Pennan, Rosehearty & Sandhaven
May 20, 2021
We chose a stormy day to visit three tiny harbours on the north Aberdeenshire coast on foot - and each one had their story...
Pennan, made famous by the film Local Hero, had its own real "local hero". Baden Gibson was the HM here from 1976 to 2016 - an amazing 40 years. When researching the harbour and its master, Google kept returning Baden as the HM, but sadly all I was able to find was a lovely tribute to him on a harbour bench (Photo 4). The harbour, its HM, its pub and its phone box (now painted pink for some reason) all appeared alongside Burt Lancaster and Peter Capaldi in the film.
Rosehearty, reputed to have been founded by a group of shipwrecked Danes in the 14thC, had an HM who lived up to the warm-hearted name of the village. Mrs Dee Collins (photo 6) invited me into her snug HM's cottage to get out of the rain. In her 19 years as an HM she has seen more storms than most of us see in a lifetime. She has helped rescue cars washed off the pier into the harbour and seen fishing boats smashed up on the rocks. Amongst all this raw beauty, she told me about a hermit who lived in a cave in nearby Aberdour Bay only dying in 1918. What was really "heartening" (groan) was to hear that Dee's local council and council boss do a great job. That makes a big change from many other council managed harbours.
Sandhaven to the east was not such a happy story. Built in 1835 at a cost of £4,205, by 1856 Sandhaven was classified as one of the safest harbours on the North-east coast, with over 100 fishing boats and employing more than 700 men. 12 curing stations were set up employing over 60 coopers and 300 fish workers. Difficult to imagine! However by 1935, such was the decline in the fishing fleet, the owner Lord Clinton "closed" the harbour and the place became dilapidated - hence the great hole in the harbour wall which still remains (photo 9).
Watch the video taken at Rosehearty (photo 10) and see why we were glad to visit these harbours on foot!
Pennan, made famous by the film Local Hero, had its own real "local hero". Baden Gibson was the HM here from 1976 to 2016 - an amazing 40 years. When researching the harbour and its master, Google kept returning Baden as the HM, but sadly all I was able to find was a lovely tribute to him on a harbour bench (Photo 4). The harbour, its HM, its pub and its phone box (now painted pink for some reason) all appeared alongside Burt Lancaster and Peter Capaldi in the film.
Rosehearty, reputed to have been founded by a group of shipwrecked Danes in the 14thC, had an HM who lived up to the warm-hearted name of the village. Mrs Dee Collins (photo 6) invited me into her snug HM's cottage to get out of the rain. In her 19 years as an HM she has seen more storms than most of us see in a lifetime. She has helped rescue cars washed off the pier into the harbour and seen fishing boats smashed up on the rocks. Amongst all this raw beauty, she told me about a hermit who lived in a cave in nearby Aberdour Bay only dying in 1918. What was really "heartening" (groan) was to hear that Dee's local council and council boss do a great job. That makes a big change from many other council managed harbours.
Sandhaven to the east was not such a happy story. Built in 1835 at a cost of £4,205, by 1856 Sandhaven was classified as one of the safest harbours on the North-east coast, with over 100 fishing boats and employing more than 700 men. 12 curing stations were set up employing over 60 coopers and 300 fish workers. Difficult to imagine! However by 1935, such was the decline in the fishing fleet, the owner Lord Clinton "closed" the harbour and the place became dilapidated - hence the great hole in the harbour wall which still remains (photo 9).
Watch the video taken at Rosehearty (photo 10) and see why we were glad to visit these harbours on foot!