ABERDEEN Aberdeen is one of the smaller towns within the Hunter Valley. Aberdeen also has some Scottish history, but a visit to the town did not reveal any visual acknowledgement. The town economically appears to be suffering and does not appear to be on the coattails of the wine industry. The town has upper and lower segments. Aberdeen has two churches - St Thomas Catholic Church, and St Marks Anglican Church. It once had a third church, St Paul’s Uniting Church, which has now been turned into an art gallery called the Artemis Gallery. Aberdeen is possibly best-known for the former abattoirs in the town centre, which operated for well over 100 years, before the most recent owners - an American company called Conagra - decided to close down their New South Wales to concentrate on their Queensland operations. One factor in closing down what was once a very important abattoir for Conagra, was that the financial cost of upgrading the Aberdeen Abattoir was deemed too high, thus the abattoir - which was the largest single employer in Aberdeen - was closed in 1999. Hundreds of people were left without work, and despite promises from both the New South Wales and Federal governments to encourage new businesses to open up in the area, nothing of note eventuated. A typical govt response. Aberdeen has three hotels. The top pub and the lower at the northern end. Plus one of the oldest in NSW The Aberdeen War Memorial is a low key affair at the bowling club. When visiting be sure to check out the nic-nac emporium. At the rear there is an old pub???? Heritage diary