Braemar Buzzard

INFORMING BRAEMAR COMMUNITY AND BEYOND

Braemar, or Braigh Mharr in Gaelic (which finally died out locally as a spoken language about 1900), is not only redolent with Scottish history, but is a land of superlatives. It is the highest and most mountainous parish in the UK, with each of its 182, 000 acres being more than 1000ft above sea level (the Post office, in the village centre, is at 1110ft).
The area contains within its borders some 24 Munros, or mountains of over 3, 000ft, with three over 4, 000ft. It is also the only parish in the country to border with four of the old counties (Banffshire, Inverness-shire, Perthshire and Angus). It has the highest 18-hole golf course in the country, and shares with Perthshire the Cairnwell Pass, at 2, 100ft the highest through road in the country, which on the Braemar side passes through the Glenshee Ski Centre.
For the visitor interested in wildlife Braemar has long held great attractions. There must be few villages where one can take an early morning walk along the village main street and have a good chance of meeting, one after the other, a magnificent 13 pointer stag, a shy roe deer, red squirrels stealing nuts put out for the birds, a cock pheasant strutting in all his finery, and a big brown hare timidly exploring the possibility of access to some of the gardens, while overhead golden eagles and buzzards sail silent, missing nothing.
Those of an energetic disposition can go walking pony trekking, climbing, mountain biking, hang-gliding, skiing, snow-boarding, golfing, putting or bowling, while field sportsmen are spoiled for choice, having easy access to stalking and shooting, as well as to brown trout and salmon angling - there are a variety of stocked waters within easy reach. Discerning motorists too, recognise that Braemar is an ideal centre for touring, with a mix of major attractions easily within a day's return journey. Devotees of Highland Games can, in September, accompany Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to the great Braemar Gathering, reputedly founded in the 11th Century by Malcolm Canmore, used as a front in 1715 by the Earl of Mar to plan the first Jacobite Uprising, and which has been run in its present form since 1832 by Braemar Royal Highland Society, the oldest surviving Friendly Society in Scotland.
It also sponsors the village Highland Dancing Class, with weekly evening displays in summer, along with regular Sunday afternoon Pipe Band displays in July and August. For those who, like Queen Victoria, seek only to relax, Braemar's broad acres and more than adequate variety of accommodation offer an unrivalled opportunity to do so in the peace and beauty of Aberdeenshire's Highland Parish.