Portlethen

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Portlethen (Formally Port Leviathan (Port of The Whales)) Coordinates: 57°03′N 2°06′W is a town situated seven miles south of Aberdeen, Scotland along the A90. It has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. Portlethen has a population of about twelve thousand. There are over 800 houses being built in Hillside, which is part of Portlethen, just over the A90.

Much of Portlethen has been built over the Portlethen Moss Nature Reserve, formerly home to the Great Crested Newt. The remainder of Portlethen Moss is approximately one quarter of the size it was twenty years ago. To the east of Portlethen lie the three original fishing villages on the coast - Findon, Portlethen Village and Downies.

1 History
2 Community facilities
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

Portlethen lies about two kilometers east of the ancient Causey Mounth road, which was built on high ground to make passable this only available medieval route from coastal points south to Aberdeen. This ancient passage specifically connected the Bridge of Dee to Muchalls Castle and Stonehaven to the south<ref>C.Michael Hogan, History of Muchalls Castle, Lumina Press, Aberdeen (2005)</ref>. The route was that taken by the William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal and James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose when they led a Covenanter army of 9000 men in the first battle of the Civil War in 1639<ref>Archibald Watt, Highways and Biways around Kincardineshire, Stonehaven Heritage Society (1985)</ref>.

[edit] Community facilities

Community facilities in Portlethen include tennis courts, a bowling green with pubilc and private sessions, a swimming pool, a railway platform, a community centre, a library and a Golf Club. A new Youth Drop-In Centre is also planned.

There are four pubs in Portlethen. The Lethan Arms, The Paddock, Brewers Fayre and The Nuek (in Portlethen Village).

There are four shopping courts, Portlethen Retail Park, The Green, Muirend Retail Court and Rowanbank Court.

There are two main parks in Portlethen: Bourtree Park and Nicol Park. Nicol Park has a toddlers park, a skate park and two basketball courts. Bourtree Park has a football pitch and a few swings and climbing frames.

There are two primary schools and one secondary school in Portlethen. Portlethen Primary School, the larger of the two primaries, caters for the north end of Portlethen, and the surrounding villages. Fishermoss Primary School, is much smaller and caters for the southern end of Portlethen. Portlethen Academy caters for Portlethen, the smaller surrounding villages and Newtonhill, a village to the south of Portlethen, just north of Stonehaven.

A new secondary school building, built with private money and leased back to the Council, opened for the new school session at the end of August 2006. It shall include a library, community centre and other facilities within it, which are due to open in December 2006.