Ae, Dumfries and Galloway
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Ae (pronounced Template:IPAc-en) is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, south west Scotland.<ref name="Reader's Digest Association 1990 16">Template:Harvtxt</ref> The village is located on the edge of a Template:Convert human-made conifer forest, and is approximately Template:Convert north of Dumfries.<ref name="Reader's Digest Association 1990 16" />
History
Robert Chambers wrote of the Ae area in 1826, describing it as a moor with a glen (known as Glenae),<ref name="Chambers 1826 111">Template:Harvtxt</ref> whose inhabitants were "long famed for broils, battles, and feats of activity".<ref name="Chambers 1826 112">Template:Harvtxt</ref> Chambers wrote that most men in the area were employed in farming and transporting goods on horseback between the village and Glasgow, as well as the cities of Carlisle and Manchester.<ref name="Chambers 1826 112" /> These "lads of Ae" had a reputation that preceded them, being famous for "cudgel-playing [and] boxing" at every fair and wedding the area held.<ref name="Chambers 1826 112" />
The village of Ae is one of the youngest villages in Britain, having been founded in 1947 by the Forestry Commission.<ref name="Reader's Digest Association 1990 16" />
Geography
The village is situated between the Water of Ae and the Goukstane Burn after they have flowed out of the Forest of Ae. The population is approximately 200, with 50 dwellings. Facilities in the village include a public house (formerly the post office), a school and community hall.<ref name="Reader's Digest Association 1990 16" />
Experiments at Ae include successful afforestation of former peat bogs, formerly thought to be unplantable. Plantation has also been established at a height of Template:Convert. The forest consists mainly of Sitka spruce,<ref name="Pye 2004 274">Template:Harvtxt</ref> but there are also larch, Scots pine, and Norway spruce. There is much wildlife, including deer, fox, hare, weasel, woodpigeon, yellowhammer, sparrowhawk, jay, pheasant, partridge and red squirrel.
Toponymy
In 1787, the area's name was written with the ligature Æ.<ref name="Great Britain House of Lords 1787 201">Template:Harvtxt</ref> By 1826 the name was written as Ae which, by repute, is the shortest place name in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Reader's Digest Association 1990 16" /> However the Scottish Gaelic name of the island of Iona comprises a single letter, Ì, and there is also a river in the Scottish Highlands called the E.
The name likely comes from the Old Norse word á, meaning 'water'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mountain biking trails
Close to the village is the local area headquarters of the Forestry Commission. The commission has been instrumental in developing a mountain biking centre, which provides access to cycle trails of various difficulty. To cater for visitors, there is a small café and a bike shop.
Wheelchair accessible walks
There is a Template:Convert long wheelchair accessible circular trail along the Ae riverside from the main car park where there is disabled parking. The path is wide and generally flat and consists of a combination of cinder and compacted gravel tracks with very few low obstacles and slight inclines. The route is suitable for manual wheelchair users, just follow the yellow post markers. There is also the option of parking at the upper/overflow car park, shortening the walk to less than Template:Convert and avoiding the first part of the trail which is shared with vehicles. For the more adventurous with "off road" wheelchairs the yellow trail can be extended by following the green mountain bike trail markers up to Dan's pool and back.