SAVED!

Hallelujah...Union Terrace Gardens are saved! The full Aberdeen Council in their wisdom voted on the 22nd August to throw out the plans for the City Garden Project.



I thank Sir Ian Wood for his generous offer of £50million but would like to say that in my mind it was never a "gift" to the city. A gift is given unconditionally, without stipulations of how it is used, it was up to the people to decide how the "gift" would be used.
 For those who rant that it is the end of Democracy, I say that democracy ended a long time ago in Aberdeen when the majority vote in the original public consultation was discounted and ignored.

I thank Barney Crockett and the Labour administration in Aberdeen for standing by their election pledge to throw out the City Garden Project...I voted for you because of it!




I hope with all my heart that this is an end to it (though SIW immediately withdrew his offer of £50million then next day pledged to wait a year!) and that we can move on. The Gardens do need attention, something that has been lacking for a decade. They need restoration, better access, decent toilets but despite all those issues they are still the haven in the city centre that I go to at lunch time when I need to relax and recuperate from a stressed morning at work

The lights haven't gone out in Aberdeen....they've finally been seen!!!

The Osmonds - Music Hall - Aberdeen

The Osmonds came to town on Monday! Now, I'll let you into a little secret..I was never one of their biggest fans back in the day though I did have a bit of a thing for Merrill...he was just so cute and he could sing! No, I much preferred the pretty boys - David Cassidy and David Essex. Well anyway, my friends and I bought tickets to go and see them on their final tour - Up Close and Personal. Sitting in the pub (which was filled with women of a similar age to myself) beforehand,  I was wondering just why I was going!

Merrill Osmond

    

After sitting through a 20 minute quiz on the Osmonds (funnily enough, I knew most of the answers!) and a 15 minute set from their backing group - The Dropouts - who maybe should have done just that - Merrill, Jay and Jimmy came on stage. Wayne has recently had a stroke and Alan has M.S. so there was only the 3 of them.  I thought "oh my g, if everyone starts screaming then I'm out of here" but... nobody did, cheering and clapping but no screams!



What a fantastic night we had...boy can these guys sing! Their voices blend perfectly together, the harmonies gave me goosebumps and had me in tears several times throughout the night. Their easy going professionalism shone through - they sang to us, joked and laughed with us, projected Osmond family clips onto a big screen behind them. The years just fell away as they sang songs that I'd forgotten about and some that I hadn't - Love Me For A Reason has always been one of my favourites...no one can sing it like Merrill and he didn't disappoint!
 

Singing to Barbara

One of the many highlights was when they spotted an 80 year old lady (Barbara) standing in front of the stage. Jimmy went over to talk to her and told her that she reminded them of their mum. They then crouched down and sang a song to her that they used to sing to their mum when they were little, without any backing - what an emotional moment, it was wonderful!


Everything was just so relaxed and enjoyable and their music was amazing, I was just blown away. Although I had a perfect view from a 5th row seat, I wanted to get Up Close and Personal and nobody stopped us going to the front of the stage to dance there, take photos, reach out to touch them...and OMG -.Jimmy took my hand!!!

I'm so very glad that I went...I've been euphoric for days...and grateful that they came to Aberdeen but sad that this is their final tour. Before they left, Merrill told us that they would never forget us....well I'll never forget what has to have been one of the best nights of my life.  

Thank you Osmond Brothers, I love you x

Springtime

Don't you just love Spring? Hopefully warmer days to look forward to, new life springing up everywhere. I'm not much of  gardener but I do like to try...I only really enjoy working in it when it's warm outside and that's not very often in this part of the world.

Because I haven't tidied up from the previous year, the garden is usually in a terrible mess by now.

Every year I tell myself that this year, I'm going to keep on top of the weeds and cut the grass regularly but other things get in the way till it again becomes a nightmare to tame.

One thing I was really pleased to discover when I checked my house on Google Streetview was that, amazingly, the grass was cut and the borders weed free!
I took these photos a couple of days ago when out on a walk with my son and grandson. We were heading to the Duthie Park to see Spike (the talking cactus) and took the scenic route along the River Dee. The daffodils were simply stunning...

Eilean Donan Castle

So...this is my favourite castle! If you haven't visited yet, put it on your list of things to do, you won't regret it.

I first became interested in it when researching my family tree - my granny was a McRae and her father was born in Glenshiel. Granny didn't talk much about her family but she was the only one of 7 children to survive past the age of 27.

William T McRae Gordon Highlander 202367

Two of her brothers, Ewan and William were killed in action within 2 weeks of each other in April 1917 - Ewan died in Mesopotamia, William in France.

Her twin brothers Forbes and John were born in in 1904, Forbes died in 1905 and John in 1908. Her sisters Elizabeth died when she was 27 in 1919 and Jessie when she was 15 in 1910.
I just can't begin to imagine how my great grandparents must have felt, losing their children.

Memorial at Eilean Donan Castle

When I found out that William is remembered on the MacRae War Memorial at Eilean Donan Castle, I knew that I had to go and see it. I had expected to find Ewan's name there too but for some reason lost in time he had served in the war under an alias and is not remembered there.

Room with a view

 My sister and I paid our first visit in June 2010. We booked into the B & B across from the Castle for a few days and what a joy it was to open the curtains in the morning and look out the window. I didn't want to waste a minute so was up and out really early which is not typical for me - I'm not really a morning person! A stroll along to the castle was so calming, hardly anyone about, I could just sit and enjoy the peace and quiet. I did the same at night - the castle gate is left open once the tours and visitor's centre finish for the day and you can stroll around the grounds to your hearts content. It's a truly magical place, especially when
it's all lit up after dark.

Ewen MacRae & Jessie MacRae

    
I'd found out through the Ross and Cromarty Roots website that my 2 x great grandparents were buried in Clachan Duich the ancient MacRae burial ground so we paid a visit. What an absolutely beautiful setting! Beside it on a small hill is the MacRae War Memorial and a walk up to it revealed the most stunning view that I've ever seen. I could have stood there all day.

Clachan Duich Old

Don't dream it's over

Well, THEY did it, CGP won the referendum...by a 2% majority which, by the way, is less than the majority in the original consultation two years ago which those of us who wanted to save the Gardens won by 5% and were ignored. For info on the previous consultation see here
Back then, the local paper reports "You say No to Union Terrace plans but only just"

Seems that money DOES talk...


Here's the stats:
Online votes: Retain UTG 12,274, City Garden Project 16,428;  
Telephone votes: Retain UTG: 4081, City Garden Project: 5073
Postal ballot result: Retain UTG 24,820, City Garden Project 23,800 

From the start, the CWP had the unfair advantage of being able to spend endless money  because they are a private concern and were not included in the £8,000 ceiling like the campaign groups were!!! This included non-stop radio advertising on local radio, double page adverts in local papers (papers btw which peddled out totally biased opinions and reporting in favour of the CWG), their Granite Web video in prominence in the Art Gallery during a high profile exhibition (disgusting - Council buildings should not have been allowed to be used for this and should have remained neutral), free pizzas to RGU and Aberdeen University students who came along to their presentations for a chat. How could the opposing campaign groups compete with that sort of bombardment?

I'm gutted and so very disappointed that many citizens of Aberdeen who voted for the CWG didn't take the time to find out what the "Retain" groups had to offer as an alternative to the proposed vandalism before putting their cross on the paper for the CWG. So many of them have now said that they thought it was time for a change and that the only way to improve and change the area was to vote for the Web.

I heard a DJ on the radio today comment that perhaps it was time that we left our stamp on the city for future generations just like the Victorians did. Well I agree with him to a certain extent, maybe we do want to leave our mark like they did but surely we don't have to destroy their gift to the us, the people of Aberdeen, to do it! There is an ugly building in Broad Street which is crying out to be knocked down and redeveloped...why not do it there!

So...in the words of Neil Finn - Don't dream it's over!
The battle might be won... and all that!

P.S. The majestic elm trees in Union Terrace Gardens are some of the last to be found in Northern Europe, are home to scores of crows and keep pollution from car fumes down in the city centre. They will be chopped down to be used in the pathways and roof in the Granite Web design. Please sign the petition if you care at all.

Thank you

http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/save-the-200-year-old-elms-in-union-terrace-gardens-aberdeen/4168

Voting Closed - Union Terrace Gardens

Trainey Park

 That's it, no more voting...we'll find out tomorrow what the fate of the Union Terrace Gardens is going to be. Over a 50% turnout for the referendum is amazing when the usual for elections is only 23%. Here's hoping that most people of Aberdeen have seen through the PR and voted to retain and improve!
Aberdeen has been enjoying unusually warm weather for this time of year and for the 3rd time in a week, I spent my lunch hour in the Gardens. It was so nice just to sit there basking in the sun and chilling out. There were loads of other people there today - schoolkids, grannies, students, workers, babies, parents -  doing the same. It was hard to remember that it's only the 1st of March and that this time last year, we were knee deep in snow!

WHY I LOVE UTG

I've been using UTG since I began working in the Rosemount area in the late 1990s. When the weather's good there is nowhere better to spend my lunch hour - eating my sandwich, reading the paper or a book - away from the bustle of the city. I can enjoy the peace, the quiet, the beauty of the gardens and surrounding area... just relax and rejuvenate before going back to work especially if I've had a stressful morning.

Each season brings a change to the Gardens and even if I'm just passing by at street level I often stop for a few minutes to look down and enjoy the view or take a photo if I have my camera with me. The display of colour on the leaves of the trees in Autumn is simply stunning, the floral displays in Summer are beautiful and a tribute to the gardeners who work on them.

I walk past the Gardens at various times of the day...anytime between early morning and 8pm all year round...and if there is a large amount of misuse and gatherings by  "undesirables" (as some would have us believe!) then I can honestly say that I've never witnessed it .

Summer in UTG

On warm days in the Gardens, I see groups of youths playing football, students gathered on the grass socialising or studying, parents with their children running about safely and far from the road, older people sitting on the benches enjoying the sun and people like myself taking an hour out of their busy day to eat their lunch..





The Victorian toilets were closed in 2000. Since then, the Gardens have been allowed to become rundown. What they need is sympathetic restoration not annihilation. Many towns and cities would love to have what we have in our city - a beautiful sunken garden, right in the heart of it. It is Common Good land. This is Aberdeen's heritage and some people want to throw it away, cover it over!

Street level design will hide the Belmont Street buildings

The City Garden Project people seem determined to make us believe that the fate of our city hinges on a park!
   
I JUST DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!




                                     10 reasons to vote Retain Union Terrace Gardens