Banchory features in a mystery treasure trail designed to give visitors and local people from the Deeside town a fun way of spending a couple of hours there.

Participants must find answers to questions about Banchory based on historical and factual information during a 2-mile trail of the town in order to locate the treasure.

Treasure hunters must eliminate all the names on a treasure map to be left with the one remaining place where the treasure is hidden. They must then enter the final location on a website for the chance to win a cash prize.

The leisure products have been produced by Treasure Trails' North-east manager Liz Johnston from Stonehaven. Liz joined the company in January after completing a similar murder mystery trail in the West End of Glasgow with friends.

She said: "We wondered how on earth we were going to keep four adults, four children aged between nine and 14 and a dog occupied for the afternoon.

"The trail sounded very enjoyable as we would be outdoors and everyone would be exercising, including the dog. Having downloaded the trail from the website, I noticed that you could buy a licence for the area. I sent off for details and the rest is history."

She added: "The trails are a combination of fun, education and activity which encourage people to see the North-east from a different perspective. We want to get people out exploring areas they may have lived in for years and learning things they would never have found out otherwise.

"Equally, visitors can discover a whole new perspective in a fun and healthy activity that won't break the bank. The walking trails generally take a couple of hours to complete, although we find most trailers stop off and utilize local cafes and pubs as they go. There is no time limit; the trailers set the pace."

Liz has been overwhelmed with the interest in the trails, which cost £5 each, since they officially launched last month. She expects them to be just as popular with local residents as amongst tourists.

She said: "There has been a really positive response to them so far. I recently did my first corporate event and that went really well.

"The trails first started in Cornwall where there is now a huge demand for them as they have been established there for a couple of years.
"I thought that it would be mainly tourists who would do the trails but in Cornwall they found a huge amount of local people taking part. Hopefully that trend will continue here."

Liz has also designed other routes in Deeside including a murder mystery trail in Aboyne and a treasure trail in Ballater. There are currently seven different trails in the North-east and Liz is keen to develop more in the coming months.

She added: "I am hoping to launch trails for Grantown-on-Spey and Aviemore soon. I am also hoping to design trails for the West End of Aberdeen and Braemar in the near future."

Participants who complete the treasure trail can enter their answer online or by post and, if it is correct, they will be entered into a competition to win a cash prize.

The trails can be downloaded from the website at www.treasuretrails.co.uk or by contacting Liz Johnston either by email at scotne@treasuretrails.co.uk or by writing to Treasure Trails, Windyhill, Robert Street, Stonehaven. AB39 2DJ. The trails will also be available at the Banchory Show on July 26.