Tillydrone

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Terraced low-rise ex-council housing in Tillydrone

Tillydrone is an area of the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. Lying north of the city centre and slightly north-west of Old Aberdeen, it is roughly bounded by the River Don, St Machar Drive, and the main Aberdeen-Inverness railway line.

The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic "Tulach Droighne", meaning a knoll with thorn trees growing on it. The name is somewhat older than the housing estate which essentially comprises the area. The area is colloquially referred to as Tilly, or the 'drone.

The housing estate was built as council housing – what might today be called "affordable housing" – and includes tower blocks and terraced tenement flats in addition to some low-rise terraced houses. As with most council housing stock in the UK, some of these properties have been purchased by their occupants. As a result of its image and demographics, Tillydrone is one of the less affluent areas of Aberdeen. However, the proximity of the area to the University of Aberdeen results in some of the housing being rented to students.

Tillydrone has a small shopping arcade plus a few other shops and businesses including a pharmacy; a post office and a pub. There are also a school and City Council-run care facilities for elderly people.

Between the main part of Tillydrone and the River Don is an extensive area of open and wooded land, which leads into the city's Seaton Park. At the edge of this, alongside Tillydrone Road, is the Wallace Tower, a turreted townhouse typical of pre-Georgian Aberdeen architecture which was moved stone by stone from its original city-centre location at the time of the construction of a Marks & Spencer shop next to the St. Nicholas Shopping Centre.

The old Donside Paper Mill which is in between parts of Tillydrone and the River Don is currently being demolished to make way for new affordable housing for some of the city's poorer people.

Also an Aberdeen City Council "blueprint" has earmarked the area for extensive redevelopment along with five other areas within Aberdeen