Torphins


Torphins is a village in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland which lies about west of Aberdeen. It is situated on the A980, about north-west of Banchory, and was once served by the Great North of Scotland Railway.
With a population of it is one of the larger villages in Deeside, though it is not as large as Aboyne.

Amenities

The village has many facilities including a primary school, a large park with play area, a car dealer, two tennis courts, a bowling green and a doctor's surgery. There are also a variety of shops in Torphins including a charity shop, a Scotmid store, a funeral directors, a Chinese takeaway and a chemist. There is a Church of Scotland church, which is part of the Mid Deeside United Churches alongside those in Kincardine O'Neil and Lumphanan. Torphins also has its own Town Hall - the Learney Hall. It also has a public house, the Learney Arms, which was originally part of a hotel. The hotel and pub was closed with plans to turn the building into a residential dwelling, despite local objection. The pub was later reopened but the hotel remains closed.
Torphins was home to a War Memorial Maternity Hospital. As a result, many notable people from Deeside have been born in Torphins. The building, however, has recently become a GP clinic, and no longer offers maternity facilities.
Walkers Shortbread was founded by Joseph Walker at age 21 in 1898 at the former modest bakery on Craigour Road. He took out a loan of £50 from the bank to open the bakery which bloomed and is now an internationally renowned shortbread company.
There is a 9-hole golf course located about a mile outside of Torphins.

Public transport

The Stagecoach Bluebird 201 and 202 buses provide service to Aberdeen. There are other infrequent connections on the 413, and the Royal Mail PB74 postbus. Torphins railway station on the Deeside Railway served the village from 1859 to 1966.

Sport

Torphins is home to the local amateur football team, Torphins AFC, though the team play their home games in Kincardine O'Neil due to the limited size of Torphins' public park. Torphins also has a tennis club, a lawn bowls club and a seasonal curling rink.