Birse and Feughside Parish covers an area from Aboyne in the west to Banchory in the East, south of the river Dee and encompassing the communities of Birse, Ballogie, Finzean, Strachan and Glen Dye. These are varied communities and common sources of employment are farming, tourism, the oil and gas industry and related sectors. Land is in the ownership of several major estates including Ballogie, Finzean and Dunecht. The name Feughside comes from the river Feugh which runs through the parish on its way to meet to river Dee, to which it is a tributary.  The area has a very strong community with a variety of local businesses and a primary school.