The First Bus HQ
The First Bus HQ
The First Bus Hq is a long standing and historic part of Aberdeen’s haunted culture. A location for many different purposes over the years, perhaps the most recognisable being the King’s Street barracks active during WW1. One of the gordon regiment who where based in the barracks met a tragic end, and it would seem he never left. Tho the ghostly activity has played down ever since the demolition of the old hospital wing. The Building is still very much active, and the soldier still marches through the halls.
FirstGroup plc
395 King Street
Aberdeen
Ghost Hunt at The First Bus Hq
Ghost Hunting At The First Bus Hq
The First Bus Hq has not yet been subject to any investigations, but there have been reports of paranormal activity since 1862, so this one can not be ignored.
Residence
When this location was nothing more than flats, there was reports of cold spots and the feeling of being followed and watched. That is still the fact today with staff witnessing numerous manifestations. One incidence that took place some years ago when a young girl was visiting her aunt. She ran upstairs to play with her toys and noticed a man crouched over on the end of her aunt’s bed. He was wrapping bandages around his head. So she stopped to say hello. The man looked up he wore a warm smile and replied ” Hello ” and then disappeared right in front of her eyes.
First Bus Hq
Opened in 1995, staff still report activity around the building. Tho it is alot quieter since the demolition of the old hospital wing. Cold spots, shadows, and the sensation of being followed and watched are still very real here. One report from a bus driver goes that he was going upstairs in the turret, where the soldier lost his life. The space at a time was used for storage, so the bus driver was carrying a box. He was positive his colleague was directly behind him, so he turn to demand that the other man grabs one of the boxes. Only to see there was no one behind him. Needless to say he ran out of the building terrified, and his friend said straight away, ” Did you see the ghost ?”
Tho the first bus Hq is not so active these days, who knows how it will respond to a full investigation. We have seen it in the past with a building that only gives a few bumps and bangs to thrive when being host the ghost hunters. So with The First Bus Hq who knows what’s possible.
Ghosts of The First Bus Hq
Ghosts of First Bus Hq
. Member of the Gordon Highlanders
There only seems to be the one ghost in The First Bus HQ. But it does seem to be an intelligent haunting, that promises some good interactive investigations.
The spirit that still resides here was a member of the Gordon Highlanders during WW1. He returned from the trenches in france with serious head injuries. After a month in the hospital wing he was fully recovered. Then after only one month the battalion leader decided to send him back into battle in the year of 1918. With the horror alot of the soldiers witnessed over there and it would seem especially him. He was found the following morning by a friend, hanging from the turrets.
The fact that this man died here was hushed up however. It took a great deal of work from a local historian to dig up these military records as they where hidden by officials, claiming that it was unpatriotic to remember a ” Coward”. Using the term coward to trick men into thinking its a matter of pride or bravery however in unforgivable, and that’s what should be remembered.
Even tho the spirit is more seen than heard, he is still very active. The fact that no investigations have been conducted here is even more exciting. Its a well known fact that when people try to communicate with a spirit that has been ignored, things can get very active.
The First Bus Hq Location
Additional History of The First Bus Hq
Welcome to 395 King Street, Aberdeen. Today it is the global headquarters of FirstGroup plc, with a state of the art bus depot, but since being built in 1862 this has been a very interesting address. Military occupation In 1861 the Commissioners of Supply for the County of Aberdeen announced plans to build a depot for the Royal Aberdeenshire Highlanders – a volunteer regiment. It was to lie between ‘Love Lane’ (later St Peter’s Street) to the North and Advocates Road (from the current site entrance to King’s Crescent) to the South, facing onto King Street. It contained a large drill court – 370 feet long by 140 feet wide, and would be “of plain design but with a couple of towers at the angles giving it a baronial appearance”. It was to be well landscaped as it is today. The design was by William Ramage, formerly assistant to renowned local architect Archibald Simpson. At first, the drill court had sheds and open shelters along its sides, but they were soon converted to barrack rooms.
The depot was completed in 1862 but an outbreak of typhus in nearby Gallowgate and Causeway End saw the regiment sent to Fort George to complete their training. In the mid 1870s the barracks were to be dispensed with, but in 1880 the regiment was enlarged with an extra 300 men and in 1882 became the 3rd Battalion the Gordon Highlanders. In 1900/1901, during the Boer war, troops were sent from King Street to Cape Town, but in 1902 the Barracks reverted to their peacetime role. In 1905, 21-year-old Pipe Major George Stewart McLennan (the youngest in the British Army) organised the first pipe band at the barracks. Tram works In 1912, the War Office relinquished the barracks and Aberdeen County Council prepared plans, in three phases, to eventually have a major workshop for the overhaul of trams and buses.
However in 1914 when war was declared the army rented the barracks back from ACC for training soldiers. Flats during housing shortage Soon after the war, the tram sheds were erected, but in 1919 a severe housing shortage in Aberdeen saw the King Street building converted into 45 one, two & three roomed flats until 1932 . During this time bus and tram overhauling became centralised at King Street and required big extensions. As the bus fleet grew, space became short and in 1937 the ground to the South of Advocates Road was earmarked by ACC for ‘transport services’. Work did not start until 1951 when an RAF hangar from Greenock was erected on the site “with heating, lighting and everything else necessary for the proper maintenance of transport bus services”. Advocates Road through the site was eventually closed in 1956 .
In 1958, the trams were phased out and King Street was given over entirely to the care of the Aberdeen Corporation fleet of 230 buses. Change of ownership In August 1975, Aberdeen Corporation became Grampian Regional Transport (GRT). The old hangar was updated in the early 80s then in 1986, following de-regulation of the bus services GRT became GRT Ltd. In January 1989 the management and employee buyout of the company was completed by Moir Lockhead and his team. The company became GRT Holdings plc. Following a merger with Badgerline plc, FirstBus plc was formed in 1995 evolving into FirstGroup plc, now the world’s largest surface public transport operator, with bus and rail interests in the UK, Europe and America. In 1915,
Captain Beaton, an army officer during World War 1, returned from the trenches in France after sustaining head injuries. After treatment and recuperation he was later transferred to King Street barracks. In March 1918 he received his orders posting him back to France, but Captain Beaton had endured enough. The following morning his body was found hanging in the south east turret of the building, which at the time was used as the Officers’ Mess. The Captain has since been known to haunt the building and has been spotted in full regimental dress by members of staff on several occasions.