Craigellachie and Aikenway Croft
These photos are from Hamish McRae. They were taken in front of Aikenway Croft, where Donald MacRae, his wife, Jane (Dickie) MacRae and their daughter, Katherine MacRae lived from at least 1901 to 1909. Donald MacRae died at Aikenway Croft on 18 December 1909. Jane (Dickie) MacRae died at Aikenway Croft on 15 November 1919. Both are buried in the Rothes Old Churchyard. There is a blog for Aikenway Croft hosted by Mr. Christopher Peel at: https://bluesky6115.blogspot.com/2016/07/aikenway-on-map-dated-1654_89.html?showComment=1568909638543#c5619635905104176065 .
Craigellachie
Moray
Situated at the junction of the Fiddich and Spey rivers in Moray, Craigellachie is a picturesque terraced village that looks towards Craigellachie Rock, the traditionally lower boundary of Strathspey and the lands of the Clan Grant whose war-cry is 'Stand fast Craigellachie!'. It lies on the 'Malt Whisky Trail' at the junction of the A95 and A941 roads, 2 miles (3 km) east of Charlestown of Aberlour and 3 miles (5 km) south of Rothes. There are two distilleries; the Macallan Distillery which can be traced back to 1824 and the Craigellachie Distillery dating from 1891. The village is the home of a cooperage that makes and repairs casks for the whisky industry while, in the last decade of the 19th century, there was once also a brewery. The Spey is crossed here by the slender span of the Craigellachie Bridge which was built between 1812 and 1815 by Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834). This represents the oldest surviving iron bridge in Scotland and one of the finest in the UK. Craigellachie became a railway junction in 1863, but the railway was closed by 1971. The village has two parks, Highland Park and Fiddich Park, with tennis and other facilities. There are fine woodland walks in the neighborhood.
