Next Tours

THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022 -
KILLER QUINES: NORTH EAST SCOLAND'S MURDERESSES
ONLINE TALK 7pm

We often think of men as being evil killers, but Aberdeen City and Shire has had its fair share of murderous women, some acting out of passion, whether hatred or fear, and one, infamously, one of the city's earliest [and perhaps only] female psychopaths. Join Hidden Aberdeen's director, historian, Dr Fiona-Jane Brown for a study of true crime including the chaotic Barbara Torliefson who killed to fend off a male friend's unwanted advances in 1964; Helen Reid from Keith, who poisoned her former employer and lover in 1816, and Catherine Humphrey, the last woman to be hanged in Aberdeen in 1830 for the poisoning of her husband James, a butcher in Wales Street.

Be prepared for some gory tales! Not suitable for under 12s. This talk will be presented online via zoom.

Zoom Room Open 7pm prompt - Talk starts 7.10pm - finish approx 9pm
All tickets £10 BOOK HERE

Zoom Link will be sent separately from ticket, so be sure to add This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to your address book!

TUESDAY 25 MAY 2022 - 
LOST CINEMAS OF ABERDEEN

Div ye mind gaun tae the picters? Paying with jam jars? Saturday morning specials? Then this tour is bound to appeal! Meeting outside the old Odeon, Justice Mill Lane, which started life as one of Aberdeen's many silver screens from the age of cinema, this tour takes you on a journey into cinematic history, recalling the early days to the high point of the 40s and 50s to the sad decline of our picture palaces to leave us with only four functioning cinemas out of a previous total of around 35. We can't promise to cover them all, but the selection on the walk represents the Union St cluster of the city's picture houses, 'flechy' or otherwise!

Cinemas include: ODEON/ REGENT, WEST END/ PLAYHOUSE, CAPITOL/ ELECTRIC, LA SCALA/ MAJESTIC, SAVOY, MUSIC HALL, PICTUREDROME/ CINEMA HOUSE, NEWS CINEMA/ CURZON/ COSMO2, GAUMONT/ PICTURE HOUSE, BELMONT/ NEW KINEMA/ COLLISEUM

BOOK TICKETS (£15 Adults/ £10 Conc) BY CLICKING HERE
MEET: BELMONT FILMHOUSE, BELMONT STREET (Map)
START: 7pm
DURATION: Approx 2hr
END: OLD ODEON, JUSTICE MILL LANE

THURSDAY 26 MAY 2022 -
A VIRTUAL NICHT OOT: ABERDEEN'S PUBS AND TAVERNS
ONLINE TALK 7pm

Another run of the popular "virutal pub crawl" reminiscing about good times on the ran-dan in Aberdeen. What happened to your favourite watering holes? the best - and worst - of the city's vintage nightlife.  We begin with the earliest of drinking dens, Jessie Petrie's Inn, a relic of early 18th century Torry, infamous for its connection with body snatching medical students, to Torry's 20th century pubs, the "Rat Cellar", the Grampian and the White Cockade.  The Harbour bars are represented by the Fittie (200 years old during the pandemic!), the Neptune, the Regent Bridge Bar, et al, while the old city centre played host to the Royal Oak, later Freelands', and Old Blackfriars.  The "Lang Bar" aka the Welly Boot aka the Tilted Wig recalls the days when legal practioners liked a tipple across from the courts, then the "New Inn", ironically now back to being a licenced premises named after Aberdeen's Georgian architectal supremo, Archie Simpson - this coaching inn was the site of a murder in the 18th century.  Round the corner was the original Lemon Tree, obiliterated by the building of the Town House before moving to St Nicholas Street.  The Prince of Wales and many, many more of Aberdeen's public houses will get a mention in this look back at the city's nightlife in days gone by

Join us online at 7pm, when the Zoom Room opens, pour yourself a cold one and enjoy a virtual night on the tiles with Hidden Aberdeen Tours

Start promptly 7.10pm, finish approx 9pm
All tickets £10 - BOOK HERE

FRIDAY 27 MAY 2022 - 
FORGOTTEN FERRYHILL

Perennial favourite walk, set in Aberdeen’s first Georgian suburb of Ferryhill, so named because of the ferry between Craiglug and Wellington Road which operated before the suspension bridge was built in 1830.

Including the dodgy dealings which whisked Arthurseat estate away from its missing owner, the story behind the flamboyant Devanha House, the "lost" Dee Village, some of Ferryhill's fabulous architectural origins, and the tale of the arctic explorer who retired to South Crown Street. And, the creepy legend which concerns a mysterious hole which opened up in what was the garden of the old Cowdray Club. We round off at Hygeia’s statue, Duthie Park, the memorial for Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie, founder of the park. Enjoy your supper beforehand with our friends at Inn at the Park Hotel, Polmuir Road

BOOK TICKETS (£15 Adults/ £10 Conc) BY CLICKING HERE
MEET: DEE VILLAGE PEDESTRIAN GATE, CROWN STREET (Map)
START: 7pm
DURATION: Approx 2hr
END: DUTHIE PARK

SATURDAY 28 MAY 2022
ROSEMOUNT RAMBLE (DAYTIME TOUR)

Beginning at the cosy indie coffee shop, "The Cult of Coffee" on the corner of Leadside Road and Esslemont Avenue, this walk takes in a mix of old Gilcomston, ancient Denburnside, and the 19th century suburb of Rosemount which was created out of both. Mysteries to behold include the Denburn river on FULL VIEW, the site of the Gilcomston Dam, and why the Grammar School didn't actually start where it is now. Georgian mansions, Victorian innovation, schools, churches, tradespeople and that undulating landscape that we can't see for the buildings! All will be revealed in this very special ramble around Rosemount.

Not suitable for disabled or those with restricted mobility. Wear sturdy shoes.

BOOK TICKETS (£15 Adults/ £10 Conc) BY CLICKING HERE
MEET: CULT OF COFFEE, ESSLEMONT AVENUE (Map)
START: 11am
DURATION: Approx 2hr
END: ROSEMOUNT COMMUNITY CENTRE

Coming in June:

Duthie Park Mini
Aberdeen's Industrial Heritage

The Black Kalendar of Aberdeen (ghost tour)

Online talks - Lost Shops / Mythbusters Aberdeen; (late June)

Follow us on Facebook for details

More Tours to Come... Watch this space - accepting private bookings from now 

Catch our podcast running on Anchor.fm; Click HERE to access the episodes so far. 

Any queries - email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please Read On !

News

MAY 2022

WE'RE ON TIKTOK!!! Yes, despite my reluctance to jump this newest of social media platforms, I found "historytiktok", a great community of mainly UK and Ireland content makers all on my wavelength, so if you're on the ClockApp as the "kids" call it, please join me.  Posting videos every few days, 3min of local history mysteries, forgotten bits, lost bits, battles, ballads, streetnames, basically all the tiny details of tours which you may miss in my usual fact deluge.  My TT handle is @HiddenAbdnTours - the very first video I did, concerning the Alpha March Stone has now reached over 600 views! I'm amazed and delighted, and we're sitting on around 180 followers, not bad for two weeks' worth of local history.  (FJB)

APRIL 2022

AND WE ARE NOW 11 YEARS OLD!!! The very first tour under the Hidden Aberdeen name took place on 9 April 2011, and it was the Murder History Tour! Delighted to still be going despite a global pandemic! Hoping to do some indoor talks in the autumn this year with regular venues coming back into service.  We are now accepting bookings for private tours also. 

We're doing 4 Easter holiday tours around the middle of the month, then back again in June.  We have a VERY SPECIAL commissioned tour which is planned for the end of June - watch this space for more, let's just say that it celebrates an ancient tradition of storytelling.  It's been pretty rubbish weather in April, good reason to wait or better weather! Do join us though for our Blitz tour on the 79th anniversary of Aberdeen's worst air raid - 21 April. As mentioned in our last news bulletin, we're stuck from doing many of the city centre tours due to the building works at UTG, hopefully this is sorted by the summer! 

Meanwhile, our podcasts will start again soon, with a feature on the city's rivers and water courses, based on our old Evening Express column. Look for the History Quine podcast on Anchor.FM - also available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.  Also, our Director, Dr Fiona-Jane Brown was interviewed by US Podcast host, Eric Jennings for his World XP series, which you can listen to (and watch) on YouTube and Spotify. 

Keep an eye on our events page AND on Facebook if you are on there - our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/HiddenAbdnTours.  We are also on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube - we are currently creating new content for our YT page to reflect the new way of operating with less public tours and more online and bespoke material. 

Rubislaw Den House - Research Project

In 2018, our director, Dr Fiona-Jane Brown had been commissioned to research Rubislaw Den House for its owners, Opitimus Ltd.

This lead to many fascinating discoveries including that the original Georgian mansion was most likely built by William Dauney, master mason, and maternal uncle of Aberdeen's most famous architect, Archibald Simpson.  William built it for his own brother, Alexander, who was Under-Sheriff of Abereenshire and a local advocate. 

The current house, designed for granite merchant, William Keith, was home to Alexander Anderson, Provost of Aberdeen, but best known for being the founder of CALA (City of Aberdeen Land Association) now CALA Homes.  Anderson shaped most of Victorian Rubislaw and Torry due to his shrewd development of those areas.   

Rubislaw Den House was also the last residence of Lady Aberdeen before her death.  She spent her last years writing her memoirs; renaming the property Gordon House, which it remained thereafter as a university hostel, then returned to its original name when it was converted to a nursing home.

Hidden Aberdeen Tours (founded 2011) is wholly owned by Dr Fiona-Jane Brown as a sole-trading operation which occasionally works with contractors.

Contact details

Phone: 07572 582198
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.