The Broch- Day 1 and 2 of Many
Fraserburgh is known locally as "The Broch. " (Apologies if I spelt it wrong in my previous blog.)
It certainly has character, being a commercial fishing port there are no facilities for yachts, we were lucky to get onto a pontoon in one of the eight fishing docks. However the seaman's mission on the quay is being refurbished to provide showers and a café, this has taken two years and is due to open next week, so no good for us but useful information for any other yachties coming this way.
The Broch could not be described as a pretty town but very friendly and full of character.
I think we underestimated the North East of Scotland in terms of weather, I am coming to the conclusion that they don't get summer up here. It is very windy here, the first day we were in port we decided to visit the Lighthouse Museum and Heritage Centre on the cliff but we turned back because it was too windy........and we were walking not sailing!!!
The saving grace is the swimming pool which is fantastic, very clean and modern so I did enjoy my swim.
The pool was a short walk from the harbour past the stunning beach - shame about the weather.
We tried to book into the Saltoun Inn for the night to give ourselves a break but they were fully booked so we booked for the next night. We visited the local pub, The Ship, which, although it had seen better days had a very friendly bar maid. We were the only people in the place, although by ten o'clock four more people had arrived. The bar maid reminisced about the times when it was a busy fishing port and the pub would be full from opening to closing. In those days families had two or three boats, now they only have one if at all. How sad, it had once been a busy and prosperous town but due to the downturn in the Herring fishing due to overfishing and the introduction by the EU fishing quotas it has declined. Apparently the owner of the Ship also has three other pubs in town and the local nightclub, think we will probably give that a miss!
Day 2
The next day we did manage to get to the lighthouse museum and we were told that the previous day (when we had turned back on foot) they recorded winds of 70 miles an hour!! The highest wind speed ever recorded here was 142 miles per hour, so you can see what a bleak spot this is. My son has a colleague, Lianne, who grew up here so she was able to recommend places to go, one being the Lighthouse Museum/ Heritage Centre/ Kinnaird Castle/ the Old Fog Horn (not Josh's nick name for me).
I recommend a visit to the museum if you are ever up here. It is the only lighthouse built inside a castle (Kinnaird Castle), which once belonged to the Fraser family. Anyone tracing their Scottish ancestry who is a Fraser needs to come here as the Fraser family still live nearby. For anyone interested in the Fraser Clan here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the current Lady Saltoun. " Marjorie Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun[fn 1][1] (born 18 October 1930) is a Scottish peer. Until her retirement on 12 December 2014, she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament who had a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. Lady Saltoun is the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. She is also the head of the Scottish lowland family, the Frasers of Philorth." The town used to be a collection of fishing villages, one of them being Saltoun (Salt Town I guess?) but was renamed Fraserburgh after the Fraser family.
The old lighthouse is still in working order and we went right up to the top and saw it working; fascinating. It is the only light in the country that goes anti clockwise due to a mistake when it was being made, you see what I mean about the character around here. The only lighthouse to be built in a castle and the only one that goes anti-clockwise!
It was a popular posting because it is on the land, so keepers could lodge in the surrounding cottages with their family, they had a garden in which to grow vegetables and the right to graze a cow on the neighbouring land. The posting was for 5 years and then they would be moved on to another lighthouse.
The living accommodation is as it was in the 1960's when the last keeper lived here, note the 6 pint teapot, one for you Dee!!
That evening we had a night in the Saltoun Inn to look forward to, what luxury to have a large bed with clean sheets, fluffy white towels and a heated towel rail. It makes you appreciate these things when you don't have them for several weeks and makes you think of those in the world who are experiencing true hardship. We went to Lianne's recommended fish and chip restaurant, Findlay's fish and chips and we also had the local Bicocchis Italian ice cream, made here for over 50 years. Not sure what would tempt an Italian to settle in the wilds of North East Scotland but still!
It happened to be election night so we watched TV for a bit and then drifted off to sleep in the luxury of our hotel room. The Saltoun Inn is a Weatherspoons Inn, we didn't know they had hotels but again I can recommend this one.
It certainly has character, being a commercial fishing port there are no facilities for yachts, we were lucky to get onto a pontoon in one of the eight fishing docks. However the seaman's mission on the quay is being refurbished to provide showers and a café, this has taken two years and is due to open next week, so no good for us but useful information for any other yachties coming this way.
The Broch could not be described as a pretty town but very friendly and full of character.
 |
| One for Pirate Sam |
I think we underestimated the North East of Scotland in terms of weather, I am coming to the conclusion that they don't get summer up here. It is very windy here, the first day we were in port we decided to visit the Lighthouse Museum and Heritage Centre on the cliff but we turned back because it was too windy........and we were walking not sailing!!!
The saving grace is the swimming pool which is fantastic, very clean and modern so I did enjoy my swim.
 |
| The sports centre Fraserburgh. |
 |
| The beach and sand dunes at Fraserburgh |
We tried to book into the Saltoun Inn for the night to give ourselves a break but they were fully booked so we booked for the next night. We visited the local pub, The Ship, which, although it had seen better days had a very friendly bar maid. We were the only people in the place, although by ten o'clock four more people had arrived. The bar maid reminisced about the times when it was a busy fishing port and the pub would be full from opening to closing. In those days families had two or three boats, now they only have one if at all. How sad, it had once been a busy and prosperous town but due to the downturn in the Herring fishing due to overfishing and the introduction by the EU fishing quotas it has declined. Apparently the owner of the Ship also has three other pubs in town and the local nightclub, think we will probably give that a miss!
Day 2
The next day we did manage to get to the lighthouse museum and we were told that the previous day (when we had turned back on foot) they recorded winds of 70 miles an hour!! The highest wind speed ever recorded here was 142 miles per hour, so you can see what a bleak spot this is. My son has a colleague, Lianne, who grew up here so she was able to recommend places to go, one being the Lighthouse Museum/ Heritage Centre/ Kinnaird Castle/ the Old Fog Horn (not Josh's nick name for me).
 |
| The old lighthouse in the remains of Kinnaird Castle. The posts are used to dry fishing nets. |
I recommend a visit to the museum if you are ever up here. It is the only lighthouse built inside a castle (Kinnaird Castle), which once belonged to the Fraser family. Anyone tracing their Scottish ancestry who is a Fraser needs to come here as the Fraser family still live nearby. For anyone interested in the Fraser Clan here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the current Lady Saltoun. " Marjorie Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun[fn 1][1] (born 18 October 1930) is a Scottish peer. Until her retirement on 12 December 2014, she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament who had a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. Lady Saltoun is the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. She is also the head of the Scottish lowland family, the Frasers of Philorth." The town used to be a collection of fishing villages, one of them being Saltoun (Salt Town I guess?) but was renamed Fraserburgh after the Fraser family.
The old lighthouse is still in working order and we went right up to the top and saw it working; fascinating. It is the only light in the country that goes anti clockwise due to a mistake when it was being made, you see what I mean about the character around here. The only lighthouse to be built in a castle and the only one that goes anti-clockwise!
It was a popular posting because it is on the land, so keepers could lodge in the surrounding cottages with their family, they had a garden in which to grow vegetables and the right to graze a cow on the neighbouring land. The posting was for 5 years and then they would be moved on to another lighthouse.
The living accommodation is as it was in the 1960's when the last keeper lived here, note the 6 pint teapot, one for you Dee!!
That evening we had a night in the Saltoun Inn to look forward to, what luxury to have a large bed with clean sheets, fluffy white towels and a heated towel rail. It makes you appreciate these things when you don't have them for several weeks and makes you think of those in the world who are experiencing true hardship. We went to Lianne's recommended fish and chip restaurant, Findlay's fish and chips and we also had the local Bicocchis Italian ice cream, made here for over 50 years. Not sure what would tempt an Italian to settle in the wilds of North East Scotland but still!
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