Deeside Way - Rails to trails

If people were given the power to travel back in time, most people might choose to travel back to some tragic event and change the future for the better. For example, you might wish to travel back to April 1912 and persuade the captain of the Titanic to take a different course; or to Linz in 1898 where you would slip into the bedroom of a young Adolf Hitler and smother him with a pillow. But on a sunny Sunday in Deeside when my cycling friend Graham asked the hypothetical question as we pedalled along the trail, the answer that popped into my head was travelling back to 1963 to derail the Beeching Report. Dr Beeching’s 1960s review of railway infrastructure led to a massive cull of our railway network. It’s never really recovered and the line closures were a crucial factor that set in place the move to car-based transport systems and the deterioration of our public transport networks. And we all know the problems that’s brought.

That might seem a slightly random answer to Graham’s question but not if you realised that we were cycling along the Deeside Way at the time. It’s a long distance walking and cycling trail that mostly uses the bed of the old Deeside Railway which was … you’ve guessed … closed by the Beeching Report. Mind you, in some ways I shouldn’t grumble because all over the country these old railway lines have been turned to cycle trails, offering easy, flat cycling away from traffic. But I think I’d rather have the trains back!

The Deeside Way runs for 41 miles between Aberdeen and Ballater, and we were cycling it as day trips from a campsite base in Aboyne. For much of the way we were ensconced in woods where the straight-as-an-arrow trail could be seen for miles ahead as it formed a tunnel through green, broadleaved trees or between tall, majestic pines. In warm sun, the pines cast their sweet aroma on the air which always reminds me of cycling through the mountains in Portugal. Added to this, the trackside gorse was still in bloom and added its canary colour and coconut aroma to the scene. In other places, the trail was not straight but a pleasing meander through the woods with gentle curves wherever tree trunks formed a chicane.

I said above that rails-to-trails routes are mostly flat but between Aboyne and Banchory the Deeside Way leaves the old railway line and does a couple of stiff climbs. The first was a series of “s” bends on a singletrack path that wound its way up into wooded hills before dropping back down to the River Dee at Kincardine O’Neil, the oldest village on Deeside. 

The second climb was a more gradual but longer pull up through Slewdrum Woods. Near the top it swung by the popular walking and biking trails of Scolty Hill, which had a nice outdoorsy vibe. It then plummeted down to Banchory and our hearts sank – this was an out and back ride so we would have to do both climbs again on the return leg. Luckily all the smart, little towns around here have great coffee shops for refuelling with cake. Our favourite was the beautiful café in the old waiting room of the former train station in Aboyne.

The cycling on the Deeside Way itself was great but there were also a couple of brilliant detours from the route. The first was the ancient pine wood of Glen Tanar, a short ride from Aboyne along quiet back roads and then forest trails. Sitting for a while up here we enjoyed the evening sunshine and the peace and surrounding nature of St Lesmo’s Chapel on the edge of the woods. Bluebells nodded in the breeze while swooping swallows and the gentle ring of the chapel’s bell filled the summer air.

The second detour was near Dinnet to a place I’d always wanted to see – the Burn O’Vat. We parked up the bikes and set out walking along a gorgeous forest trail passing huge boulders called erratics, left by the retreating glaciers of the last Ice Age. Suddenly the trail appeared to end at a wall of these big boulders but, on getting closer, we could see the stream flowing out and a narrow gap through which we could squeeze. We stood in awe and delight on the other side as we found ourselves in the Vat, a huge pothole measuring 18 metres across and 13 high.  

The pothole was formed by the melting of the vast ice sheets that covered this area 16,000 years ago. It is thought that a rock from the meltwater stream became lodged in a hollow on the river bed, causing the water to flow around it in a spiralling motion. Over a long period of time this created the pothole and over subsequent millenia the pothole half-filled with silt which was what we were standing on to gawp up at the Vat. 

The Deeside Way ends at the beautiful Victorian train station in Ballater which is currently in the latter stages of its renovation. Later in 2018 it will re-open as a new museum when it will be a fitting end point for the route. My friend Graham and I both agreed that we would love to ride this rails-to-trails route again for that reason alone, never mind the pretty towns and scenery. 

Until then I’ll be working at perfecting my time travel skills so I can go back to 1963 and thwart the dastardly Dr Beeching.

Fact File

Start/finish: Aboyne

Transport: On this rare occasion we used Graham's car to save money on train fares and to cycle for a change without carrying all the kit. But the route can be accessed by train from Aberdeen and starts there in Duthie Park.

Route: We stayed at Aboyne Loch Caravan Park which has a small area for tents. The Deeside Way is right at the entrance to the camspite and links it to Aboyne itself. First day we cycled east beyond Banchory. Second day we cycled the west section to Ballater, leaving the route as it neared Cambus O'May to take the A93 then the B9119 to Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve where there is a visitor centre and waymarked trails including that to the Vat. For the detour to Glen Tanar we cycled south over the Dee at Aboyne then right on the B976. Glen Tanar is signposted at Bridge o'Ess. Again there's a small visitor centre and a network of trails. The whole Deeside Way route is very well signed.

Info: The best coffee shop (of many good ones in and en route to the area) was in Aboyne, called Spider on a Bicycle, a beautiful place in the old station waiting room.