Pitmedden

Pitmedden is a rural village in the parish of Udny, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated midway between Ellon and Oldmeldrum, and approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Aberdeen. The village has local shops, a primary school, a church, a village hall, and parks. It is also home to Pitmedden Garden, originally created in the 17th century by Sir Alexander Seton and gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952, as well as the Formartine United Football Club. The former Linsmohr Hotel has been redeveloped into a community café by the Udny Community Trust with support from the Scottish Land Fund. The village's only pub, The Craft Bar, has received regional recognition from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as Pub of the Year for Aberdeen, Grampian and the Northern Isles. A whisky shop and tasting venue, Still Spirit, located near Pitmedden, has been awarded a five-star tourist shop rating by VisitScotland. Pitmedden, along with the Parish of Udny, is served by the Udny Community Trust, which owns and operates an Enercon E48 wind turbine at Tillymaud to the south of Pitmedden. Udny Community Trust distributes the profits from the wind energy project for local charitable purposes. In 2020, the Scottish Government approved plans on appeal for a development of 64 homes in Pitmedden after earlier refusals by Aberdeenshire Council. The village and most of Udny are served by a community newsletter called the Pitmedden News. During World War II, Pitmedden had a prisoner of war camp. This was located on the south side of the Bronie Burn, and there was an access bridge to access it. The entrance to the camp is about 100 yards from the Aberdeen/Tarves/Oldmeldrum fork in Pitmedden, on the Oldmeldrum road. On 25 October 1945, at the Milton of Dumbreck farm, 36-year-old Italian prisoner of war Martino Favilli died of an illness. Prisoners cycled each day to work on local farms; one local farmer still has small items made by the prisoners. During the excavation of a Transco gas…