2009

Jan 6 SNP Milestone -With a new year dawning it marked it marked the beginning of a major anniversary in both local and national political history, and people in the Buckie area are being asked to come forward with any memories and memorabilia they may have. The year two thousand and nine sees not only the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Scottish National Party, but also of its Buckie branch, one of the first in the country. In the run –up to the celebrations planned for November 6 in the Buckie British Legion hall, the Convener of the Buckie branch, and local Councillor Gordon McDonald formally launched the appeal for anyone who has been involved in the history of the branch, either directly or through a family member, to share their memories. The very first Convener of the Buckie branch was a Miss Bunyan from Mill Crescent, which was quite remarkable in its own right; only ten years or so after the here we had a woman taking a leading role in a radical party.

Friends of Seafield Hospital -The members of the ‘Friends’ augmented by family members and volunteers did a bag-packing stint in the local Co-operative Supermarket as a fund raising project and raised the sum of £756.37. Alistair Robson, Chair of the Friends of Seafield Hospital and Community Patients said: “We were very grateful to all who supported the bag-packing event and a big thank you goes to everyone who made a donation” The Friends are always on the lookout for more volunteers. Anyone interested are asked to contact Alistair.

Jan 13 High Praise for BCHS - A “Very good quality of education”- that was the glowing verdict delivered by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), on Buckie Community High School in their report published this week. October 2008 saw inspectors visit BCHS to conduct a rigorous and demanding inspection using a completely new grading and assessment system. Five major areas were evaluated as part of the inspection with the school gaining either good (defined as having important strengths with some areas for improvement) or very good (major strengths) These were: improvements in performance – good; learners experiences – good; meeting learning needs- very well; the curriculum – very good; improvement through self-evaluation – very good.

Lights on – Lights off - Peter Cowie a retired electrician of Titness Street, Buckie is the person who has checked the power supply and switched on the display of Christmas Lights in Buckie for the past twenty years and at the end of the festive season switched they back off again.

Santa Helps the Round Table - For a number of years past Buckie and District Round Table have made a collection on behalf of the recipients of ‘Meals on Wheels’ this year they were helped by Santa on a sledge and were delighted that with his help the sum of £800 was raised which saw each recipient receive a £10 Co-op voucher.

Harbour Log –Five fishing boats came in to Buckie harbour during last week to land their catches. This comprised 24 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 215 bags of scallops. The boats were Calisha, Georgia Dawn, Aspire, Blue Sky and Silver Rock. One cargo boat paid a call. This was the MV Shetland Trader, registered in Barbados that came in from Kilroot in Ireland on New Year’s Day, carrying a cargo of rock salt weighing 2167.220 tonnes. She set sail again four days later, empty, and bound for Lowestoft.

Service to the Blind – Service totalling nearly 30 years by two volunteers to a local group for the blind and partially sighted was honoured recently at a celebratory lunch in the Marine Hotel, Buckie. The stars of the event were Jean Redford and Lily Chalmers who have given 16 and 10 years of service respectively to Buckie Community Kaleidoscope, which is affiliated to the Grampian Society for the Blind (GSB). Neil Skene, GSB Fund-raising Manager, handed over certificates of achievement to the duo.

Jan 20 High School Switch on -Buckie Community High School took their place as one of the leading lights on the issue of renewable energy when new solar panels were officially unveiled at the school. Last Wednesday morning saw the panels, which have been funded to the tune of £20,000 by the Co- operative Group’s Green energy for School scheme and the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme, officially switched on at the school, aided by Co-operative colourful climate change character Sunny Solar.

Burns Suppers a number of organisations celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of the poet Robert Burns by holding Burns Suppers. One such place was the local library. The haggis was piped in by Jim Forbes being carried by Cluny Primary School pupil, Dylan Christie followed by the Address to the Haggis by Jim Bartlett. An afternoon of Scottish poetry, dance and music followed with contributions from Pat Fraser, Jim Forbes and pupils from Cluny Primary. An audience of 82 people were present, being welcomed by Librarian Eleanor Kidd. The Probus Club held their event in the Marine Hotel. Those taking part here were Bob Jamieson who gave the Selkirk Grace; Jim Findlay who gave the Address to the Haggis, Jim Pirrie gave a classic rendering of ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’ while Hugh Patience gave the Immortal Memory. The Ga’an Aboot Folk provided entertainment. John Legge gave the vote of thanks. The Rotary Club also held their Burns Supper in the Marine Hotel while a Burns Supper was also enjoyed at Parklands, Struan and Netherha. Over in Portgordon the Parent Council also got in the act

Jan 27 Old established firm to close -Buckie’s employment landscape looked that much bleaker last Thursday when it was announced that W & J Cruickshank, & Co. who have been in business for over one hundred years, were to close near the end of February with the loss of 24 jobs in the town. A further nine jobs connected to the soft drinks and wholesaling firm are also to be axed. A statement issued by the company’s Managing Director, William Cruickshank, stated, “ I regret to announce that, due to a serious downturn in sales, our company will close for business on February 27th. 2009. Sadly, this means that 33 employees (24 based in Buckie, four at Inverness, one at Tain and four at Wick) will be made redundant.) For many years the firm’s premises were on Blairdaff Street but in recent times they have traded from a large site off the Rathven Road near Cunningholes and the former Pot O’ Linn. Councillor Anne McKay said: “It is most depressing when we hear of long established businesses like Cruickshank has to close. I don’t think there is anyone who has been brought up in the north east of Scotland who will not have heard of ‘Crookie’s dazzle.’”

Regeneration group - A steering group has been launched aimed at fostering the economic regeneration of Buckie after, what has been described, as years of neglect. The members are Councillor Gordon McDonald (Chairman), Dr. Nick Brown, planning and regeneration consultant, Jim Johnston, local businessman and Executive Director of Moray Chamber of Commerce, Barry Taylor, Buckie Area Forum Chair, Alan Beresford BAF vice chair,

Feb 3 Rotary Club Burns Supper -This was held in the Marine Hotel where the president Jeanette Brown welcomed members and guests before Hugh Patience gave grace, the haggis was piped in by youthful piper Graham Goldie and addressed by member Jim Findlay. Ayrshire native Jim Pirrie gave the Immortal Memory. Marie McDonald and Charles McKay delivered Burns readings. Alistair Farquhar gave the Toast to the Lassies with a reply by Heather Pirie. James Alexander and Clare and Craig Lambourne provided singing and musical entertainment. David Paterson gave the vote of thanks.

Burns Supper at Cullen – A sell out crowd enjoyed the first event in the Cullen Homecoming 2009 programme with an evening of laughter and entertainment being provided at a Community Burns Celebration. The evening, which raised funds for the Buckie RNLI demonstrated the richness of local orators and the wealth of local artistes. Professor Ashley Mowatt introduced the event by welcoming everyone to Cullen. The Selkirk Grace was performed in the Doric by Rev Sean Turner before the haggis was carried in by Joyce Henderson preceded by piper Mhairi Sellar, a sixth year pupil at Buckie High School. James Findlay addressed the haggis, which he complemented later with the Reply from the Haggis. Councillor Gary Coull gave the Toast to the Lassies with Sandra Taylor giving the reply. Peter Wilkie gave an outstanding rendition of ‘Holy Willies Prayer’. The following – Duncan and Claudia Wood, Cathall McConnell, Alex and Madeline Green, Euan Watt and Ronnie Ewan and Joe Mowat, provided entertainment

Another Home Care Facility opened - Care for the elderly was moved to a new level in Buckie last Friday when the award-winning Parklands Care Home Group officially unveiled their state of the art Burnbank House facility Situated to the rear of the existing Parklands care home adjacent to the Linzee Gordon park off High Street, the £2million building not only provides assisted/living/very sheltered housing accommodation, but also dementia and other nursing beds. It represents the first increase in bed space for the care of the elderly in Buckie since 1993. Doing the honours in declaring Burnbank House open was the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, Clare Russell, and Ballindalloch Castle. The Managing Director of the Parklands Care Home Group is Mr Ronald Taylor.

The Buckie area gets a share of winter conditions - The Buckie area and the rest of Moray finally joined most of the country under a blanket of snow last Thursday and Friday as winter’s grip became even wider spread. While large parts of the UK had languished under the effects of ice and snow, with the entailing transport chaos, for the first part of the week, Moray and the northeast had largely been bypassed. However, the situation was to change radically by the time the second half of the week dawned, if the depth of the snowfall on the coast was still relatively small compared to that found in inland places.

First of many – The foundations of the first house to be built by Springfield of Elgin on their site known as Letterfourie to the east of the Barhill Road and on the former lotted lands were laid this week. By the time the whole scheme is complete there will be more than 100 houses built reaching almost to the farm steading of Mill of Buckie.

Feb 17 New Supermarket Plans Put Forward TESCO the retail shopping giant have tendered their plans to build a 17772sq m. food store on the outskirts of Buckie to the west of the High Street and south of the Parklands Care Home. As part of the plans submitted in addition to the store there would be a petrol filling station, parking spaces for 192 cars, recycling facilities and possibly a tourist information point.

New Restaurant Opens A new restaurant opened on Tuesday February 17 on the southwest quadrant of Cluny Square above the TSB Bank offering the new dimension of Bengal cuisine to the Buckie area. Mr Khan, who is experienced in Indian cuisine, has launched the Bengal Brasserie.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards- Two senior students at Buckie Community High School had a chance recently to tell of their experiences at a youth leadership course they attended last summer when they were present at a meeting of the Buckie Rotary club. Shaun Khosla and Amy Arbuckle, who are now in S6 travelled to Abernethy Outdoor Centre in July as the local representatives of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) course,

Feb 24 Where was Buckie’s Poor House? This was the question many people in Buckie were asking following a programme on BBC television that saw newsreader Fiona Bruce tracing the place where her great grandfather had died in 1886. Allan Fraser, a retired geography teacher with an avid interest in local history was able to give the exact location of the site where the building had once stood. The story is given on page 3 of this edition of the ‘Advertiser’.

Flower Show secretary dies –A stalwart of Buckie’s Flower Show and well-known exhibitor in the annual flower show circuit died suddenly at the age of 70. Robert (Bert) Johnston of Linn Crescent, Buckie, was well known for his involvement with the local annual flower show. He had a passion for the flower shows and showed for 11 years at Buckie, Fochabers, Deskford, Nairn and Lossiemouth. He was secretary of Buckie Flower Show for five years and also took up the position of Show Manager, which he held for fancy for fuchsias. His two greenhouses, filled with fuchsias and hanging baskets kept him busy. Another passion was woodcarving and he soon began entering his creations into the flower shows and like his flowers won prizes for them too, which gave him a real buzz. His obituary appears on page 5

Mar 3 Businessman dies – A dedicated and well-known Buckie businessman who established a successful shellfish business in the town 14 years ago died recently at the age of 75. John Thomson of John Thomson Seafoods started business in Buckie over twenty years ago when he shared premises with Willie Stephen of Findochty. He later bought his current premises at Harbourhead, Buckie, and established John Thomson Seafoods along with his partner Sandra. He was a native of Orkney, born on the island of Sanday.

Prominent feature goes - – The end was in sight for an historic Buckie landmark when the outer shell of the tall, 50 foot plus ice factory at Buckie harbour was removed this week. Ice making operations ceased in the factory on November 28. The Buckie factory, which had been standing for over forty years, produced lumps of ice, which supplied local fish processors, and fishing boats, which came into the harbour. John Goodall who had worked in the ice tower for around 12 years until its closure was sad to see it go. He said: “the removal of the ice tower is just a mirror of how the fishing industry is dying down in Buckie now”

Mar 10 Aim to try to re-generate the local economy the formation of a Business Association took a massive step forward last Monday evening following a public meeting in Buckie Community High School. Representatives from local retail and the wider business community came along to hear the case for re-establishing such an organisation as a central plank to re-generate Buckie’s economy.

Citizen of the Year - Because of certain events that arose the community council decided that there would be no Buckie Citizen of the Year this year. With a new community council being elected in October it will be left to its members to decide whether to go ahead with the project in 2010

Barnardos Scotland – Linda Gordon, co-organiser of the local branch, welcomed 62 ladies to the latest fund-raising lunch held in the Marine Hotel on Thursday 31 March. The guest speaker was Moira Smith from Rathven who had put together a Quiz part of which required the audience to say what kind of animal or bird is associated with such as the following two football teams Derby County and Aberdeen and also the French International Rugby team.

Fochabers By-Pass - A photograph taken from the bridge over the Spey at Fochabers looking east shows the first tangible steps that have been taken in connection with the Fochabers by-pass. A view can be seen after a considerable number of trees have been taken down just inside of the lodge gates and entrance to Gordon Castle.

Harbour Log - One fishing boat came in to land its catch the previous week. This was the Deeside that landed 200 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid combined. The cargo boats paid a visit. Two of them imported cargoes, one of malt the other of sugar beet. The only export was a parallel depropaniser, produced in Buckie that left the port destined for Grangemouth.

Mar 17 Open Day at the School - The best of Buckie Community High School went on show for one day last week and as all who went along could testify to, there was plenty to see. Last Wednesday from 2.15pm -7.00pm marked another spectacular triumph for BCHS when they held their very first open day, which acted, as a showcase for all that was good about the school, an undertaking that covered a lot of ground. In addition to highlighting what each and every pupil has achieved, it was also a chance to encourage greater parent involvement in the work of the school.

The River Spey - A personal tribute to the many faces of the River Spey has been unveiled in the form of a book by a former local resident. Donald Barr, former Principal Teacher of Music at Buckie High and someone well known in the music scene who formerly lived in a croft house at Ryeriggs at the top of the Enzie Brae before moving to his ancestor’s hometown of Newtonmore has launched his book on the iconic river entitled “The Spey: From Source to Sea, which he wrote with his brother Brian. The book is published by Luath Press and costs £12.99

J. J. Music –Is the only column that appears in the ‘Advertiser’ of today apart from Midweek Reflections written each week by a different minister or priest in the town? The J.J. column has each week for the past 20 years. The writer, Jeff Jones is Principal Teacher of Chemistry at Buckie Community High School where he has also been since the early 1970’s Jeff is also connected with Moray Firth Radio. His column provides an up to date look at today’s pop music scene

Mar 24 Traders sought to form an association - Buckie businesses large and small are being invited to come along to a public meeting next Thursday with a view to forming a Business Association in the town

Fisheries Fund Potential Explored - Local communities and business from across Moray came to Buckie last Thursday to see for they how cash from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) could help out. The Town House played host to the event last Thursday morning, and saw an excellent turnout from community groups, businesses and other interested parties, including Moray Council, for two presentations and a question and answer session. Buckie’s three elected members – Councillors Gordon McDonald, Joe Mackay and Anne McKay were also in attendance.

Fishing news – Five boats came in to Buckie harbour to land their catches last week that. In total this comprised 61 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 20 bags of scallops. The boats were – Illustrious, Gracious, Jenna Maree, Carona and Kestrel.

Mar 31 Buckie’s G. O. M - Mr Bob Rennie, a native of Linwood, Renfrewshire, but who has been a resident in Buckie since 1994 and in recent years at Burnside Court, Buckpool, celebrated his 104th birthday there in the company of his daughter Isobel and other relatives and friends.

Buckie and District Flower Show - At a meeting of the committee, very small in number, that was held at the Old Manse at Rathven, the home of the President, Ms Marion Mitchell it was decided that the Show would definitely go on this year as much as anything as a tribute to the late secretary Bert Johnston who had done the bulk of the organising. Members will, however, be trying hard to recruit more people to become committee members or if not to give any help that is required. The Show this year will take place on August 22.

Apr 7 Former Thistle star – The memory of one of Buckie Thistle’s stars of yesteryear will live again after the club received the gift of various memorabilia last Saturday. Guests of honour before the Jag’s clash with Lossiemouth at Victoria Park were Steve a Gillian Owen, along with their son Alex who handed over selected items relating to when Mr Owen’s grandfather, George Calder, of Lossiemouth played centre- forward for the club. He was signed for Buckie prior to the start of season 1934-35. He played trials for Liverpool in 1937 but returned to play for Buckie up until November 1939

Lady Minister takes over linked charges – A warm welcome awaited Rev Yvonne Hendrie last Friday when she was formally inducted to her new post as Minister for the Church of Scotland Kirks at Findochty, Findochty and Rathven. Originally hailing from Stranraer, Rev Hendrie currently shares the Whitehills manse with husband Brian, who in Minister for Ordiquill and Cornhill linked with Whitehills, and daughter Chloe.

Apr 14 Expat Fochabers GP Retires – A former Fochabers resident and expat doctor has retired after serving patients in the same south Norfolk practice for the last 32 years. Dr Stewart Fraser who lives at Caistor St Edmunds bade farewell to his Magdalene Medical Practice on April 3. Dr Fraser was born in Turner Memorial Hospital, Keith in January 1949 although the family home was at Burnside of Enzie. He was the youngest of eight born to Alex and Nan Fraser, six of whom are still alive; his brother Allan is the only one to live locally. The family moved to 35 Maxwell Street, Fochabers when Dr Fraser was about ten years old and he was to continue his education firstly at Milne’s Primary School and then Milne’s High School, becoming Dux of the school in 1967.

Local churches unite for Holy Week - On Good Friday an ecumenical walk carrying a large wooden cross and posters from ‘The Way of the Cross’ got underway from St Peter’s RC Church, stopping at other Buckie churches on the way, At each church there was a short reading, prayer and meditation on the scene depicted on one of the posters. The walk finished at All Saints Church where lunch was provided.

Apr 21 150th Anniversary - Buckie RNLI’s campaign to commemorate their 150th anniversary in 210 officially got underway at a public meeting in Buckie Community High School last Wednesday evening. A steering group was formed to move the campaign forward, comprising Buckie RNLI Chairman Dr Alison Douglas, Lifeboat Operations Manager Joe Herd, Lifeboat Safety Officer Peter Sinclair, crew member Lynne Pirie and Buckie RNL Lifeboat Press Officer Alan Beresford.

No Banffshire sign While a number of signs denoting the boundary line of Banffshire with Aberdeenshire and Moray have been erected by Moray Council as part of the Homecoming celebrations they have decided that there shouldn’t be one at Tynet Bridge for to erect one there would cause confusion Many folk find this to be completely ridiculous including local councillors Gordon and Anita McDonald.

Spring Masterpiece - Buckie Choral Union’s spring concert in the Fishermen’s Hall was once again an outstanding success when they presented performances of Handel’s ‘Coronation Anthems’ and Dvorak’s ‘Mass in D Major’. Buckie Choral Union was formed in 1970 following a BBC ‘Songs of Praise ‘ which saw members of local church choirs brought together. Some of those who participated so enjoyed the experience that they decided to form a Choral Union. The first conductor was High School History teacher John Fraser, who took the baton for their first public performance, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ on December 17 1970.

Anzac Tribute at Dallachy - Tributes will be paid this Saturday 25 April to the airmen from Australia and New Zealand who served alongside the RAF at a local ceremony. The Strike Wing Memorial Bogmoor on the Spey Bay road will be the venue for a short service at 10.00am. To commemorate ANZAC Day and the Australian and New Zealand squadrons who fought alongside the RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. A number of wreaths will be laid. The local community council has arranged the ceremony.

Harbour Log - Last week three boats came in to land their catches at Buckie harbour. In total this comprised 47 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid. The boats were Reward, Illustrious and Carona. One cargo paid a call. This was the Gibraltar-registered V Berit that arrived from Hull to uplift a Sand Treatment Skid weighing 31,811 tonnes destined for Larvik in Norway to where she sailed the following day.

April 28 new beat Officer Community policing in the Buckie area has received a significant boost with the appointment of a second CBO (Community Beat Officer. Joining the local team is PC Mairi Page, who will work alongside the existing CBO, PC Kevin McPherson

ANZAC Day was marked at the Dallachy Strike Wing Memorial, Bogmoor last week when a wreath was laid. Representatives from the Buckie Branch of the Royal British Legion were present, also members of Royal Air Force, the convener of Moray Council and other interested parties.

Buckie Hotspurs was the name of a football team that played in the local Welfare league in pre-war days. Mr. Robert Jappy set up the team in 1938. He also wrote poetry with one being given the title Buckie Hotspurs a copy of which had been long retained by former player Bill Geddes who allowed it to be printed again in this issue of the ‘Advertiser’ it is found on page 5. Mr. Jappy was called up to the Navy in 1940 and during his service time wrote a number of other poems, which appeared in the local paper at different times from 1941 to 1944.

RNLI additional safety - Buckie RNLI are set to make an even greater contribution to the safety of leisure sailing and other non-commercial sea users following the appointment of a Lifeboat Sea Safety Officer (LSSO) Taking up the LSSO post ahead of what will no doubt be a busy summer on the local coast is Peter Sinclair, himself a yachtsman, who will be looking to advise on how they can enjoy the water safely by following a few simple tips.

Bowling Greens opened for the season – The first jacks were thrown on Saturday afternoon. At the Victoria Club this was thrown by James Cowie, retired electrician, the oldest member and at Buckie by Mrs. Freda Nicol At Cullen the honour was given to Bunty Gardiner.

Buckie Community High School The winners of this year’s annual Senior Young Musicians of the Year competition were – Instrumentalists – 1. Sean Pirie, electric guitar; 2. Sasha Reid, piano. Vocalist – 1. Alice Leitch; 2. Ruth Arbuckle.

May 5 Major project completed at Buckie – Forsyth’s Buckie celebrated the successful conclusion to a major project that will see their engineering skills play a part in the new North Sea oil and gas development. Making its way from the firm’s harbour-side workshops to await shipment to Norway last week was a MEG (Mono Ethylene Glycol) regeneration skid unit which will eventually go on to become part of the new Gjoa oil and gas platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The unit will form part of the process to remove water and impurities and prevent the formation of hydrates. Weighing in at 314 tonnes, the package stood 16m. high, 20m. long and 8.9m. wide., necessitating the removal of the 16 m high workshop doors to get the skid to the harbour where a special large crane, capable of lifting 400 tonnes was taken north in parts on board three lorries to lift the structure aboard a large barge. Large numbers of people gathered at the harbour to watch this procedure. A fuller report is given on page 1 and page 6 of the ‘Advertiser’ together with numerous photographs.

Cricket – The cricket season began on Saturday when Buckie Cricket club played host to Nairn Cricket club in the Macallan NOSCA league in a match sponsored by Buckie Inshore Fish Sellers. Nairn were dismissed for 46 with Buckie wining by the handsome total of 138 runs. Anthony Wilson had his first five wickets haul for the season while Corsie had his first half-century.

May 12 Fishing Heritage Centre - The Buckie and District Fishing heritage Centre opened for the new 2009 season last week and looks forward to welcoming visitors and locals alike to the facility. Members of the committee have carried out a lot of preparation work in time for the opening with displays being upgraded and the facility receiving a general spruce up. Bigger and better signs have been added to the displays and details of the artefacts are easier to view.

Affordable housing Work has begun on the contract to build 49 Affordable Housing in a field to the west of the Barhill Road that previously formed part of the farm of Muirton.

Required commitment not being shown - Allan Fraser who has been connected with Buckie Rovers since 1984 had a letter printed in this edition of the ‘Advertiser’ is which he criticised the attitude of some of today’s players when compared with those of a former era. This is found on page 10 and columns 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Probus Club AGM – This took place in the Marine Hotel on Thursday 16 April. In his retiring address Bill Smith said how much he had enjoyed being President, this being due as much as anything to the support he had received from the secretary and treasurer and other members of the committee. . Finally, he said thanks were due to all for the excellent attendance record on all occasions that helped to foster a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere in the club. He ended by wishing the club every success in the future. Bob Jamieson, secretary gave his report on events over the past year while the treasurer Hugh Patience, presented his statement of accounts. He proposed that the annual subscription be raised to £5, this being carried by a handsome show of hands. Election of office bearers – President – Jim Pirrie, vice president - Eddie Gray, Secretary Bob Jamieson and treasurer, Hugh Patience agreed to continue in office. Committee members – Alex Bruce, Alex Hay and Steve Liley are to continue in office being joined by new member Peter Stephen and retiring president Bill Smith. Alex Hay to continue as auditor. Badges of office were exchanged between the old and new presidents. Jim Pirrie said he appreciated firstly being asked to join the Probus Club and secondly the honour of being given the opportunity to serve as President and he looked forward to the club’s continued success. He ended by thanking the outgoing President Bill Smith for all his work during the year. May 19 The year of Homecoming - The 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s bard Robert Burns and the influence of Scotland’s diaspora were celebrated in no little style when Portknockie held a Burns’ Night last Saturday. Villagers and guests turned out on force to the event in the McBoyle Hall, which was organised by Portknockie Community Council as part of the village’s celebrations of the year of Homecoming.

Heritage Centre bring out another book - A window on one of Buckie’s former boatyards was opened last Thursday when a book on Thomson’s Boatyard was launched. The book entitled ‘Thomson’s Yard Buckie is the work of four members of Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre, volunteers-John Crawford. John Addison, Jim Farquhar and Ron Stewart- as well as Ed Douglas, the grandson of William Thomson, and appropriately enough the Centre provided the venue for the launch. Doing the honours, as a large audience looked on, was Moray Council Libraries and Museums Manager Alistair Campbell, who was introduced by Heritage Chairman Hugh Patience. A much fuller account is given on page 9 of the ‘Banffshire Advertiser’ of this date.

Boost for the hospital - A group of handy pupils from Buckie Community High School were delighted to recently distribute their wares of a project they have been working on since October last year. Several picnic benches have been produced as part of the project, which was a joint venture between Buckie Community High School and Springfield Properties. A number of tables have been donated to the BCHS Special unit garden and two were donated to Seafield Hospital. Fifth year pupils Mark Anderson, Ross McMichan and Mateusz Markuszewski have been willing workers within the project and have constructed the benches in the Technical Department while continuing with their regular classwork. Mark, Mateusz and Ryan Maclennan were present at the hospital to see the seats being handed over; Ross was absent through having an exam that day.

May 26 Gala Week Cancelled Findochty Amenities Association has sadly cancelled their Gala Week for this year. Following a number of resignations from committee members it was decided that it was necessary to cancel the event. It is hoped that new members will come forward and form a new committee at the Association’s Annual General Meeting in October to continue the good work carried out over the years by the Association

Harbour Log - Nine boats came in to Buckie harbour to land their catches last week. This comprised in total 95 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 514 bags of scallops. The boats were – Kestrel, Georgia Dawn, Charisma, Vigilant, Reward, Silver Rock, Illustrious Scotia and Carona. One cargo boat paid a visit. This was the British-registered MV Portosalvo that came in light from Peterhead to uplift a crane boom rest weighing 20,000 tonnes destined for the Continental Shelf and the Buzzard

June 2 MS Society Branch AGM The Buckie and District branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society recently held its annual general meeting in the Marine Hotel. The branch currently has 26 members diagnosed with MS and 12 support members. .

Ball Group – A new group for over 60’s, which has been successfully running throughout Moray for some time, has now been introduced to Buckie. The BALL group – Be Active Life Long, has formed in the town following a successful taster session held by Moray Council and NHS Grampian, which attracted around 30 people. BALL groups offer over 60’s a wide range of activities to help them keep active and encourage interaction. The new Buckie group will meet for the first time today, Tuesday June 2, from 10.45am – 12.30pm in the Fishermen’s Hall. Anyone interested in joining should turn up on the day or call the phone number given for further information.

Varis Regatta - This Saturday will see the return of the Spey Bay Varis Regatta to Buckie harbour for what promises to be an eventful day of sailing. Last year’s inaugural regatta, which was also sponsored by engineering firm Varis, was hailed as a great success and the organisers are hopeful that this year’s event will be even bigger and better. Findochty Watersports Club is running the regatta, in conjunction with Banff Sailing Club and Lossiemouth Cruising club. Buckie harbour has again been preferred as a venue as it will allow bigger vessels to be able to attend. The organisers are hoping for 30 or more vessels to turn up for this year’s regatta.

Green Fingers – The Inaugural Meeting of the Cullen allotment Association was advertised to take place in Cullen Community Centre on Tuesday 23 June 2009.

Come and cheer them on Buckie Rovers are through to the Final of the Morrison Cup to be played against Formartine United, at the Haughs, Turriff; their adversaries will forsake the Juniors next season when they will be one of three new teams to join the Highland League, the others being Turriff and Strathspey Thistle. For the Rovers this is the first Final they have reached for some years and would dearly like to win and feel they can with the help of a fair support from Buckie.

June 9 Maltings Expansion – The future of the Greencore Group’s maltings plant in Buckie looked even brighter last week when a massive new expansion at the plant was officially opened – report on page 1.

`Credit Union – A scheme to provide savings opportunities and loans at reasonable rates of interest got underway last week when a credit union opened its doors in Buckie. Wednesday evening saw the group get underway at The Well at the corner of Well Road and Milton Drive

The credit union is part of the North east Scotland Credit Union and staffed by local, trained volunteers, and the drive to bring it to Buckie was led by the Milton Drive Community Project , a partnership between the local communities and various agencies and bodies such as Moray Council, the police and Buckie Baptist Church.

Passing of Buckie’s Grand Old Man - One of Buckie’s most senior citizens sadly passed away at his Burnside Court home last Tuesday. Bob Rennie, who celebrated his 104th birthday at the end of March, was an inspiration to all as he passed into his second century with a sharp mind and a profound sense of dignity.

New all-weather pitch is opened - Sports facilities in Fochabers and the surrounding area received a significant boost last Monday morning when a brand new all weather synthetic pitch was officially opened. Situated at Milne’s High School the 70m by 40m pitch will provide a durable playing surface for seven-a -side football, hockey and tennis. . Performing the honours was Moray Council Convener and local elected member Councillor George McIntyre he was joined by Milne’s High School rector Carol Stuart.

Three fishermen rescued – Three local men were among the crew of five rescued from a sinking t5rawler in the North Sea last Wednesday. The crew of the Banff-registered ‘Transcend’ was made up of skipper Neil Robertson of Portknockie, engineer Ian Rigby and deckhand John Lawson, both of Buckie and Riot B Cueto and Welly Viajedor from Minolta, Philippines.

June 16 I Love Banffshire - A beautiful new book exploring the county of Banffshire has been launched to celebrate and promote the area The book, entitled ‘I Love Banffshire’ has been produced by the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire Clare Russell and provides a beautiful photographic journey around the county. All proceeds from the sale of the book, which costs £30, will be shared among local Banffshire charities. A book signing took place at Buckie library last Thursday where a large number of people took the chance to purchase the book.

June 23 Earl Opens Festival – Cullen’s Town Hall was packed to the brim last Tuesda7y for the official opening of the town’s week-long Heritage Festival, which formed part of the town’s contribution to the Year of Homecoming The report is given on page 1 and page 7

June 30 Will Buckie get a TESCO supermarket - -The saga of whether TESCO will be granted permission to build a store on the outskirts of Buckie took another twist last week when Moray Council’s Planning and Regulatory Services Committee decided to defer the application pending further investigations Elected members on the committee, this included Co. McDonald and Co. Anne Mackay, expressed concern as to what they saw as a wide disparity in the conclusions of two separate studies into the likely impact of the proposed development on existing local businesses in the town. Report on page one and 11.

Homecoming mosaic - Portknockie residents turned out in force last Saturday to witness the official unveiling of a special mosaic to mark the year of H The back road to the harbour was packed to witness Portknockie Primary School Headteacher Shona Idle do the honours to reveal the design, which features two fish measuring five metres and four metres, inspired by the village’s coat of arms. A joint project between Portknockie Community Association and Portknockie Community Council the work was created by local artist Geoff Roberts, with the help of village children and the wider community as a whole. The report includes a number of photographs.

Two Buckpool men were among the prizewinners - A Buckie man recently scooped the top prize in a prestigious arts competition run by Banffshire Maritime and Heritage Association, which was held to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Charles Geddes, a former teacher and missionary, was declared the winner of the 2009 Homecoming Painting and Poetry Competition run by the Association. John Sandison took the third prize. Both men were brought up in Buckpool Mr Geddes was presented with a beautiful trophy and a generous cheque for his efforts.

Dux of Buckie Community High School - Fiona Jagger was this years Dux of the school and winner of the Miller Medal Her mother Joan is a teacher member of the school while her father Eddie prior to retirement was Depute Headteacher.

Gardeners Group formed - The provision of allotments in Cullen took a significant step forward last Tuesday when the inaugural meeting of Cullen Community Allotments Association was held. The office bearers appointed were Chairman – Caron Hunter, vice chairman Jacqui Shand, Kathy Mills, secretary and Cliff Kersley, treasurer. Committee members –Jim Mackay, Rob Pinkerton, Sheila Donn, Margaret Stevenson, Jackie Kersley, Sha Davidson and John Mills.

July 7 Fishing news - Ten boats called into Buckie harbour last week to land their catches. In total this comprised – 155 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 1207 bags of scallops. The boats were Tjeerd Jacoba, Peter M, Osprey, Scotia, Georgia Dawn, Blue Sky, Aurora, Intrepid, Kestrel and Reward.

Milne’s High School, Fochabers Dux - This year’s dux was Kiera Mehigan. A photograph shows her receiving the Sir Ashley Mackintosh Dux Medal from the rector Carol Stuart.

Flash flood - Parts of Buckie were hit by torrential rain last Wednesday evening which left parts of the town under water to some depth when the drains were unable to cope. An area unfortunate in this respect was March Street and Rathburn Street in Gordonsburgh which has suffered twice in the same way within a relatively short time with the home of one family being flooded twice. A landslide also occurred on the embankment between ~Cliff Terrace and McLaren’s Brae with grass and clay sweeping down and across the road temporarily blocking it.

Drug search - Suspected street level drug dealers at several addresses in the Buckie area found themselves on the wrong side of the police raids last Tuesday as part of a Moray-wide crackdown. Around 30 officers, armed with search warrants, including those from CID and a dog handler, swung into action in the last phase of Operation Aki which is designed to target street level drug dealers in a bid to force them out of business in communities across the region. A total of four addresses in the Buckie area were raided- two in Portgordon , one in Buckie and a further one in Cullen although no drugs were found.

July 14 TB Scare – Screening for tuberculosis (TB) is to be carried out amongst a group of 40 workers at Moray Seafoods in Buckie after an employee was found to have contracted the disease. The precautionary measures are being taken after one employee believed to be a migrant worker in his 30s fell ill and was diagnosed with the disease. It is thought he is receiving treatment in hospital. Over the next two or three weeks the 40 staff members will undergo skin tests and chest x-rays. Employees who are not close contacts of the infected man will not be screened, being categorised as low risk.

Death of former Thistle player - The death took place recently of Joe Hendry who starred as an inside left in the Thistle teams of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Joe a native of the town was one of five brothers, Sandy, George, Bill and John. A graduate of Aberdeen University He became a schoolteacher and taught for many years at Grantown High School and on his retirement chose to remain there. His wife Aileen, daughters Alison and Lesley and four grandchildren survive Joe who was 83.

New future for Riverside - A Buckie church was celebrating a new way forward recently after unveiling premises of their very own. The Riverside Christian Centre, which is the new home of the Riverside Christian Church, is situated in Buckie’s East Church Street in the building that formerly housed the Sold Rock Café. The building that now houses the Riverside Christian Centre has served a number of different purposes in its time. In 1919 it served as a bakery for Reid Brothers before being taken over as the Commercial Bank. Buckie Town Council then purchased the building in 1956 when it became known as the Town House East. and was used primarily as a rent office for many years. .In the wake of local reorganisation in 1975 and the demise of Buckie Town Council the offices were retained for a time by Moray District Council. However, the offices were subsequently moved to another location (the former Sailor’s Home on Cluny Square) and the premises lay vacant for some time before being bought by the Church of Scotland in 2000 and set up as the Solid Rock Café, an outreach to the youth of the town and staffed by members of various churches in the town and also the Salvation Army in Findochty.

Successful bowlers- A quartet of bowlers from Buckie Victoria Bowling Club are through to the Scottish Women’s Finals in Ayr after triumphing in the District Fours. Getting ready to head south are Elsie Slater, Irene Mair, Sheena Legge and Janet Andrews. (Skip.) The contest will take place on Monday July 20th. Buckie Victoria also claimed the runner-up spot in the District Pairs and Triples competitions. As this is the first year the club have been competing in the Scottish Ladies the efforts of the Victoria players are being hailed as something of a great result.

July 21 Prize of £1000 for a photograph- - . Buckie’s Grand- that is the proud message being proclaimed by a new photo competition launched last week that will net the winner the princely sum of £1000. Photographers both locally and nationally are being invited to let their talent and imagination run free in the contest that aims to boost the profile of Buckie and all it has to offer. The central theme of Buckie has been deliberately selected to allow entrants to explore the m any rich facets of the area, with the final judging taking place at an event which is yet another first for Buckie , the town’s Arts and Crafts Festival being held in the Fishermen’s Hall on Saturday September 12.

High School teachers retire - A number of teachers at Buckie Community High School retired at the end of the summer term. They were Jeff Jones who had been Principal Teacher of Chemistry for 35 years , Charlie Beresford, 34 years in the Modern Languages Department; Roddy Manson, Principal Teacher of History for 32 years; Helen Mills who had served in the Maths Department for 18 years and Lynne Sugden Principal Teacher of Geography for the last six years.

July 28 The Rotary Club of Buckie – welcomed three new members to their ranks last Monday. Swelling the club’s ranks to 40 were Loane Lennon, Jo Nicholson and Fr. Gerry Livingstone, Parish Priest of St Peter’s R.C...

The Harbour Log - Thirteen boats called into Buckie harbour the previous week to land their catches, which comprised 286 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 545 bags of scallops. The boats were – Lynn Marie, Scotia, Blue Sky, Kayleigh M, Valkyrie, Calisha, Tjeerd Jacoba, Golden West ,Peter M, Osprey, Sardonyx II, Kelly and Kestrel Two cargo boats paid a visit. The MV Valiant, registered in Barbados, came in light from Dundee and left the following day bound for New Ross with a cargo of animal feeding pellets, weighing 1478.620 tonnes, on board. The St Vincent-registered MV Defender arrived light from Fuglafjordur (Faeroe Islands). After taking on board 1800.000 tonnes of sand she set sail again for Kirkwall.

Peter Fair - As is commonly the case the three days in which the shows and amusements took up location on the Peter Fair stance were less kind weather-wise though this didn’t seem to bother the younger element, who gathered there in droves, according to the report given in the local paper.

Aug 4 Findochty swimming tragedy a man from Aberdeen believed to be 27 died on Thursday 30 after jumping off the harbour wall into the water. It appeared that he had struck his face on some object as his face was covered with blood. It seems that he was visiting his parents who were staying in a caravan locally.

Talented High School Pupil Amy Arbuckle, from Findochty, who left the High School this summer, was credited with discovering a brand new chemical. Amy now joins an elite group of students at BCHS who have discovered new chemicals, and will become the sixth name on the Gold Board roll of honour in the school. To put the scale of Amy’s – and BCHS’s achievement into context, only one other Scottish school has discovered a single new compound, while Buckie’s score now stands at an amazing nine. See report on the front page and page 4

Superb donation for the Heritage Centre = Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre Ltd added three more exquisite artefacts to their museum last week thanks to the generosity of a late Buckie ex- pat. Last Thursday saw the centre take delivery of three hand-made boat models, comprising a Zulu fishing boat, once ubiquitous in the local area, an Arab dhow and a Dutch hooger. The boats were all the work of talented craftsman, Alex ‘Zander’ Cowie, who died last month. A native of the Seatown, Mr Cowie served his time as an engineer at Polston Engineering in Glasgow and went on to served in both the Merchant and Royal Navy He spent the last 40 years of his working life with British Steel at Port Talbot in South Wales. Handing over the models to the Centre was Mr Cowie’s neighbour and close friend of many years Keiran Leonard, who had travelled up from Swansea to do what he had promised he would do. A photograph in this edition shows Mr Leonard, Willie Geddes, Mr Cowie’s nephew, from England Hugh Patience chairman of the Heritage Centre and Ian Crombie, a member.

Aug 11 Death of Colin Macrae - Tributes were pouring in last week in memory of Buckie man Colin Macrae who for decades was a stalwart of the fish-selling industry in the north east Mr Macrae who was well known locally for setting up United Fish Selling in Buckie in 1982 passed away suddenly on Saturday August 1 in his Fochabers home. He was 75 and is survived by his sister Peggy Coull and sons Marc and Neil and grandson Andrew aged six and a half. Mr Macrae was, like his father before him, a past President of Buckie Thistle F.C. Aug 18 Cancer Cash boost a bag-packing event at Somerfield’s Buckie store raised a staggering three figure sum for charities and another forth-coming event will see more money added to the pot. Staff members at Somerfield were joined by family and friends during their recent gag pack and customers gave generously towards the collection for the cancer charities. A total of £706.50 was raised on the day. The total will be added to the money raised from a sponsored walk due to take place later this month and will be shared between Buckie Cancer Support Group , Macmillan Cancer Support and Friends of Anchor ARI. Instrumental in organising the bag pack and sponsored walk are Moira Jappy, Karen Cormack, Paul Thomson, Sandra Hay and Stuart Hay. Karen Cormack underwent treatment for cancer last year and it was due to this that events were organised.

Aug 25 Community Radio for Buckie – The bid to bring a community radio to Buckie will see public sessions held next week during which local people can come along and see how they can contribute to what promises to be an exciting new venture.

Fishing news - Last week twenty-one fishing boats came into Buckie harbour to land their catches. This comprised – 921 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 638 bags of scallops. The boats were – Discovery, Osprey, Scotia, Deeside, Transcend, Maggie J, Georgia Dawn, Silver Fern, Village Belle, Prosperity, Charisma, Just Reward, Golden Promise, Rois Mhairi, Star of Anan, Star of Jura, Pegasus, Conquest, Lynn Marie, Blue Sky and Aspire.

New streets named - The names of streets in the new housing development being undertaken by Springfield Properties to the west of the Barhill Road have been officially unveiled. Once completed the affordable housing development will boast the following names – Alba Road, Anderson Drive, Gollachy Street, Greenfield Way, and Mair Street, Mavers Lane Murdoch Avenue, Smirack Road and Watt Avenue. . The names were put forward by the three elected members Councillors, Gordon McDonald, Joe Mackay and Anne McKay.

New minister - The new minister of Buckie Church of Christ, Wrest Church Street is Rev Tom Helmick who hails from Molalla, Oregon, USA, He replaces the former minister Rev. Scott Middleton who has returned to America. Rev Helmick is accompanied by his wife Nancy.

Sept 1 Eco Bag launch - Last week saw Buckie its stamp on the green scene when the town’s very one-eco bags were launched. Backed by Buckie Area Forum (BAF) Economic Regeneration Steering Group the reusable high quality cotton bags were unveiled for the firs time on Wednesday Aug 26 and will be on sale shortly through Buckie business Association members and at the forthcoming Buckie Arts and Crafts Festival in the Fishermen’s Hall on Saturday 12.

Buckie Flower Show - Changes to the Buckie and District Flower show reaped their just rewards recently when the attendance of the viewing public dramatically doubled over that recorded last year. The number of entries was also up on 2008. The news of the leap in figures has come as a boost for the Flower Show committee and their new president Marion Mitchell, who instituted a number of changes to the format and prize structure of this year’s show, held in the Fishermen’s Hall on Saturday August 22, to encourage both larger visitor numbers and greater participation by exhibitors. A new innovation this year was a £5 prize for the exhibit, in whatever section, which the judge Richard Lockhead, MSP felt was the most outstanding. He chose a dahlia presented by Mrs Marjorie Ingram. . Smith, Buckie won the trophy for the exhibitor winning most points in the show.

Sept 8 A second ‘ Great Flood’ but– no sign of Noah- Moray as a whole was affected by flooding last week as persistent heavy rain took its toll on local roads and caused wide-spread worry for many householders. Torrential rain fell over a period of 36 hours from Wednesday evening and throughout the whole of Thursday. By 4.30 is on Friday morning Moray Council declared a major incident and a flood plan was implemented. Flooding forced the evacuation of 50 homes in Fochabers, 25 in Rotes and 400 in Elgin. In Fochabers evacuated residents were catered for in the Gordon Arms. Ian and Liz Gordon, of 32 Burnbank were seriously affected The water spilled over the bridge, which had become choked by debris, and took away their 18 metre wall while a 4x4 and van in the driveway were swept away and buried in valley of the burn among water and debris. This edition carries a number of photographs, taken locally of the flooding. ,

World Record Set by Cornhill Tup - Graham Morrison who runs the Deveronvale Textel flock of sheep from his farm at Inchbruich, Cornhill saw one of his lambs ,Deveronvale Perfection , sell at Lanark on Thursday last Thursday for the amazing figure of 220,000 guineas or £231,000 – a work record figure. Mr Morrison is reported to have said that he knew that the tup lamb, born in February of this year was an outstanding animal but never imagined it would sell for the figure that it did. In most good sheep it’s always possible to find a fault but he was really exceptional and had just that little bit extra.

Community Tune in to Radio Day - The Buckie area moved a significant step closer to gaining its very own community radio station following a series of workshops held last week as part of Buckie Community Radio Day.

Sept 15 First Festival was a success. - The inaugural Buckie Arts and Crafts Festival got off to a triumphant start last Saturday as and visitors alike crammed into the Fishermen’s Hall. Run by the Buckie Area Forum’s Economic Regeneration Steering Group, the event also featured the ‘Buckie Grand’ photographic competition, which carried the prize of £1000 Taking the four-figure cash award was Donna Cowie of Milton Drive, Buckie, with a picture entitled ‘Always’ of a lifeboat sailing past the Mucks, and this photograph, along with the 11 runners-up will feature in a special calendar promoting Buckie. Entrants to the contest were simply set the theme ‘Buckie’.

Football - Buckie Thistle won the Aberdeenshire Cup, an outstanding trophy, when they beat Cove Rangers defending Highland League champions by two goals to nil at the Haughs, Turriff, the home of newcomers to the Highland League, Turriff United, on Saturday 12 September. This is the first trophy won by manager Gregg Carrol since taking over from Kevin and Doug Will last season.

Sept 22 Long service rewarded - A long serving Buckie firefighter was honoured for over three decades of service at a ceremony held in Aberdeen recently. Alan Cruickshank, a Watch Manager at Buckie Fire Station joined colleagues from across Grampian Fire and Rescue Service on Friday September 11 at Aberdeen’s Town House on Union Street, to receive his certificate for 30 years Long Service and Good Conduct. Mr Cruickshank joined Buckie Fire Station crew of Grampian Fire Brigade on October 1 1978. He was promoted to Leading Fire Fighter on January 1 1985 and then to Sub Officer on June 12 200. He is now Watch Manager at the Fire Station.

Portgordon P. O. to close - Portgordon Post Office and shop which has been carried on in what is known as Oran House for a number of years when the present owner Sherry Playle shuts the door on Wednesday September 30. She has been serving the community for the past nine years and it is not without sadness that she has been forced to call it a day as a number of factors have made it uneconomical to continue. not least the reduction in services that were provided by the Post Office and which of course generated income. Unless the GPO is able to make other provisions many people will have to make the trip to Buckie to access Post Office services.

Top Export Award for Lossie Seafoods - A Buckie-based business has scooped a prestigious award in recognition of their export sales and success in the global marketplace. Lossie Seafoods collected the HSBC Award for Excellence in International Business at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry Highlands and Islands Annual Dinner and Business Excellence Awards that took place last Friday at the Drumossie Hotel, near Inverness.

Sept 29 Re-opening of Bellie Church - A large congregation gathered in Bellie Parish Church, Fochabers last Sunday to celebrate its service of Rededication .The church has been closed for the last six months to enable upgrading work to be carried out and the congregation were delighted to see the changes at the service held on Sunday September 27. The church has been turned through a whole 180 degrees with the whole interior of the church transformed with a complete redecoration, new electrical and heating systems and the replacement of the pews with individual chairs. The parish minister Rev. Alison Mehigan, who conducted the service said: “This is now a 21st century interior of an 18th century Category ‘A’ building. Apart from its principal purpose of public worship, we hope the church building will be a focus for other cultural activities in Fochabers.” The project has involved the whole village and has largely been funded by the local community.

Oct 6 Tesco store for Buckie - Last Tuesday Moray Council’s planning and Regulatory Services Committee unanimously supported an application which will see a new Tesco store being introduced in Buckie. The development, which will cover an area of 27,400 square feet to the south of the town, to the west of the Toll Bar, will include a store of 22,000sq. ft., a petrol filling station, car wash tourist information point and the formation of associated access, car parking and landscaped areas. The proposed building will be located on the western end of the site, with the petrol filling station at the eastern end, fronting on to High Street.

Harbour news Last week thirty one fishing boats came in to Buckie harbour to land their catches which comprised 2189 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 234 bags of scallops. This number of boats landing at Buckie is the highest for some time but was put in the shade the following week when the number had risen to 38. The boats last week were Star of Annan, Stronsay Maid, Silver Rock, Lynn Marie, Blue Sky, Village Belle, Aspire II, Prosperity, Maggie J, Provider II, Osprey, Charisma, Scotia, Just Reward, Vigilant, Laura Anne, Valkyrie, Transcend, Rebecca, Pegasus, Golden West, Staronia, Aspire, Carisma, Moray Endeavour, Kemarvin, Selina Joy, Shekinah, Deeside, Georgia Dawn. Three cargo boats paid a call. The MV Falcon, registered in the UK, came in from Kilroot in Ireland with a cargo of rock salt weighing 2155.760 tonnes on board. She sailed when empty for Gunness two days later. The Latvian-registered vessel, MV Gerda imported 1190.500 tonnes of soya from Rotterdam. She too set sail again when empty for Vaenerborg in Sweden. The last of the week was the Anna Marie, registered in Antigua that arrived light from Leith. After taking on board 2017.620 tonnes of pulpwood logs she left again for Wismar in Germany.

Oct13 Pitch Officially Opened - The eight-year long fight to bring an all-weather synthetic sports pitch to Buckie came to a successful conclusion last Monday when it was declared officially open. Doing the honours was local Moray Councillor and Vice Chairperson of the local authority’s Children’s and Young People’s Services Committee Anne McKay, who hailed the provision of the pitch as an integral part of the Council’s leisure and healthy living programme.

Six Harbour Walk cash hand out - Buckie Rotary Club recently handed out thousands of pounds to worthy causes at a ceremony in the Marine Hotel. Receiving a substantial cash boost were the primary beneficiaries from Buckie Rotary’s Six Harbour Walk earlier in the year. The sum of £25,000 was raised from the sponsored walk. Cheques for £600 were handed over to David Cameron of Macmillan Cancer Support and Joe Hrd for Meningitis UK, with ones for £4000 awarded to Capability Scotland, represented by Ben Hobbs and Robbie Innes on behalf of Buckie and District Pipe Band.

Portknockie’s new library opened - The brand new village library came in for no little praise last week when it was officially declared open. Cutting the ribbon at the ceremony last Thursday afternoon were Chairman of Moray Council’s Children’s and Young People’s Services Committee , Councillor Jeff Hamilton , Alan Beresford who was Chairman of the outgoing Portknockie Community Council and local school pupil Isla Ferguson.

Cullen Craft Fair Success – Three charities are to benefit from the successful Charity Craft Fair held in Cullen recently. A total of £840.30 was raised and the money will be divided between three registered charities. The RNLI is to benefit to the tune of £300 and £300 will go to ’Poppy Scotland’ the sum of £240.30 will go to Cullen Town Hall and the money will be used by the committee to help provide feasibilities for people using the Town Hall. John and Alison at the Coffee House kindly donated home-baked shortbread and sandwiches that were served with the tea and coffee. Cullen Crafts and the Ice Cream Shop were also deeply involved.

Oct 20 Big Man Walking The streets of Buckie were crowded on Saturday afternoon as an eight metre tall puppet strolled at a sedate pace of one mile per hour from the harbour area, up McLarens Brae and through the centre of the town before ending his walk on the car park on North Pringle Street. The Big Man Walking event was one of only five across the whole of Scotland, with the puppet already having visited Bute and Kirkcaldy and will now move on to Invergordon before finishing at Inverclyde. Buckie Festival under its Chairman Alistair Farquhar played a big part in getting the puppet to come to Buckie who also secured funding from Moray Council’s Homecoming Community Grant Fund.

Extension to school - The first step in a bold expansion project at Buckie Community High School was taken last week with the holding of a sod-cutting ceremony. Turning over the first piece of turf last Monday on the £2.4 million development that will see a sizable extension built onto the school beside the playing fields and to the rear of the leisure centre was Moray Council Convener Councillor George McIntyre , joined by a number of invited guests. The jewel in the crown of the scheme will be a 220-seat drama and performance space, complete with retractable seating. In addition to three music classrooms the extension will feature several high –quality practice rooms, bringing the school’s Music Department together in one place. Two RME classrooms are also planned as well as a foyer space which can be used during public performances for serving refreshments Within the new building a courtyard will be created which can only be accessed from the block itself and has been earmarked for a number of possible teaching possibilities, including the creation of an eco-garden.

Oct. 27 Fochabers By-pass - There appeared to be some light at the end of the tunnel for Fochabers bypass campaigners last week when the contractor set to undertake the construction work was announced. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson MSP, joined by Moray SNP colleagues, Angus Robertson MP and Richard Lochhead MSP, came to Fochabers last Thursday morning to unveil Morrison Construction as the winning tender for the bypass. Work is expected to get under way on the £31.5 million project in the next few weeks with the scheme expected to take in the order of 30 months to complete.

Monster lobster Derek Clark and his ten year old son Jody got the surprise of their lives when they lifted a lobster creel aboard their boat ‘Reaper’ to discover that inside was a lobster eight or nine times the normal size. The monster lobster weighed around four and a half kilos, which as Derek said was huge with a normal sized lobster weighing in the order of a half to three quarters of a kilo. He said that he did consider selling it but in the end just released it. It was reckoned that the lobster was between 35 and 40 years old

Nov 3 New faces at Buckie Community Council - Buckie Community Council welcomed new faces as well as the return of stalwarts when their new four-year term was inaugurated last Tuesday. James Smith was returned as chairman with Matty Coverley, one of the new members taking on the office of vice chairman , the post previously held by Ian Moir who decided to retire at the end of the last community council term. Allan Fraser once more took up the post of secretary a position he has held in successive council for over twenty years. He, however, relinquished the role of treasurer to new member Gordon Cowie. Yet another new member, Lauraine Wishart agreed to take on the task of Minutes secretary, a role previously undertaken by Mr Moir. Others new to the community council are Karen Pitt, William Duncan and Ian MacPherson although Mr Duncan and Mr MacPherson were not present at the meeting. Completing the full council are Jimmy Grieve and Howard Cartwright who both served on the previous community council

SNP to celebrate an anniversary - An historic landmark anniversary in Buckie’s political history is to be celebrated next weekend. Saturday November 14 at the British Legion hall in town will see the Buckie branch of the SNP celebrate its 75th anniversary Party Faithful, as well as invited guests, will be in town for the event, which will feature a buffet meal and entertainment by the Gaberlunzie

Super woman- Three good causes each benefited to the tune of almost £3000 apiece thanks to the remarkable efforts of a local woman and her supporters A sponsored walk organised by Buckie woman Karen Cormack saw an astonishing sum of £8490 rose which has resulted in cheques for £2830 being donated to Friends of ANCHOR (the centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the Buckie and District Cancer Support Group and Macmillan Cancer Support. Mrs Cormack was herself a cancer patient and wish to put something back after all the help and support she was given. The sum of £706.56 was raised by doing a bag-pack in Somerfield’s Supermarket where she works.

Nov 10 Remembrance Day – Services were held at all the war memorials in the area on Remembrance Sunday. At Buckie wreaths were laid on behalf of the Royal British Legion. Lord Lieutenant Moray Council, Buckie Community Council, T.A. Army Cadet Force the Red Cross. Following the service at the memorial a further service took place in the North Church conducted by Rev. Gordon Mathew. The Last Post and Reveille were sounded on the bugle by Janet Winterbourne while piper Robbie Innes played the lament ‘The Flowers of the Forest. ’ The parade commander as on previous years was former regular soldier Peter Reid. The salute at the march past was taken by Stewart MacMillan a former ex-serviceman and well-known local piper.

Road closed - The busy A98 road through Cullen was closed on Friday 6 November when it was found that the heavy rain and floods of November 1 had led to damage to the bridge that carries the road, below the viaduct, on the outskirt of the town. The closure meant a 20-mile detour via Keith for most traffic including buses, smaller vehicles found alternative ways via the Hill of Maud and Sheilburn then hence out on to the Cullen-Keith road.

Nov 17 Cullen Bridge to reopen - The Bridge on the A98 at Cullen, which was closed to traffic earlier this month due to flood damage, is set to reopen later this week. The bridge is to re-open to single-lane traffic at 5.30am on Thursday November 19. Traffic lights will be put in place on Wednesday ahead of the opening. It had been thought that repairs might take as much as four weeks to complete but progress in stablising and beginning repairs to the structure has been better than expected. The opening will be welcomed by motorists, who have been inconvenienced by a lengthy diversion via Keith, as well as residents and local businesses.

Fishing Heritage launch a new DVD - The Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre have launched a new DVD which follows the changes that were faced by fishermen in the 19th and 20th century. The DVD, entitled ‘Fishing 1909, Times Remembered’ became a labour of love for those involved with the project and the finished article is something that they are all very proud of. Featured on the DVD is a mixture of old film footage and photographs from both the local area and further afield; narrators Jim Farquhar, secretary of the Heritage Centre and member Isobel Geddes transport the viewer back in time. The story begins in 1909 with the sailboats and then moves on to the steam drifters and highlights the differences between the two eras. Stories of the gutting quines also feature, along with some of their traditional songs.

Probus Club - The guest speaker at the November luncheon meeting of Buckie and District Probus Club held in the Marine Hotel on Thursday 5th was railway enthusiast Brian Wilkinson. Brian a retired railway employee was welcomed by club president Jim Pirrie and gave a most interesting talk on the development and subsequent demise of the railway system in the area from Aberdeen to Inverness with special reference being made to the ‘conflict’ between the Highland Railway Company, centered in Inverness and the Great North of Scotland Railway in Aberdeen. Brian is the author of a book entitled ‘The Heilan Line’ in which he traces the history of the railway line from Keith to Portessie, and during his talk gave members an insight into some interesting facts about this link.

Nov 24 Doric book launch - Last Friday saw a Year of Homecoming concert with a difference, with a Buckie Doric group releasing their second book and CD. A crowded Town House played host to a very varied event, featuring the highly regarded musical group the Ga’an Aboot Folk and the Alison Munro Dancers but it also had a very special resonance for the Buckie Blether group, who took the opportunity to launch ‘Hame is Far the Hairt Is’. It is the second multi-media production from the group in just over a year with last May seeing the hugely successful launch of ‘Weel May the Boatie Row’, which also came as a book and CD combo. ‘Hame is Far the Hairt Is’ features a wide mix of original material, including songs, poems and sketches or conversations all compiled by the group members.

High School celebrate 20th anniversary – The twentieth anniversary of the link between Buckie Community High School and Mawenzi Secondary School in Tanzania saw yet more progress hailed following the return from the African nation of the latest exchange group. Recently returned from Tanzania are the latest group to help further the link with senior students Fiona Jagger and Nathaniel Clarke being accompanied by teachers Karen Flett and Jane Stewart.

Dec 1 Seafield Hospital Worries – Buckie GP Dr Jim Tuckerman has warned that he and other local doctors may be left with no alternative but to send patients to Aberdeen due to a shortage of beds at Seafield Hospital. Dr Tuckerman stated that bed capacity at Seafield had been reduced from 32 to 25 and could well see elderly patients and their relatives having to make the 60-mile trip to Aberdeen to access treatment over the winter months when the effects of an ongoing flu epidemic were at their highest. Said Dr Tuckerman: The matter came to a head recently when I sought to admit an elderly patient to Seafield Hospital, only to find it was full, as was Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.” The Nursing Manager at Seafield said although there were 32, because of staff shortages there was insufficient nurses to cover them all safely and had no other recourse but to close some wards. Dr Tuckerman also hit out at the lack of local consultation on the matter.

Family History Project to continue - A local family history project created to mark the Year of Homecoming 2009 has proved such a success that it is to remain on a permanent basis. Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre Ltd. are in process of setting up the Banffshire Family History Centre (Buckie and District that will operate out of the group’s state of the art premises off Cluny Place.

Harbour Log - Last week eight fishing boats came in to Buckie harbour to land their catches. This comprised in total 228 boxes of white fish, prawns and scallops. The boats were – Blue Sky, Shekinah, Carisma, Aspire II, Valkyrie, Carona, Provider II and Transcend. One cargo boat paid a call. This was the British-registered MV Scot Carrier that arrived light from Birkenhead and left again the following day bound for Troon with a cargo of pulpwood logs weighing 2390.000 on board. Dec 8 Seasonal Panto - The Fishermen’s Hall was to be the venue once again for Buckie Lyric Theatre Group’s seasonal panto, which this year was to be an adaptation of ‘Dick Whittington’ written by joint producer Liz Imlach. This tells the story of Dick Whittington, played by Debbie Patman, and her cat, Tom, played by Jason Rumbles, who set off to London to make their fortune. Producers Keith Mackay and Liz Imlach told how the cast had been working hard during the summer to bring the show to life and that audiences could look forward to plenty of lovely singing and dancing to enjoy. As in past years the show will run for three nights, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – 9, 10 and 11 December with tickets costing £6 for adults and £4 for children. Concession tickets at £4 were available for Wednesday and Thursday performances.

Buckie M.S. Branch Folds – the Buckie and District Branch of the M. S. Society has announced the sad news that it is to disband due to the lack of volunteers In the light of this the branch are highlighting the fact that there will be no Christmas Social this year, and that neither a fun d-raising Christmas Fayre or coffee morning will be taking place either. The Buckie and District Branch of the Society was inaugurated in January 1977, prior to which it came under the umbrella o Banff and Moray Branch and Buckie Circle. Retiring Chairman Caroline Fowler said: “ It seems we may well have come full circle and once again might return to being involved in a wider catchment area as once before”.

Nominations Urged -Thomas I. MacPherson, Loanhead Farmhouse, Rathven, who was a member of the Rathven and Arradoul Community Council up until it ceased to exist in September had a first class letter published in the current edition of the ‘Advertiser’ in which he strongly urged residents in the areas in question to get off their rear ends, get motivated, get nominated and get a community council formed before the closing date of December 18.

Dec 15 Forty Years Without a Break - Buckie Community High School will help celebrate a rather unusual anniversary this week when they welcome a well-known band leader to town. This week’s Christmas parties at the school will see Hebbie Gray from Keith, providing the music for the students to dance to for an astonishing 40th year in a row. The respected and widely known fiddler and saxophonist, now 80, have been playing at the BCHS festive ceilidhs since the late 1960’s. Every year he and his band return by popular demand from pupils and staff. At this week’s festive parties Mr Gray and his fellow band members, Jane Farquharson (keyboard) and Forbes Milne (drums), will play for hundreds of pupils at four separate class gigs.

Marathon Fundraiser tackles the New York Race - A local man has raised nearly £2000 for charity after successfully tackling the gruelling New York City Marathon. Ian Murray, 42, who is from Buckie but who now works in Newcastle for the Department of Work and Pensions, took part in the marathon and has risen over £1900 for Macmillan Cancer Support. His mother, Annie Murray, who lives locally said:” Ian has been running the London Marathon for the last ten years and has supported various charities. He decided to run the New York Marathon on November 1 and completed the run in three hours 18 minutes.” T he sum raised by the former Buckie High School Dux was collected from workmates, family and friends.

Dec 22 Ach nae flats - Plans to demolish a period house to make way for a flats has left a group of residents furious over what they believe is a lack of consultation The residents have slammed Springfield Properties and the Council, accusing them of not advertising the plans for the property on West Cathcart Street, immediately behind Buckie Police Station locally OR consulting sufficiently with local residents. Should the plans be given the nod, a three-storey block of nine flats, complete with 14 parking spaces, would be built on the site of the house ‘Shalloch’ built by Dawson a local mater builder in the 1920’s and for long occupied by Mr Black who was the manager of the Electricity Power Station in Buckie; more recently it has been occupied by Mr Coburn who ran a cycle repair and retail shop in the area to the rear where he had purpose –built premises erected.

Rotary Scout Post - Buckie Rotary Club decided this year to take on the task of delivering the local Christmas mail, which had been done by the Scout Group up to two years ago when the troop folded or the dwindling number of Scouts made it impossible to continue. It had been planned to give it a minimum try of three years but the success of this year’s operation when the sum of £3000 was raised means they can look forward to 2010 with a degree of confidence. The money raised will be distributed amongst local charities.

Choral Concert – Buckie Choral Union gave their annual Christmas concert in the Fishermen’s Hall on Sunday December 13. Guests for the evening were the Keith Silver Band and, as usual, there were four carols set aside specifically for audience participation. A total of 20 carols with two slots dedicated to Keith Silver Band, were played on the night. Mince pies and wine were served at the interval. A collection was taken on the evening, the proceeds of which will go to the charity Cancer Research.

Harbour Log – Last week eleven boats called in to Buckie harbour and landed 536 boxes of white fish/prawns and squid combined together with 78 bags of scallops. The boats were Prosperity, Shekinah. Aspire! Carisma, Vigilant, Blue Sky, Just Reward, Osprey, Provider II, Heather Spring and Silver Fern.

Cargo traffic – Three cargo boats were in the harbour at some point during the week. The MV Electron II- registered in Norway- arrived light from Peterhead and exported five steel reels with a total weight of 200,000 tonnes to Newcastle the same day. The British-registered MV Sea Ruby imported 1611,360 tonnes of malt from Ipswich, coming in on the 14th and set sail again light for Perth two days later The last arrival was a second British registered vessel, the Scot Carrier that came in light from Inverness on the 17th to take on board 2200.000 tonnes of firewood destined for Trion where she sailed on Saturday 19th.

Dec 29` It came and was to bide Lang - Winter came to the area with a vengeance last week as snow and ice swept both Moray and the much of the country as a whole. (Snow and ice were to be with us for a month and more the longest times such conditions have remained in the coastal areas for a many years.) Friday 18th served as a harbinger for things to come as the mercury plummeted, and by the start of last week winter had the area firmly in the grip of its icy fingers. As Moray Council gritter crews battled to keep roads clear of ice and snow, many places off the main roads found their streets turned into ice rinks making progress possible only with care and with not a few coming a cropper and suffering injuries.

Lodge Gordon Installation – Kenny Lawtie was installed as R.W.M. of Lodge Gordon 589... This is his second time in the role, having occupied the position previously from 1999-2001 Among the dignitaries present on the night was the Right Worshipful Grand Master of Banffshire Roddy Maver, a native of Buckie, and Bro. Sid Hilton aged 94, Lodge St John Fisherrow 112, who travelled north from his home in Musselburgh on the night to play the organ during the installation ceremony.