Alford

The Howe of Alford is an attractive village situated near the River Don. Alford is 25 miles west of Aberdeen, a rural stretch of countryside with hills all around. Alford was once, a thriving market town, not so long ago. Set in the heart of rural Aberdeenshire, the land around Alford reared some of the finest beef cattle, like the popular Aberdeen Angus. The Howe of Alford is now a fertile basin bisected by the River Don, settlement in earlier times avoided heavier soils of the Howe, focusing on the well drained slopes instead. The village was the terminus of the Vale of Alford Railway which opened in 1859. The Alford Valley Railway, a railway of south central Aberdeenshire, it runs 16 1/2 miles westward, a journey of 65 minutes by the stations of Kemnay, Monymusk, Tillyfourie and Whitehouse to Alford village.

Grampian Transport Museum

The Grampian Transport Museum, displays various types of transport through the ages, a large collection of cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, horse drawn and steam vehicles, vintage snowploughs and the 'Craigievar Express', the steam tricycle built in 1895 by an ingenious local inventor, a local postman "Postie Lawson" built it to help him on his round. The history of the museum can be traced back to the early 1970s. Plans were laid for the reconstruction of the station building for the use as a Railway Museum for the construction of an exhibition hall to house road transport exhibits, work started in 1982 and the museum in its present form opened in 1983.

Alford Today

Alford today, is a popular tourist destination, with the coreen hills to the north and Bennachie North-east. A few minutes by road south of Alford is Craigevar Castle, a pinkish seven-storey L-plan tower with lots of little turrets. The castle was completed in 1626 by William Forbes, brother of the bishop of Aberdeen. Inside the castle is the great fireplace, the Queen's bedroom, painted ceilings and the servants quarters. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland after centuries in the hands of the Forbes and Forbes-Sempill. Kildrummy Castle is also nearby surrounded by lovely gardens and woodlands. The castle is a grand mansion house with richly panelled and tapestried walls and an ornately carved staircase, the windows overlook the castle ruins and the gardens.