27th
December 2018 (Thursday)
... 18.00 We have had a cracker of a
 |
| Crovie village. |
day in the Northeast... warm and sunny(8c), with nae wind. Hazel and Miles, went off early to
Braemar.
Jackie and I went up to Fraserburgh, then
along the coast to Pennan and Gardenstown.
Fraserburgh is a large town with all the usual shops and stuff, but
Jackie needed fuel for the car and the garages in Fraserburgh would be open.
Pennan
was the first old fishing village that we visited. It is built on a ledge at the bottom of a
steep cliff; and the road into Pennan is
therefore steep and bendy. It is a
picturesque village, but as with all villages at the bottom of north facing
cliffs not “iggzactly” bathed in sunshine on a winter afternoon. Originally a working fishing village, the
fishermen’s houses have been saved; they are now holiday homes. It’s most recent claim to fame was as the
village ‘Ferness’ in the film ‘Local Hero’.
There is a small harbour which must have been used by creel boats at one
time, but is now empty..... and there is a Hotel ... The Pennan Inn’. You can take the car down to Pennan but parking
is limited. It was quiet today ... but, surprisingly, the Village Hall Toilets were ‘open’.
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| Jackie on Pennan pier. |
From
Pennan we went along the coast to Gardenstown... a much bigger village, with a
bigger harbour; a harbour that is still
being used by a few creel boats, though it looks like it would have been used
by some bigger boats in days of the herring.
The end of the pier was the only bit o the village being bathed in
sunshine. The ‘plan’ was to have lunch
in the local Hotel but it didn’t ‘open’ until 17.30. We bought a packet of crisps, and a bottle
of water at the local ‘Mace’ shop, the Jackie drove along to the viewpoint
overlooking Crovie where we had ‘lunch’.
‘Crovie’
... now there’s the place to live if you want to be away from it all: apart
from
 |
| Gardenstown. |
the North Sea i.e. Yet again
Crovie is built of a ledge along the bottom of a cliff, but this ledge is so
narrow that there’s only room for the fisherman’s cottages (former) and a
narrow path the runs between them and the North Sea. Guess what?.... the narrow path is too
skinny for cars. There’s a small car
park for those who rent the cottages in the summer, but tourists have to ‘moor
up’ in a small car park at the Viewpoint and walk down... and then walk
up. We didn’t go down. Imagine a place with nae vehicles!
