Balmedie () is a large village in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It lies north of the city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Belhelvie Belhelvie () is a small village and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland.Belhelvie.

. The long and wide beach is bordered by an extensive

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

system that stretches from Aberdeen to just north of the Ythan Estuary at Newburgh. The dynamic dunes have

marram grass ''Ammophila'' (synonymous with ''Psamma'' P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The genus name ''Ammophila'' originates from the Greek words ἄμμος (''ámmos''), meaning "sand ...

as the principal vegetation. They support a large array of wildlife. Two watercourses make their way to the sea within the area creating ribbons of wetland vegetation along their course. The village is near the

Sands of Forvie The Forvie National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve (Scotland), national nature reserve owned and managed by NatureScot. It is located north of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, Newburgh in Aberdeenshire, in the northeast of Scotland. The re ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, the fifth largest

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

system in Britain; this is an integral part of the Ythan Estuary, which separates the sands from Balmedie Beach.

Balmedie village

The village's facilities include a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, a small library and a sports centre. Shops include a small supermarket, a pharmacy, a

fish and chip Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of battered and fried fish, served with chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, the dish is a common takeaway ...

shop, Chinese takeaway and a convenience store/post office. Other services include a car mechanic, and the ''White Horse Inn'' (a hotel, bar and restaurant). In 2007,

Barratt Developments Barratt Redrow plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyn ...

established its ''Barratt Homes North Scotland'' headquarters in Balmedie. Stagecoach East Scotland provides 'Bluebird' bus services linking the area with

, Ellon,

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...

and

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

. There are four small play parks in Balmedie; there are also two full-sized football pitches where amateur side Trophies International play their home matches. Footballers Cammy Smith and Scott Wright were both raised in the village.

Balmedie Country Park

The Balmedie Country Park provides amenities within the dunes for visitors, including parking, toilets, wooden walkways across the sands and streams, picnic areas with barbecues, and a swing park with a fishing theme. The park is often used by horse riders as a starting / finishing point for beach rides with room to park a horsebox or trailer. The beach is also known for its vast dunes. The park is open during the hours of daylight every day of the year. Over the years the beach has won a number of awards. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Balmedie Beach was designated as a bomb cemetery. Defused and

unexploded bombs Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...

from

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

raids in Aberdeen were brought here to be cleaned of explosives or detonated on the foreshore. Three pillboxes were built on the dunes at Balmedie to protect a small radar station consisting of three masts. Anti-tank blocks are also located in the dunes along with remains of the barbed wire defences just to the north.

Menie Estate

Menie House is a 14th-century country property surrounded by over of private land, collectively known as the Menie Estate. The house was designed by the Aberdeen architect John Smith for George Turner around 1835. It is listed as category B by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

. During the Second World War, a beach minefield was laid beside the Mill of Menie in case of a German invasion. The minefield was cleared by the 11th Coy Bomb Disposal under Major W.M. Hewitt of the Royal Engineers. During construction of the Menie golf course, the rusting harmless fragments of a landmine were found. In 2006,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

purchased a large part of the estate and proposed to build an extensive development, including two 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s, a 450-room hotel, conference centre and spa, 36 golf villas, 950

holiday home A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are oft ...

s, accommodation for 400 staff and residential developments comprising 500 houses. Although this would substantially damage

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

at a

, according to analysis by

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot () is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government on nature conservati ...

, planning officials from

Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeenshire Council is the local authority for Aberdeenshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council has been under no overall control since its creation in 1996. It is based at Woodhill House, which is outside its own territory ...

recommended approval of the development. This subject was covered by documentary film maker Anthony Baxter in his 2011 film ''

You've Been Trumped ''You've Been Trumped'' is a 2011 documentary by British filmmaker Anthony Baxter. The film documents the construction of a luxury golf course on a beach in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by developer Donald Trump and the subsequent strugg ...

''.

Trump Intl Link - Menie Estate Course clubhouse

Legal dispute

In December 2015, Trump's attempt to prevent a windfarm being built within sight of his golf course was dismissed by five justices at the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Commenting on the decision, former Scottish First Minister

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

branded Trump "three times a loser", in reference to his losses in lower Scottish courts leading up to the Supreme Court case. A spokesman for the

Trump Organization Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

responded to Salmond's comment by saying: "Does anyone care what this man thinks? He’s a hasbeen and totally irrelevant." The director of WWF Scotland stated, "This result is great news for Scotland and for all those interested in tackling climate change and creating jobs".

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

decided to proceed with 11 turbines in the 92 MW wind farm in July 2016. The project, formally named the

European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), also known as the Aberdeen Bay Wind Farm is an offshore wind test and demonstration facility located around 3 kilometres off the east coast of Aberdeenshire, in the North Sea, Scotland. It was ...

, was completed in late 2018.

References

External links

Webcam view from Merlin Terrace Newburgh n/r Balmedie
{{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire Parks in Aberdeenshire