Norway Archives - Aberdeen Voice

VisitAberdeenshire Appeals To Stavanger Holidaymakers

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Feb 022017

With thanks to Eoin Smith, Senior Account Executive, Tricker PR.

VisitAberdeenshire’s business development manager Jenni Fraser.

Over 6,000 Norwegian holidaymakers will have the chance to learn all about the north east of Scotland when VisitAberdeenshire heads to the Stavanger Travel Day this weekend. The tourism body will exhibit at the top travel event held in the Clarion Hotel Stavanger on February 4.

VisitAberdeenshire’s business development manager Jenni Fraser and tourism executive Raeanne Farquhar will attend the event, which will allow them to speak directly with Norwegian travellers to reveal everything Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have to offer.

With multiple airlines operating direct flights between Stavanger and Aberdeen, including SAS and Wideroe, there has never been a better time for Norwegians to visit the north east of Scotland.

Exhibition attendees will even have the opportunity to win a weekend in the Granite City with flights provided by Wideroe. The lucky winners will stay at the Macdonald Norwood Hall Hotel, and will receive tickets to any Aberdeen Festival which coincides with their visit.

Jenni says,

“Norway has long been an important market for tourism in the north east of Scotland, and at just over an hour’s flight time it’s easy to see why. The region is appealing for Norwegians looking for a weekend city break or to explore some fantastic countryside.

“Historic castles and traditional whisky distilleries remain a big draw for Norwegian tourists. From Slain’s Castle in Cruden Bay, which inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to the regal Royal Lochnagar Distillery, nestled in the hills beneath Balmoral Castle, the north east of Scotland certainly isn’t a disappointment.

“But whisky and castles aren’t the only reason that Norwegian travellers make the journey to visit Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The fact that there are over 50 golf courses, including impressive links courses along the Aberdeenshire Coast, is a real attraction – the Norwegian Golf Federation, the country’s fourth largest sporting organisation, boasts over 103,000 members.

“World-class outdoor activities in Royal Deeside and wider Aberdeenshire, and a growing reputation for fine food and drink, mean that more and more holidaymakers are considering the north east as a holiday destination. And our cultural offering – including festivals like True North and the Aberdeen International Youth Festival – also provides a unique programme of entertainment that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

“We look forward to meeting the Norwegian public in Stavanger, and showing them all that Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have to offer.”

For more information about Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, visit www.visitabdn.com

Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.

VisitAberdeenshire Heads To Oslo On Tourism Mission

Aberdeenshire, Articles No Responses »

Jan 132017

With thanks to Eoin Smith, Senior Account Executive, Tricker PR.

Tourism body VisitAberdeenshire will journey to Scandinavia this week on a mission to capitalise on the booming number of Norwegians going on overseas holidays.

The organisation will exhibit at the Oslo Tourism Fair from 13-15 January, where they will have the chance to speak directly with holidaymakers about the world-class facilities on offer in the north east of Scotland.

Between 2003 and 2015, Norwegian holiday expenditure rose across the globe by an incredible 158% – from £4.7 billion to £12.2 billion.

VisitAberdeenshire’s Jenni Fraser (pictured) and Raeanne Farquhar will attend the exhibition to encourage more travel to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to benefit from this rise in spending. They will be joined by partners Aberdeen Festivals and bmi regional – which operates direct flights between Oslo and Aberdeen.

Business development manager Jenni says,

“Norway has traditionally been a key market for both leisure and business visitors to Aberdeen, and the city continues to be one of the top three Scottish destinations for Norwegian travellers.

“Increasingly Norwegians choose to holiday abroad rather than at home, and in 2015 spent 307,000 nights in Scotland – spending £36 million. Aberdeen is well connected to Norway with flights operating from Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen, and so offers an attractive weekend break destination for those looking to get away from it all.”

Norwegian travellers are often attracted to the UK where, thanks to a favourable exchange rate, shopping and dining are far more affordable. While at the Oslo Travel Fair, VisitAberdeenshire will showcase the north east’s top restaurants, bars and shops, while highlighting the attractions, entertainment and hotel offers available in the city and surrounding area.

Jenni continues,

“Norwegian visitors are often drawn to the region by our stunning castles and historic whisky distilleries – and for good reason. The imposing ruin of Dunnottar Castle, perched perilously atop a rocky cliff face, and the fairytale-esque Fyvie Castle are amongst some of the area’s top attractions, while distilleries like Glen Garioch and Royal Lochnagar offer tours to allow visitors the chance to see how single malt is made.

“And while they may come for the castles and whisky, visitors will have the opportunity to discover all that the area has to offer – from world-famous golf courses, including Royal Aberdeen and Cruden Bay, to outdoor adventure activities.

“We will also unveil the 2017 Aberdeen Festivals programme to a Norwegian audience. Events like the sound festival have already built strong connections with the Norwegian and wider Scandinavian cultural community, and we look forward to sharing what’s ahead with those in Oslo.”

For more information about Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and the region’s leisure tourism facilities, please visit www.visitabdn.com

Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.

Premiere For Film Exposing Global Fur Industry

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Dec 032015

With thanks to Flo Blackbourn.

International animal rights organisation, Animal Justice Project, is hosting a Nationwide tour of award-winning premiere documentary, Inside Fur, which takes viewers undercover inside the secretive fur industry in Norway and China.
On 8th December 2015 at 7pm the film premieres at A19, Taylor Building, University of Aberdeen.

The 57 min. documentary directed by Norwegian film director, Ola Waagen, follows the work of undercover investigator and psychologist, Frank Nervik, as he goes deep undercover to dupe fur farmers into believing he is entering the industry to farm animals for their skins.

Nervick reveals harrowing, never-seen-before footage using covert cameras in both Norway – one of the largest fur producing countries in the world – and China, the number one fur producer.

Major fur export markets include China, Russia, Canada, and the EU. Norway is a major fox fur producer, along with Finland and Poland. Skins from these countries are sold under the Saga brand through the Saga Furs auctions. The UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany and Italy are among the countries that have banned parts of or their entire fur industry, though these countries still allow imports.

The European Fur Breeders Association (EFBA) has an affiliated national fur breeder association in Norway, as well as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Norway’s controversial fur industry – which involves over 200 fox and mink farms – has been exposed by several leading animal protection organisations in the country, revealing numerous and severe violations of the law, as well as wounded and suffering animals. State authorities in Norway have stated that there is ‘shocking’ evidence of animal abuse.

In May 2015, the Norwegian government announced that it would slash financial support to the industry and, this month, over 7,000 Norwegians took the streets in Europe’s largest anti-fur event to call for a ban on fur farming. The Government is now considering banning fur altogether following this event and the launch of a groundbreaking report on the industry.

Fur is currently a hot topic in Britain also, and the film tour follows closely an airing of the investigatory BBC1 television program ‘Fake Britain’, which exposes well-known high street shops such as TK Maxx and House of Fraser, to be selling real mink, raccoon, raccoon-dog and weasel fur fraudulently labeled as ‘Faux’.

Animal Justice Project Spokesperson, Flo Blackbourn states:

“This film, Inside Fur, is very relevant right now, as we are entering the season in which fur trim and the occasional fur coat are increasingly seen on the high street. This film is important viewing for anyone who has an interest in animals and the fashion industry, as it exposes the truth of the fur industry and the immense cruelty involved.”

Animal Justice Project is an international organisation working in Europe and the United States to end the use of animals in laboratory research and other forms of speciesism.

Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.

Crovie: The North Pole?

Community, Featured, History 6 Responses »

Sep 192013

By Duncan Harley.

In Crovie, the fisher folk were quite used to the effects of the sea. They had, for generations, lived with the seasons, and felt that they knew how to survive the furies of the winter storms. These were hardy folk indeed.
In February 1906 they had risked life and limb to rescue the crew of the SS Vigilant when, after engine failure it was driven ashore onto the Rotten Beach just down from the village.

A joint effort with the folk of nearby Gardenstown enabled the rescue of all six crew, despite the terrible conditions during a severe winter storm.

The boiler from the stricken vessel lay in Crovie Bay as a landmark for over 90 years, before being removed by the local council after a storm washed it onto the shore.

There is a memorial to the event on the coastal path between Crovie and Gardenstown.

Then there were those German spies.

During April 1941, two armed men landed at Crovie pier from a rubber dinghy. It was a time of distrust. Road signs in the North East had been removed and the Emergency Coastal Defences were in place. General Ironside’s Innes Links Coastal Battery was yet to fire a shot in anger, but the general mood was fear of invasion and distrust of foreigners.

It was just before 6 a.m. on April 8th 1941, and three hours earlier the two men had been dropped a few miles offshore by a German flying boat. When climbing into their rubber dinghy, they had lost their means of transport when the Luftwaffe aircrew panicked and threw their two bicycles into the North Sea, where no doubt they lie to this day.

As they watched the seaplane take off for the return trip to Norway, they must have wondered what had possessed them to volunteer as German spies and what fate would await them when they made landfall in the North East of Scotland.

The two men were in fact Norwegians who had been recruited by the German security services to report on the Moray coastal defences. It’s a well known story: they rowed ashore to Crovie pier and asked the man at number 27 how to get to Banff by bus.

It was April 1941. Very few locals spoke a foreign language despite the influx of Polish personnel into the Moray area.

Crovie Village Moray 170. Credit: Duncan Harley

The coastal village of Crovie, Moray.

Mr Reid at number 27 seemingly dialled 999 and reported the incident to the Banff Constabulary.

The rest is history.

Used as double agents, the two Norwegians fooled their German masters for a few months before being allowed, in one case, to join the Norwegian Army and in the case of the second agent, to live out the rest of the war in an internment camp.

They were nicknamed Mutt and Jeff after two cartoon characters of the time, whom they were thought to resemble.

Mutt and Jeff? Cockney rhyming slang for deaf perhaps, or a reference to a then popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about “two mismatched tinhorns.”

Both were lovable losers however, and the good folk of Crovie still remember them with relish.

Crovie is one of only two places in the world to be blessed with a North Pole.

Mind you, the Crovie North Pole is easier to reach. To get there simply walk to the far end of the village, to the drying green past the Mission Hall. A green metal clothes pole awaits, and visitors are advised that “if you don’t walk around the North Pole, then you haven’t done Crovie.”

Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.

Britt Pernille Frøholm Charity Concert 19th November

Aberdeenshire, Articles, Charity, Community, Events, Featured, Gigs and Concerts, Information No Responses »

Nov 032011

Britt Pernille Frøholm is touring the UK this Autumn and will play three venues here in the North East, including a fund raising concert at 7.30pm on Saturday 19th November 2011 at The Howe Trinity Church, Alford, in aid of The Alford Heritage Centre and Museum. Jim Talbot encourages Aberdeen Voice readers to attend.

Britt is a leading hardanger fiddle player from Hornindal on the west coast of Norway.

She has a MA degree in Traditional Arts from 2006 where she worked with contemporary music and researched new techniques for the hardanger fiddle.

She is a versatile musician who has released several critically acclaimed cd’s in a number of genres, ranging from traditional folk music to free improvisation with jazz musicians.

The concert will include Christmas music from Norway and will be a showcase for this talented musician and her beautiful instrument.

In addition to her solo projects, she plays in the groups LuckyLoop, Friensemblet, Ensemble Epoché, arcticaEclectica, Frøholm/Tillung, BOREAS (Scotland/Norway), FACE THE BEAR (Norway/Sweden), and the Talay&Knutsson Project-Nye Toner i Nord (Norway/Sweden/Denmark). Currently she’s also collaborating with the Indian fiddle player Sharat Chandra Srivastava.

Discography:

Busi Ncube-Salulandela, (Etnisk Musikklubb 2010)
Frøholm/Tillung, ”EINS”, (Ta:lik 2009)
Friensemblet, ”Come Closer”, (Giraffa Records 2009)
LuckyLoop, “Big, Fat and Beautiful”, (Grappa Musikkforlag 2008)
Britt Pernille Frøholm, “For Allje Dei”, (Ta:lik 2008)
Folkelarm promo cd, (Etnisk Musikklubb 2008)
Christian Borlaug, “Austmannsspel- slåtter under Norefjell, (Etnisk Musikklubb 2008)
Ramstadlaget, “I gamle spor”, (Lærdal Musikkproduksjon AS 2008)
Honndalstausene, “Frie Former”, (Grappa Musikkforlag 2000)

Websites:

http://froholm.com
http://reverbnation.com/brittpernillefrø…
http://soundcloud.com/brittpernille
http://last.fm/music/Britt+Pernille+Frøh…
http://reverbnation.com/boreasband
http://myspace.com/boreasband
http://myspace.com/facethebearmusic
http://myspace.com/froholmtillung
http://myspace.com/arcticaeclectica
http://reverbnation.com/luckyloop

Looking For Dolphins On Porpoise – A Techfest Event

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Environment, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Sep 222011

Techfest rolled into town last week; one of its attractions was a free session of whale and dolphin watching from Torry Battery. Ian Hay of East Grampian Coastal Partnership led the event. By Suzanne Kelly.

Torry Battery – Saturday morning 10 September: it was a bit windy, rainy and overcast – so it was almost perfect. Well, perfect for whale and dolphin watching anyway. Expert and marine mammal enthusiast Ian Hay of the East Grampian Coastal Partnership met a group which had gathered this morning as part of Aberdeen’s Techfest. And the marine life did not disappoint.
There was a small pod of dolphins – but these decided to head north along the coast just as the talk was due to start.

Those who got there early saw an impressive display, and were able to make the dolphins out as they headed away from the harbour. Ian then delivered an amazing talk; everyone present took away new information however young or old they were.

As the dolphins headed away, Ian turned his attention to the rich, varied bird life. He pointed out the cormorants and eider ducks on a harbour jetty. He reminded us that bird watchers from all over the world come to our City and shire for the wealth of species that are found here. Some species are protected; but he mentioned that the eider ducks (from which eider down comes) were protected since the time of St Cuthbert in the 8th Century.

Some birds travel here in the winter from the north (soon the great geese flocks will appear); some come up in the spring from the south. The lighthouse in Torry is as useful to birds as it is to ships – it serves as a beacon and aids seabirds to find land. Aberdeen also has a famous Sycamore tree loved by bird watchers – any number of rare species can make their way here.

Ian then returned to his specialist subject, our marine mammals. He rightly called this harbour:

“The best place in Europe for watching whales and dolphins.”

Ian said there are locally five predominant types of mammals: Bottlenose Dolphins, Harbour Porpoises, White-beaked Dolphins, Risso’s Dolphins and Minke Whale.

The Bottlenose are the animals most commonly seen here; they travel in pods of upto 30 or 40; and are a coastal animal. The Harbour Porpoises are the most common species in the area – but ‘they don’t do very much’. The White-Beaked Dolphins are very special to the area, and the Risso’s dolphins are identified by their large heads.

This species eat squid – and usually pick up a few scars in the process of catching them. The scars turn the Dolphin’s skin white, so if you see a white one, it’s going to be an older one. This species is a bit more solitary than some of the other mammals which travel together in larger numbers.

If a Minke (or other) whale is around, a clue will be a large number of seabirds together at sea.

Their presence means a whale has found a shoal of fish and is rounding them up. Gannets, gulls and puffins will be seen picking fish up from the surface. Suddenly the birds will scatter as the giant whale’s mouth emerges to catch the fish.

Ian told us the unfortunate (if not heart-breaking) story of some humpback whales that appeared here each winter. There were a mother and her calf, and a male. They made an impressive sight, however it is thought that the mother and calf were found on an Angus beach having become tangled in fishing nets.

Being mammals, they could not surface; they could not free themselves – and they died. Thankfully in general terms the population of the Humpback and other whales is returning. (Feel free to write to the Norwegian, Icelandic and Japanese Embassies and protest at their pro-whaling stance in the meantime).

Fisherman or not, we can all act responsibly to encourage and protect our marine life.

For openers, don’t throw your plastic trash out near the shore, and don’t flush anything plastic down the toilet. You otherwise risk having your unwanted plastic junk (like cotton buds) ending up eaten by sea creatures that will probably die.

If you have slightly greater ambitions than not littering the sea with plastic goods, then by all means come to Torry Battery and look for marine life. Nine times out of ten, you’ll find something to see.

As our talk came to an end, the dolphins reappeared almost on cue. Many people had been surprised to know whales could be spotted, and many people planned to head back to Torry soon. I had been asking a family (originally from New York) for some comments on the morning’s activity.
The re-appearance of the dolphins left Iona and her brother little left to say except ‘did you see that one?’ ‘Amazing!’ and ‘Look there they are again!’

Things to do further afield

Visit Fowlesheugh RSPB site, south of Stonehaven. The quantity of birdlife (c. April to July) is astonishing.
Go watch the incoming, dramatic goose migration at Strathbeg
Join a beach litter clean-up. There is an upcoming event tomorrow – Don Mouth at 10am – and one in early December. Further information from Techfest offices – http://www.techfestsetpoint.org.uk/tis/
Consider joining a Norcet as ‘Citizen Scientist’ marine life observer – get a free trip to the Shetland Islands and help watch sea life at the same time – details on this opportunity and a host of other marine life issues and events from http://www.egcp.org.uk/
Are you a jet skier? Then please stay away from the dolphins! It’s the law: the dolphins cannot hear you until it’s too late, and they can’t get out of your way quickly. Thanks.