Balmedie, Aberdeen, AB23 8SA

Balmedie is a large village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, lying north of the city of Aberdeen in the civil parish of Belhelvie. The village is adjacent to a long and wide beach that is bordered by an extensive dune system stretching 14 miles from Aberdeen to just north of the Ythan Estuary at Newburgh. The dynamic dunes are dominated by marram grass and support a large array of wildlife. Two watercourses flow to the sea within the area, creating ribbons of wetland vegetation along their course. The village is near the Sands of Forvie Site of Special Scientific Interest, the fifth largest sand dune system in Britain, which is an integral part of the Ythan Estuary that separates the sands from Balmedie Beach.