Cults (Scotland)

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Cults




OS grid reference:	NJ894030



Population:	3,500+ (2005)



Council area:	City of Aberdeen
Constituent country:	Scotland
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom

Police force:	Grampian Police
Lieutenancy area:	Aberdeen
Former county:	Grampian

Post town:	CULTS
Postal:	AB15
Telephone:	01224


Scottish Parliament:	Aberdeen South North East Scotland
UK Parliament:	Aberdeen South
European Parliament:	Scotland

Cults is a suburb on the western edge of Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies on the banks of the River Dee and marks the beginning of the area known as Royal Deeside.

Cults is known for its historic granite housing, and is a predominantly wealthy area of the city. It sits approximately 6 miles from the coast of the North Sea. Cults maintains village status, with many of the societial structures found in a country village, despite its proximity to the west of the City of Aberdeen. The name is a corruption of Coilltean, a Scottish Gaelic word for "Woods".

Originally, Cults had two railway stations on the Royal Deeside Railway Line before the line was closed in the middle of the 20th century. The route has since been converted into a cycle path which leads to Duthie Park in Aberdeen in one direction and further into Deeside in the other, running alongside Cults' public park, Allan Park. Cults was also on a tram route between Aberdeen and Bieldside, operated by the Aberdeen Suburban Tramways Company until 1927. Today, public transport to Aberdeen takes the form of buses.

Together with the adjoining village of Bieldside, Cults is known as a largely wealthy area; it has been recognised as the second wealthiest area in Scotland in recent surveys. ^[1] Cults was once home to Sir Alex Ferguson, who was the manager of Aberdeen F.C. at the time.

Cults is served by a variety of small shops, church buildings and hotel/eatery facilities, mostly situated in the village centre. There are four main schools in the village: the state-run Cults Primary School and Cults Academy (one of Scotland's top-performing secondary schools), and the independent Waldorf School. The village is also only a short drive from the International School of Aberdeen (ISA) in Milltimber and a complex of Waldorf/Steiner Camphill schools in Bieldside.

Other key places in Cults are the Kelly of Cults supermarket, a local family-run grocer and bakery which dates back over 100 years, the golf-themed Cults Hotel (alongside the Chip Inn takeaway), the Deeside Golf Club (shared with Bieldside) and the Inchgarth Reservoir. Cults is also home to the Cults Parish Church, which was formed by the merger of the Cults East and Cults West parishes, with the former's buildings now housing an outreach centre. Cults was also once home to the Stakis-owned Royal Darroch Hotel which exploded on an October morning in 1983 due to gas build up, killing 6 staff and guests.