North East Archives - Page 3 of 4

Local MP Comments On Queen’s Speech

Featured, Information, Opinion 2 Responses »

Jun 102014

With thanks to Kenneth J Hutchison, Parliamentary Assistant to Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP

MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford in Strichen

In the last Queen’s Speech before the referendum, Banff and Buchan MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford has criticised the absence of new powers for Scotland that the pro-union political parties have been offering.

Last week, the Conservatives published the Strathclyde Report, promising that Air Passenger Duty could be quickly devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

However in the ConDem coalition Government’s program announced yesterday, no bills were announced which would see new powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Dr Whiteford commented:

“The absence of any mention of Scotland by any of the Westminster parties is extraordinary. There has been much talk of what powers they might consider devolving to Scotland but once again they have bottled it – making promises but completely failing to follow through.

“The Conservatives have admitted that Air Passenger Duty could be easily and quickly devolved – but there was no mention of that in the legislative agenda. How can we believe any of their promises on more powers for Scotland?

“In September we have the opportunity to take Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands by voting yes. This Queen’s Speech – where Scotland is completely absent and does not even feature as an after-thought – should be a wake-up call that our interests will only be served by having the decisions that affect Scotland being made in Scotland.”

For more information, contact Paul Robertson, Tel: 077020 18 444 or 01779 822 023

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USAN/Scottish Wild Salmon Company – A Closer Look

Environment, Featured, News 10 Responses »

Apr 282014

Scottish Wild Salmon Company sign in Gardenstown 27 April 2014. Image Credit: Suzanne Kelly

By Suzanne Kelly.

When Scottish Wild Salmon Company (SWSC), a subsidiary of Montrose-based USAN Salmon Fisheries Ltd arrived in Gardenstown, the landowner made it clear there was no permission to shoot seals from his property. At least one such illegal seal shooting took place last year, yet no one was charged.

Tourists who had witnessed the episode last year abruptly cancelled bookings and left; some locals were concerned; some angered.

This year the SWSC pledged not to use lethal methods to deter seals from going near its salmon nets near the Ythan Estuary. The SWSC arrived in Gardenstown and Crovie this year to net large numbers of salmon (we have asked for figures but no answer has been received yet). They arrived with guns.

Sea Shepherd arrived to monitor the situation this year. Here’s what’s happened since.

A Video Nasty

Sea Shepherd personnel were harassed by SWSC operatives, and a video was released, showing an example of this. The video showed three SWSC operatives cursing at, and intimidating Sea Shepherd and trying to stop them filming which Sea Shepherd had every right to do.

The owner of the area of land in front of the building and yard SWSC operates from has forbidden shooting. Sea Shepherd’s internet posting reads:-

“We have debated long and hard over whether to release this video showing Scottish Wild Salmon Company staff behaving in a threatening and abusive manner to one of our volunteers. Our final decision was made for us when these very same employees arrived at our beach clean last Friday to intimidate our staff, even making sexually explicit comments to one of our female volunteers.

“We hope that the residents of Gardenstown and Crovie will continue to come forward to tell the Scottish Wild Salmon Company that they are bringing disgrace to this otherwise beautiful part of Scotland not only with their seal slaughter but also with their behaviour in public.”

In a concurrent development, invoices were hand delivered to the Sea Shepherd charity demanding thousands of pounds in fees for filming in the harbour area; these invoices were since withdrawn. It is understood that not everyone in the harbour board was happy with these invoices being issued in the first place.

Lawbreaking?

It is proven that Sea Shepherd were threatened by people intent on shooting seals who had rifles; why there is no prosecution forthcoming is unclear.

Crovie looking towards location of wild salmon netting 27 April 2014. Image Credit: Suzanne Kelly

It has also been proven that there is no permission to shoot seals granted by the landowner: no one can shoot seals in Gardenstown and Crovie lands.

What men are doing walking around the area with shotguns then is something of a worry and certainly reason for the law enforcement agencies to step in. (Aberdeen Voice readers may well want to compare and contrast the way in which men with rifles are walking around these coastal towns, having been proven to engage in threatening behaviour, and the ‘Siege of Heathryfold’).

Aberdeen Voice has been told that the SWSC’s operatives are living in a non-residential building. While that is not a huge violation of law, it is still illegal. However, the more serious accusation has been made to Aberdeen Voice that guns are being stored in the SWSC’s building.

Aberdeen Voice will share this allegation with SWSC and the police, and will report back with any responses.

If the rifles are not being stored in the building in question, then where are they being legally stored? Did the police investigate how the guns are being stored when they investigated the video of Sea Shepherd’s man being threatened by people who had rifles?

A Walk on the Wild Salmon Side

Aberdeen Voice visited Gardenstown and Crovie, and spoke to locals and Sea Shepherd. No SWSC employees were visible, and their premises locked; it was a weekend. SWSC has given their position in an earlier email, the contents of which appear in the comments section of a previous article, and will be welcome to explain some of the issues arising from this article.

Despite proponents saying that shooting seals is essential and no concern to the people of the north east, many locals are very much opposed to the idea of shooting seals. As one explained:

“A presentation was made to the local heritage society [about studies done involving St Andrew’s University about sonic deterrents to seals]; there are ways to stop salmon being eaten by seals. There are sonic devices which keep the seals away, and there are ways to construct salmon nets so that seals can’t get in. Shooting should not be happening.”

Another said:

“I put the blame for this on Marine Scotland. I tried to get answers from them and find out how and why they issued any permits to kill seals. I telephoned – but I never got the promised answer back. With salmon farming taking place (which has lots of room for improvement in how the salmon are treated), there should not be any large scale netting of wild salmon. The smaller anglers are against what’s happening as well.”

And another local added:

Gardenstown harbour 27 April 2014. Image Credit: Suzanne Kelly.

“I have been documenting seal shooting since the seal was shot from Crovie pier last year. I will keep doing so, and I am opposed to SWSC shooting seals. I think there are two net areas (to the east) of Crovie.”

Finally, one local resident commented:

“…there are studies done on the material found in seal waste; I believe the study showed that salmon is not a large part of the seal’s diet.” [seals eat a wide variety of sea life; salmon is far from their only food].

During our visit, Aberdeen Voice did not find a single local resident who wants gunman shooting seals in the area.

Non Net Income: Value of Wildlife Tourism

Some would spread the belief that the salmon industries, wild and farmed, must be allowed to do as they please for the benefit of the rural communities. The government says otherwise; wildlife tourism is big business. A Scottish Government 2010 report, ‘The True Value of Wildlife Tourism’ advises:

“… wildlife tourism annually brings in a net economic impact of £65 million to Scotland’s economy and creates the equivalent of 2,760 full time jobs.

“The report also found that 1.12 million trips were made every year to or within Scotland with the main aim of viewing wildlife. This form of tourism appealed greatly to UK-based visitors and Scots themselves, accounting for 56 per cent of trips. And it was these UK visitors who generated 75 per cent of the income.”
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/06/16110712

Seals under threat

The UK has common and grey seals; the common seal population is declining. We know that illegal shooting takes place (in areas other than Crovie). Aside from the danger of being shot, seals are suffering from pollution from the oil industry, marine activity and plastic waste in the water; depleted fish stocks further threaten seals, sea birds and other marine life.

Arguably we should be protecting the seal population, cleaning our water, and perhaps even taking less Atlantic salmon. An Irish-based research paper reports a drop of 75% in Atlantic Salmon populations:

“Atlantic salmon stocks in Ireland have declined by 75% in recent years (Anon 2008), and although conservation measures have been put in place, salmon stocks in many Irish rivers are below their conservation limits (Anon 2008).” – A pilot study on seal predation on salmon stocks in selected Irish rivers and estuaries.

The Gardenstown and Crovie communities do not operate solely on the basis of salmon fishing; tourism, leisure pursuits and arts play a part. These activities have demonstrably been hit by the arrival of seal shooters with rifles, witness the tourists who left after they saw the shooting last year.

Sea Shepherd will continue to monitor the activities of SWSC, as will concerned locals.

John Robins of Save Our Seals Fund said:

“Sea Shepherd and the Hunt Saboteurs Association have done a great job in bringing this issue back to public attention. I have no doubt they saved many seals from being shot at Gamrie Bay. We now need the general public to help save seals from being shot all around Scotland by signing our Petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to stop issuing licenses to shoot seals.”

Aberdeen Voice will likewise report on any further developments.

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Welcome For Plans To Revitalise Historic Town House

Aberdeenshire, Featured, News 2 Responses »

Apr 182014

With thanks to Martin Ford.

Kintore’s Category-A-listed historic town house could be set for a new lease of life thanks to an initiative to consider new uses for the building.

Kintore Town House dates from 1747 and is sited in the heart of Kintore. The building is owned by Aberdeenshire Council and a small number of Council staff are based there.

Said East Garioch councillor Martin Ford:

“Kintore Town House is a truly superb building, a really, really fine piece of architecture, and the natural centrepiece of the town. But in recent years it has been little used. Most residents of Kintore won’t have entered the building from one year to the next, and many of those who moved to the town in the last decade have probably never been in it at all.

“So Kintore Town House is an under-used asset. It defines the town centre, but it is not itself a centre of community activity. That needs to change.”

Aberdeenshire Council recently agreed to spend nearly £100,000 from its Capital Plan on external repair work to Kintore Town House.

A detailed brief for the external repair work is now being developed in consultation with Historic Scotland.

Aberdeenshire Council officers attended the April meeting of Kintore and District Community Council on Tuesday (15 April) to update the Community Council and ask for its involvement in a group to consider possible new uses for Kintore Town House. The Area Project Officer based in the Garioch Area Office at Gordon House has been tasked with co-ordinating work on finding possible future uses for Kintore Town House.

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“Kintore Town House needs to become busy again, to be a place where residents go – not just a building that is admired from the outside. Getting at least part of the building back into regular public use would be good for the building and good for the community.

“Finding a suitable new use will not be easy. It’s a project that will take time. I’m delighted a group is being formed to take this forward.

“There is no doubt that the building is greatly valued by the community, but it could also be a focus for community activity and identity as the town’s population continues to grow. I very much support the idea of finding ways of bringing this iconic building back into regular public use.”

For more information about the building see:

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/kintore+the+square+town+house/
http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/Kintoretownhouse

£88,742 plus fees (total £97,616). See Item 19, page 10, at the Policy and Resources Committee on 3 April, here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees/PlannedMaintenance

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Wilson’s Last Stand: Fochabers Fountain Commemorates

Featured, History, Information, Opinion 8 Responses »

Aug 152013

Michael Caine may have successfully defended Rorke’s Drift against the Zulu army but the truth of the Zulu War turns out to be slightly different from the Hollywood version. Duncan Harley examines a slice of Scottish history commemorated by a Fochabers fountain.

Over the years, I have often driven past this Morayshire fountain, never thinking to stop and read the inscription. Today I took a wee look and discovered that it is a tribute to Major Allan Wilson, late bank clerk of Fochabers.

Lord Chelmsford had famously invaded Zululand without the knowledge of the UK government in the hope that he could capture Cetshwayo, the Zulu king, before London discovered that hostilities had begun.

Things however did not go smoothly, and this monument is a link to those events.

The fountain erected in memory of Major Wilson was commissioned by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon and is inscribed:

Erected by the natives of Fochabers to commemorate the heroic stand made against the forces of the King of Matebeleland by Major Allan Wilson of this town who with a small band of comrades fell bravely fighting against overwhelming odds near the Shangani River in South Africa on the 4th of December 1893.

Allan Wilson (1856-1893) was born in Glen Urquhart, Ross-shire, and is best known for his leadership of the Shangani Patrol during which he met his death, making him a national hero in Rhodesia.

On completion of his bank apprenticeship in Fochabers, he went to the Cape Colony and joined the Cape Mounted Rifles. He fought in the Zulu War and the First Boer War and was promoted to Sergeant. After taking his discharge he became a trader and gold prospector and earned a commission in the Basuto Police.

Later, he joined the Bechuanaland Exploration Company as Chief Inspector and was sent as their representative to Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) in Matabeleland, serving as the senior officer in the Victoria Volunteers. He became a Major and was killed while leading the Shangani Patrol during the First Matabele War.

Wilson is buried, along with most of his patrol and with Cecil Rhodes, in Matabo Hills, Zimbabwe.

When the First Matabele War broke out in 1893, Wilson was given command of the Victoria Column and appointed to the rank of Major. He led the Shangani Patrol in search of King Lobengula and on 4 December, he and thirty one of his men were cut off from the main column and killed by the Ndebele warriors.

In desperation, and only hours before his death, Wilson sent Frederick Russell Burnham and two other scouts to seek reinforcements from the main column commanded by Major Patrick Forbes.
Unfortunately, the battle raging there was just as intense and there was no hope of anyone reaching Wilson in time.

The incident achieved a lasting, prominent place in Rhodesian colonial history and is considered to be the British equivalent to Custer’s Last Stand.

A patriotic play, Wilson’s Last Stand, was written and it ran in London for just over two years. In the play, it was claimed that in killing Wilson and his men, Lobengula lost eighty of his royal guard and another 500 Ndebele warriors. Wilson seemingly, was the last to fall and the wounded men of the Shangani Patrol loaded rifles and passed them to him during the final stages of the defence.

When their ammunition ran out, the remaining men of the Patrol are said to have risen and sung, God Save the Queen. Once both of Wilson’s arms were broken and he could no longer shoot, he stepped from behind a barricade of dead horses, walked toward the Ndebele, and was stabbed with a spear by a young warrior.

The truth may have been slightly different, but that’s show business for you, I suppose!

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Nanny Abercrombie’s Windmill

Aberdeenshire, Featured, History 8 Responses »

Jul 262013

When Donald Trump began his tirade against Scotland’s renewable energy policy earlier this year, featured in Aberdeen Voice’s Tilting at Windmills article in April, he famously commented, ‘I don’t want to be standing on the first tee looking into an industrial wind turbine if I’m going to be spending all this money’ and ‘We will spend whatever monies are necessary to see to it that these huge and unsightly industrial wind turbines are never constructed.’ Perhaps he would be persuaded otherwise if he were to pay a even a fleeting visit to one of Banffshire’s hidden gems, the Glassaugh Windmill just east of Sandend on the Moray Firth coast, muses Duncan Harley.

At first glance, the windmill can easily be mistaken for a Pictish Broch or even a Martello Tower.
Set back 500 metres from the A98 Portsoy to Cullen road, the structure has a covering of ivy which masks the outline and suggests a tower house with a walled garden circling the base. Nothing could be further from the truth, however.

In common with much of the Banff and Buchan coastline, the area around Sandend is full of Pictish remains. These are often built over, or indeed incorporated in later structures such as farm houses, churches and dykes. The Glassaugh Windmill is just such a building.

General James Abercrombie of Glassaugh was, as his title suggests, a military man. He was born in 1706 to a wealthy Banffshire family and, as was the custom of the time, in 1742 he purchased a major’s commission to enter the army. He was promoted to colonel in 1746 and major-general in 1756.

He is credited with having good organisational skills but little understanding of the art of warfare and was known to his troops as Mrs Nanny Abercrombie because of his skills at provisioning and providing creature comforts like tents and hot food on the long marches through North America during the French and Indian War of 1689-1763.

Unfortunately, in the July of 1758 he had his own Charge of the Light Brigade moment when he rather rashly directed his troops into a frontal assault on a fortified French position without the benefit of artillery support.

More than 2000 of his force of 15000 were killed or wounded, resulting in the good general being recalled to Britain where he duly became a Member of Parliament, supporting the cause of British dominion over the Northern Territories of America and Canada. No surprises so far then.

When Major General Abercrombie MP returned to his native Scotland, he took over the running of the family estate at Glassaugh and, possibly lacking much to do in the parliament of the day, he began organising the improvement of the agricultural economy of the area.

This was a time of land improvement and land enclosure. Labour was plentiful and indeed cheap, as a large number of Irish Catholics had been uprooted by the influx of English and Scottish aristocracy and had in many cases sought work on the land in Scotland. What was Major General Abercrombie MP to do?

He had indeed been a poor general but possessed good organisational skills. In the true spirit of Jaroslav Hašek’s Good Soldier Švejk, which is essentially a series of absurdly comic episodes, Abercrombie decided to build a windmill.

In those far off days, most mills were powered by water. There are tens of thousands of watermills in the UK and at a guess there must be at least one in every inhabited town and village in Aberdeenshire. Transport was improving during the 1750s, but local flour and grain mills were still the order of the day and met the needs of the townships and small communities all around the shire.

Windmills were not unknown in the NE, but were not that common due to the ease and availability of waterpower. Abercrombie however, decided that wind was the way to go.

As any engineer will know, the biggest challenge in building large structures is the sourcing of building materials. If you need to build a wall then you will require large quantities of stone, heavy and difficult to transport. The shorter the journey from quarry to building site the better.

Well, it just so happened that Major General Abercrombie had a ready-made supply of building materials in the form of a bronze age burial cairn. The folk who had built the cairn would have no objections to its recycling after all, and of course Scottish Natural Heritage was not even a slight smile in the womb of the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991.

The Cup and Saucer was born. Using the materials from the ancient cairn, Abercrombie bade his workers build an enormous windmill four storeys high and with a tapering tower topped with white sails. It must have been the sight of the century for folk who had never travelled further than Sandend or Portsoy.

How long Abercrombie’s windmill was in full tilt is not recorded, but in a letter dated 23 August 1761, he advised his daughter that high winds had almost blown off ‘the pompon of the wind mill which was only set up yesterday’.

The ivy- covered stump of the structure is all that remains today to remind us of the man who had the vision to build it.

Although, when you think about it, you’re actually looking at a Bronze Age burial cairn undergoing a Tibetan sky burial.

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Willows Animal Sanctuary Open Day Saturday 22 June

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Information No Responses »

Jun 192013

Willows Animal Sanctuary invites you, your friends and family to its next Open Day – 22 June.
Come join the staff, farm, domestic, exotic and wild animals living at Willows. There will be loads to do and see, and animals to meet.

New arrivals at Willows include a family of Shetland ponies. Penny the Shetland mare, rescued from a very uncertain fate earlier in the year, has given birth to a beautiful colt foal. Bertie was born on the 30th April 2013 and is an absolute treasure. He currently lives with his mum Penny and his sister Daisy.

Here is Penny’s story.

We were contacted recently by a very desperate lady who urgently needed help with two Shetland pony mares and a filly foal. The lady suffers from an auto immune disease and has become allergic to daylight which had made looking after her ponies very difficult.

She also expressed concern that the paddock they were in, which had looked good in summer, was now so wet that the ponies were sometimes up to their hocks in mud and she feared that two of the ponies were again in foal. Her only other option had been to put the ponies into a market which would risk a very uncertain future for them.

The ponies were quite a way from Willows on the border between Perth and Angus, but Animal Health were extremely helpful with facilitating the move to Willows. It was also some time since their feet had been trimmed and all in all Animal Health felt that the sooner they could be removed the better.

They all arrived safely and have been checked and blood tested by our vets. The filly foal has been named Daisy and the two mares are called Ruby and Penny.

The events run from 11:30 am through 4:30pm; they include:-

Live music,
Bottle Stall,
Tombola,
Plant sale,
Lucky ducks,
Gift shop,
Coffee Shop,
Raffle,
and Home-bakes.

Willows Animal Sanctuary, Lambhill Farm, Strichen, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire AB43 6NY

Reg. Charity No. SCO29625
Tel. 01771 653112
www.willowsanimals.com
email kate@willowsanimals.com

Zeppelin Over Insch

Aberdeenshire, Featured, History, Information No Responses »

May 022013

Duncan Harley writes about the 1916 terror bombing of the Garioch

In the very early years of the 20th century, the main source of world and home news was via printed newspapers and to a growing extent cinema. There was of course no television, and although radio had been invented its use was largely limited to commercial and military use.

The sinking of the “unsinkable” White Star liner RMS Titanic in April 1912 had led to the wide-scale adoption of Marconi Company radio equipment as a safety feature on passenger ships, but regular broadcasting of news and entertainment via the radio waves was still some years away.

In fact the first continuous radio broadcast in the world was a three hour programme from the American Radio and Research Company in March 1916, but it was only really during the 1920s that new technology in the form of the first vacuum tubes led to the regular broadcasting of news, current affairs and entertainment.

The age of the propaganda film had however arrived, and when Europe was plunged into war in 1914, the governments of the day on all sides of the conflict were quick to seize the opportunities which the new medium offered.

Films were produced to encourage cinema goers to buy war bonds as a patriotic duty, and countless documentaries were made to persuade the public that the war to end all wars was just and right.

Titles such as “A Goal for the Huns”, made in 1916, encouraged shipyard workers to work harder and produce more ships for the Navy, while the 1916 documentary “German Prisoners at Verdun” persuaded those on the home front that the war was already almost won and the complete surrender of “the Hun” and a quick victory was just a few months away.

In the towns and cities of the UK the news was more often than not delivered via daily newspapers and Aberdeenshire had at least two of these, namely the Aberdeen Free Press and the Aberdeen Daily Journal. During the First World War, both titles competed for readers using a heady mix of national and international news interspersed with photos of young and heroic looking troops, in full combat uniform, leaving Aberdeenshire for the trenches in France or the Middle East Front.

Other parts of these news sheets carried sad lists of the dead and missing, often with portraits of them in uniform, which must have been taken prior to departure.

a pretty obvious indication that the war was consuming the nation’s lifeblood at a galloping rate

The editions of these papers for the first week of May 1916 featured articles on Mr Asquith’s amendment to the recently passed Compulsory Enlistment Military Service Bill making it compulsory for all males to enlist on their eighteenth birthday “thus ensuring a constant supply of new recruits”.

Not good news for the young men and a pretty obvious indication that the war was consuming the nation’s lifeblood at a galloping rate.

There were articles on the aftermath of that Irish Easter Rebellion which Yeats so eloquently described in “Easter, 1916” with the now famous conclusive line “A terrible beauty is born.”

Lists of those Irish leaders who had been sentenced to death and then shot for their part in the uprising and even a mention of the trial in Salonika of some members of a group of Bosnian Nationalists implicated in the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria which had been the spark which ignited the conflict in the first place.

The editions of both the Aberdeen Free Press and the Aberdeen Daily Journal for Thursday May 4th 1916 however carried news of a more local nature.

The war had finally arrived on Aberdeenshire’s doorstep in the form of aerial bombing by a German Zeppelin on the night of May 2nd! The headlines screamed “Terrific Noise of Crashing Bombs” and “Zeppelin at Rattray Head” with descriptions of up to 17 bombs having been dropped over the North East of Scotland in the course of the terror raid.

In reality, Zeppelin raids were nothing new to the UK mainland and in fact were quite common over parts of England and the continent, but it had been assumed that the North East of Scotland was well out of range of the raiders whose bases were in the north of Germany some 12 hours flying time away.

The usual targets for the German crews were shipyards and military bases but, as was the case in the second war to end all wars, the art of aerial bombing was uncertain at best and usually quite haphazard resulting in most bombs falling on civilian areas.

There had been a raid on Scotland during the night of April 2nd 1916 consisting of four airships which were targeted to attack the Rosyth naval base and the Forth Rail Bridge.

Travelling at around 45mph the 600ft long Zeppelins crossed the UK coast at various points due to having become separated en-route to the intended targets.

One appeared in the night skies over Leith and Edinburgh city centre dropping bombs which killed ten and caused widespread damage. Following this attack blackout precautions came into force and Scotland’s anti aircraft defences came under review.

Exactly one month later, on 2nd May 1916, the raiders returned. The targets once again were the Forth Rail Bridge and Rosyth Naval Base, but the navigation was disrupted by stormy weather on the journey over the North Sea leading yet again to the airships becoming separated. After a gruelling 12 hour journey only two managed to actually find Scotland at all!

In what now seems a quite farcical series of events the Zeppelin L14, mistook the Firth of Tay for the Firth of Forth and dropped its bombs in a field injuring a horse.

The other, the L20, proceeded north, possibly intending to bomb a secondary target of warships in the Cromarty Firth, eventually making landfall over Rattray Head in Buchan.

The Aberdeen Free Press was somewhat restrained in its report of what happened next, no doubt to do with censorship. “Bombs Dropped in Fields” ran the headline with a description of “some windows in a mansion house and a cotter house” being “broken by the concussion” plus a description some craters in a cornfield.

In fact the raider had bombed Castle Craig near Lumsden, whose occupants had neglected to turn off their newly installed electric lights, before proceeding to Insch where two bombs were dropped in a field at Flinders. Knockenbaird Farm and Freefield House near Old Rayne were also subject to bombing although no-one appears to have been injured and damage appears to have been very minor indeed.

Airships are still in use today almost a century after they were first developed

The Aberdeen Free Press reports indicated that aside from the hapless horse injured near Edinburgh, there had been 36 casualties including nine killed south of the Scottish border by other raiders but that “no person sustained the slightest injury” in the North East.

The House of Commons were duly informed by the Right Honourable Harold Tennant MP Secretary for Scotland that the “17 bombs dropped by the L20 over the Garioch on the night of 2nd May caused little damage.”

A lucky escape indeed for the North East although the events of the second war would prove much less fortunate when Aberdeen suffered repeated bombing from the Luftwaffe, but that is another story.

The eventual fate of the injured horse is not recorded but the outcome for the Zeppelin L20 certainly is. After yet again becoming lost it headed out over the North Sea in an attempt to make landfall in Norway.

The L20 eventually ran out of fuel just off the Norwegian coast near Sandnes.

On May 3rd 1916 The Press Association reported that,

“Zeppelin L20 was reported this morning at 10 o’clock over the Southern part of the Jaederin coast. The aircraft flew slowly towards the north and came nearer and nearer to the coast, which it eventually crossed. It then passed at a low altitude over the country as far as Halsfirth where it came down in the water. The Zeppelin appears to have been damaged and it is reported that the crew jumped out of the gondolas into the sea near Hinna”.

Seemingly most of the German airships crew of 16 survived to fight another day having been rescued by local fishermen. However a Norwegian officer set the wrecked airship aflame with a well placed shot from his flare pistol thus ending what had been a quite farcical episode in the history of aerial warfare.

Sources

World War 1 propaganda film/Pathe news: http://www.britishpathe.com/ww1-news
Aberdeen Free Press, Thursday May 4th 1916
Aberdeen Daily Journal, April 4th and May 4th 1916
Aberdeenshire Peoples Journal, May 6th 1916
Background information: http://www.heraldscotland.com/kaiser-s-plan-blown-off-course
and http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/89975987
Leopard Magazine January 1999
John Duff Scott’s Magazine January 1999
David Fergus Yeats http://www.online-literature.com/frost/779/

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Ceetizen Journalism

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 182013

By Bob Smith.

If ye didna ken afore
Ye need tae read the A.V.
Tae ken fit’s really happ’nin
In the toon twixt Don an Dee

The P&J gies ye ae side
O a story there’s nae doot
Bit tae read anither side
A doot ye wull miss oot

The “EE” it is the same
Div fowk read it onymair?
The airt o democratic reportin?
They hiv fair lost the flair

Baith ower canny wi their print
A coordy custard approach detected
Ad. revenue they maan protect
Big business views aye reflected

Ceetizen journalism’s on the mairch
Wi the Aiberdeen Voice tae the fore
Maist o the mainstream media
Are noo classed as bein a bore

Times they hiv moved on
Fae the days o ink an quill
Bit some fowk in oor toon
Wull fecht fer democracy still

So tho yer nine or ninety
An fer truth ye div aspire
AV shud be yer readin
Ither local media are dire

Limericks An Gibberish

Creative Writing, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Sep 262012

Voice’s poetry mannie Bob Smith takes a wee bit of a departure this week, seemingly in the footsteps of Edward Lear, whilst ‘hingin on ticht’ to his native tongue.

There wis a young loon fae Montrose
Faa wore affa bricht coloured hose
He wint oot on his bike
Wis attacked by a tyke
Aat silly young loon fae Montrose
.
There wis a quine fae Stonehaven
Faa wis kent ti be a bit craven
She widna ging oot at nicht
In case she took fricht
Aat daft quine fae Stonehaven
.
There wis a chiel fae Glen Garry
Faa’s job wis drivin a larry
He sped doon iss hill
Fell foul o the “Auld Bill”
Aat feelish chiel fae Glen Garry
.
There wis a quine fae Portree
Faa suddenly wint it ti pee
She wint intae lang girss
Bit fell doon on her erse
Aat misfortnat quine fae Portree
.
There wis a young loon fae Braemar
Faa needed a new motor car
He funcied an Alfa Romeo
Landed up wi a Mondeo
Aat puir young loon fae Braemar
.
There wis an aul man fae Kintore
Faa funcied the local whore
Fin he asked fit it cost
He wis telt ti get lost
Aat randy auld man fae Kintore

There wis a young chiel fae Ayr
As an artist hid considerable flair
Ti pint a portrait o his mither
He fun iss nae bither
Aat talented young chiel fae Ayr
.
There wis a wifie fae Wick
Efter binge drinkin wis maist affa sick
She dooned three bottles o wine
An still thocht she’d be fine
Aat drunken wifie fae Wick
.
There wis a billie fae Skene
At golf wis maist affa keen
He missed so mony putts
It drove the guy nuts
Aat daft gowfin billie fae Skene
.
There wis a young miss fae Rosehearty
Her dress sense wis thocht a bit “tarty”
Hemlines up ti her bum
Naethin coverin her tum
Aat modern young miss fae Rosehearty
.
There wis a young ned fae Lochcarron
Faa wis the local drugs baron
Ae nicht he got drunk
An lost aa his “skunk”
Aat silly young ned fae Lochcarron
.
There wis an aul hag fae Lumphanan
Faa’s fart wis as lood as a cannon
Efter denner plus three gins
She cwid be heard in Torphins
Aat “windy” aul hag fae Lumphanan

Summer Brings New Life To Sunnybank Park

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Environment, Information, News No Responses »

Aug 242011

It has been a busy summer down at Sunnybank Park. Philip Sim reports.

Just six months have passed since the park, formerly known as the St Machar Outdoor Centre, was taken over by the Friends of Sunnybank Park community group.

Already, major structural changes are underway to breathe new life into the previously run-down site, with the newly-built allotments looking full of life.

One of the most visually impacting changes has been the removal of the large metal fence across the middle of the park, which has made the whole area feel much more open and spacious.

The fence removal was funded by Aberdeen Greenspace Trust, who have pledged around £60,000 to the park. They have now completed the bulk of their work, including re-surfacing the existing paths and installing some benches and a new stairway and path leading to the park.

Sunnybank Park Update: July from Philip Sim on Vimeo.

Meanwhile BTCV Scotland volunteers have also been hard at work picking litter, building benches and trimming down the undergrowth. They have also built compost bins for the allotment holders and other green-fingered locals.

There has even been some political interest in the project. Former City Council leader John Stewart has provided funds for signage and a notice board, while North East MSP Lewis MacDonald toured the site last week.

The park was formerly home to a bowling green, but Aberdeen City Council decided to mothball the site after the pavilion was burned down in 2009.

The area was left to fall into disrepair until local community groups rallied round and put together a business plan, complete with funding, to save the park. With many major developments now complete and a few more still to come, the future certainly seems bright at Sunnybank Park.

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