recreation.

The River Dee

‘Every year my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise’. Queen Victoria wrote these words about her beloved Deeside, and her name has become synonymous with the region ever since she first visited in 1842. A few years later Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased Balmoral Castle – and the River Dee and the truly awe-inspiring landscape it flows through was put on the international map. Thousands of tourists flock here every year from all corners of the globe for the scenery, wildlife and history. It is a landscape of extremes, offering a wonderful range of walks. The River Dee is bounded by some of the highest mountains in Britain, where conditions can turn from benign to ferocious in an instant, providing some of the most testing but invigorating walking environments to be found.

The River Dee plummets from the mountain slopes, then decelerates as the landscape softens and the gradient eases, but continues to provide walking terrain that is never less than inspiring before culminating at Aberdeen. The 25 routes in this guidebook have been chosen to illustrate the varied landscapes, and thus the diversity of walking, to be found on and near the banks of the River Dee as it travels from source to sea. Many of these routes are circular to take in the best of the scenery in the area around each stage of the river's journey and to explore some of the most interesting towns and villages that have sprung up along its banks. The walks also highlight the wildlife, architecture and history to be found along the way.

The Cairngorms

On its 87-mile passage from the wilds of the Cairngorm plateau to bustling Aberdeen, the River Dee travels through an iconic mountain landscape. It has the highest source of any river in the British Isles – beginning almost 4000ft above sea level at the springs of the Wells of Dee, which sit beneath the mountain summits of Braeriach and Cairn Toul, respectively the third and fourth highest mountains in Britain, before dropping over dramatic cliffs to depart from the plateau at the Falls of Dee. Across the famous Lairig Ghru mountain pass to the northeast a number of watercourses descend from the slopes of Braeriach and Ben Macdui into the Pools of Dee, the waters flowing south to join the infant Dee below the slopes of Ben Macdui. After the Chest of Dee waterfalls, the river swings more decisively eastwards for the remainder of its journey, gathering force as it is quickly joined by a number of its main tributaries. On the way, it tumbles down gorges, through remnants of the great Caledonian Pine Forest and other ancient woodland, along lochs and through historic towns and villages such as Braemar, Crathie, Ballater and Banchory to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The Dee is the fifth longest river in Scotland and the 14th longest in Britain.

A significant role in shaping the River Dee has been played by the Cairngorms. Some 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age, glaciation scoured the glens and pushed the land above the 600m mark, forming what is called the montane zone, which provides a harsh but pivotal habitat for a unique collection of flora and fauna. A snow reservoir provides the Dee with a source of fresh, clean water allowing trout and salmon to thrive and also creates a vital home for the globally endangered freshwater pearl mussel. The river is internationally famous for its trout and salmon fishing, contributing several million pounds annually to the local economy. Away from the big, brutish mountains of the Cairngorms, hills such as Bennachie, Morrone and Scolty Hill line the River Dee, a little more accessible but nonetheless affording exceptional panoramas from their summits. The neighbouring lochs, estates, castles, grounds and rivers – the Lui, Muick and Tanar are some of the Dee’s main tributaries – offer superb walking.

Royal Deeside

It was the arrival of Queen Victoria, which propelled Deeside – or Royal Deeside as it subsequently became known – into the place for wealthy Victorians to spend their holidays. The arrival of the railway between 1853 and 1866 not only allowed the well-heeled to holiday with family and servants, but enabled the less well-off to spend time in Royal Deeside. Many of the Victorian buildings in towns such as Ballater and Banchory were constructed during this tourist boom. Ballater Railway Station was the terminus for the Deeside line, as Queen Victoria did not want the railway to continue to Braemar, where she felt it would run too close to her home. Horse-drawn carriages transported royal residents and their guests – including the Czar of Russia in 1896 – the few miles to Balmoral. Better roads and accessibility also allowed the Cairngorm plateau to be explored properly for the first time, with hillwalking and mountaineering becoming extremely popular from the Victorian era onwards. The last passenger train pulled out of Ballater Station in 1966, but the Royal Deeside Line is currently being restored, with a short section of the line already open. Royal Deeside remains incredibly popular with tourists, and the British monarchy still use Balmoral Castle as their official summer residence.

Granite City

Tourism has certainly brought prosperity to the people and places along the River Dee, but nothing has had such a profound effect on the local economy as the discovery of oil off the Aberdeenshire coast in the early 1970s. Aberdeen became known as the ‘Oil Capital of Europe’, and it is estimated that the number of jobs created in and around Aberdeen by the energy industry exceeds half a million. Over the last 30 years, the population of Aberdeen City and Shire has risen from 55,000 to nearly 460,000, and much of this is due to the energy sector. Peak production for oil will reach its limit over the next few decades but Aberdeen is busy re-inventing itself as the renewable energy capital of Europe. Oil is not Aberdeen’s first big industry. Granite has been used to striking effect in many of the city’s buildings – hence the name, the Granite City – and the quarrying of it has taken place for several centuries, whilst both fishing and shipbuilding grew from the 15th century onwards. Strong trade links were formed with Germany and the Baltic region, particularly through the export of wool, and during the late 19th century more than 200 fishing boats were based here. Aberdeen Harbour is regularly referred to as the oldest business in Britain, and it still accounts for 11,000 jobs today. Aberdeen is a beautiful city to walk around, its history and architecture on a par with any of Britain’s finest cities.

How to use this guide

The 25 routes in this guidebook run geographically from the Upper Dee and the area around the river’s source to the Lower Dee at Aberdeen where it empties into the sea. Wherever possible, the start/finish for each walk is easily accessible by public transport and, if not, there is car parking nearby. The majority of the walks are also easily reached from the villages and towns along the length of the River Dee, with access to shops, places to eat, accommodation and public toilets. Each route begins with an introduction detailing the terrain walked, the start/finish point (and relevant grid reference), the distance covered, the average time to walk the route and the relevant Ordnance Survey (OS) map. Public transport information is also detailed, although this may change from time to time and should be checked before commencing any of the walks in this guide (travelinescotland.com). A sketch map shows the main topographical details of the area and the route. The map is intended only to give the reader an idea of the terrain, and should not be followed for navigation – the relevant OS map should be used for this purpose. Every route has an estimated round-trip time. This is for rough guidance only and should help in planning, especially when daylight hours are limited. In winter, or after heavy rain, extra time should also be added for difficult conditions underfoot.

Risks and how to avoid them

Some of the routes in this guidebook are challenging hillwalks whilst others cover remoter terrain. The weather in Scotland can change suddenly, reducing visibility to only a few yards. Winter walking brings distinct challenges, particularly the limited daylight hours and the temperature – over higher ground, temperatures can fall well below freezing. Please take this into consideration before commencing any of the walks in this guide. Preparation for a walk should begin well before you set out, and your choice of route should reflect your fitness, the conditions underfoot and the regional weather forecasts.