Listening to the radio yesterday as the Queen’s body was driven 175 miles from Balmoral to Edinburgh via Aberdeen and Dundee had specific interest for me.
I was familiar with the route because on Saturday I drove much of it myself, not knowing that the funeral cortège would beat a very similar path the following day.
When I woke up in Dundee on Saturday morning I hadn’t intended to go to Balmoral. My plan, following the postponement of all football matches including Dundee United’s home game with Hibs, was to spend the day in St Andrews, a short 15-minute drive from Dundee.
I visit St Andrews several times a year though so on a whim over breakfast I decided to drive not to Fife but to Aberdeen which is 60 miles north of Dundee, a journey of one hour 20 minutes by road.
At that point I was thinking it would be nice to visit some old haunts in the city where I was at university for four years in the late Seventies.
When I first went to Aberdeen it seemed further away than it does now. In those days the journey from Dundee took two hours by car but that was before the roads were upgraded and it’s now dual-carriageway all the way.
Aberdeen wasn’t my first choice of university (that was York but my application was rejected following a disastrous interview) but I was happy enough to go there and I enjoyed my four years enormously.
The university is one of the oldest in Scotland. Founded in 1495 the main campus is in Old Aberdeen whose ancient buildings and narrow cobbled streets provide a quiet retreat from the rest of the city.
I arrived shortly after eleven and spent 90 minutes wandering around, every building evoking a memory of my time in Aberdeen:
The historic King’s College library that later became a conference centre.
New King’s, constructed in 1913 but sympathetically designed to complement the older buildings.
Elphinstone Hall where we sat our exams. (It was also the location for a reunion, of sorts, 20 years ago.)
The Old Brewery, a small two-storey building that was (and still is) home of the English and Philosophy departments.
St Machar Bar where we would pop in for a mid morning pint after our 10.00am lecture, although in truth I don’t remember attending many lectures after my first year.
The brutalist Law Library that was built, like similar buildings on campus, in the Fifties. (I used to go there every day not to work but to entice friends out for coffee and a chat in the nearby Sports Pavilion cafe.)
Interestingly, while many of the older historic buildings survive, the ‘modern’ Queen Mother Library, renamed in 1983 but originally built in 1965 as the Science Library, was demolished in 2012.
Its replacement is a huge eight-storey building ‘clad in zebra-like jagged stripes of white and clear glass’ and shaped like an enormous box.
The Duncan Rice Library, as it’s called, was officially opened by the Queen in September 2012. I drove past it and, to be fair, it’s an impressive looking building. But will it still be here in 100 years, let alone 500? I doubt it.
But I digress.
As I drove to Aberdeen listening to the impressive and historic proclamation ceremony (I’m so glad that was broadcast live and in full - what an extraordinary and unexpected insight into our history and royal tradition), it occurred to me that I might visit Balmoral as well to pay my respects.
The Balmoral estate is about an hour from Aberdeen and it seemed silly not to go.
I knew there would be crowds and it might be difficult to park but I hoped I might be able to stop within walking distance and place some flowers by the main gates.
The problem was - and in hindsight I should have done some homework - I wasn’t entirely sure where the main gates to the estate were so I simply followed my satnav to ‘Balmoral Castle’.
When, an hour later, I arrived at my ‘destination’ there were two car parks (one designated a ‘media car park’) both of which appeared to be full and entry was in any case blocked by bollards and a line of policemen.
Roadside parking wasn’t allowed - it would have caused too much congestion as well as being a security risk - so I had to drive on for half a mile, turn round, and go back for a second look.
It wasn’t clear but what I think was the short road to the main gates (off the A93) was also blocked by police.
I couldn’t loiter and an attempt to park outside a nearby cafe also had to be abandoned because the tiny car park was so full vehicles were already double-parked. (I had enough difficulty simply reversing out because the car behind me didn’t want to move.)
Given the lack of parking I wasn’t surprised to read later that thousands of people travelled to the estate using park and ride buses from nearby Ballater (eight miles) and Braemar (nine miles), although I saw no evidence of them, or the thousands of people.
Wherever they and the main gates were, that was the closest I got but I did my best and it wasn’t a wasted journey because I saw beautiful Deeside looking at its very best in the bright autumnal sunshine.
Warmly recommended, should you ever think of visiting that part of the world, although I can’t guarantee the weather. Obviously.
PS. By coincidence the only time I saw the Queen in person was in Aberdeen in 1977. I think she was touring the UK as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations.
I stood and waited behind a barrier with hundreds of onlookers and when she arrived (by car) she got out and spoke to several people in the crowd.
She may have done a walkabout but I was on the other side of the road so that was as close as I got.
And that, dear reader, is my royal anecdote. Sorry it’s not more impressive.
Below: King’s College and other buildings in Old Aberdeen
