Udny Station

Udny Station
Udny Station

 Udny Station shown within Aberdeenshire
OS grid reference NJ 908244
Council area Aberdeenshire
Lieutenancy area Aberdeenshire
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Ellon
Postcode district AB41
Dialling code 01651
Police Grampian
Fire Grampian
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Gordon
Scottish Parliament Aberdeenshire East
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Udny Station is a small village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland which is 5 miles east of Oldmeldrum and 5 miles south west of Ellon.[1] It is part of the parish of Udny, along with another small settlement, Udny Green.

Udny Station was a station on the Formartine and Buchan line to Fraserburgh. The tracks were removed in the early 80s, just as the oil boom was getting into full swing.

There was a goods yard with railway sidings at the station. The sidings were in the area where a number of newer houses have been built. Walking along the track of the old platform, one of the original lighting units (minus the glass) is still visible mounted on a concrete post. About a mile south of the station, on the old track, walkers pass old level crossing gates which are still fitted showing the orange round plate.

Udny Station has a number of little known features, these are :-

On the eastern edge of the village, whilst heading for Cultercullen, just as you leave the village is a field with a fenced off area showing air vents. This was a Royal Observer Corps station.[2] Through an access hatch, there are rooms under here used during the Cold War by the ROC. There are a number of these stations spread across the country, most were taken out of service in 2001. The rooms house some communications equipment, however the Udny Station one has been almost stripped of everything inside.

At the railway bridge beside Tillycorthie house, heading for Aberdeen you go round some tight turns. As you take a sharp right after the railway bridge, there is a small triangle area of trees with a duck pond. This duck pond is a bomb crater from a German aircraft in WW2. Further up the hill a 2nd bomb exploded, and further up from there a 3rd bomb didn't explode. This UXB was recovered and made safe in WW2.

A number of the farms in the area used prisoners of war as labour, these were supplied from the POW camp in Pitmedden. The camp entrance gate is still visible from the Pitmedden to Old Meldrum road, just as you're leaving Pitmedden - a black metal gate on the right with barbed wire on it.

Footnotes