The Howe O Buchan to Peterhead

From the Howe O’ Buchan crossing towards Peterhead the Line suddenly deteriorates to become an urban footpath overshadowed Peterhead’s westward expansion. Although pleasantly landscaped, bright with springtime daffodils and planted with alders, sycamores and the occasional horse chestnut there is little to see beyond the surrounding buildings.

 The present mansion of Howe O’ Buchan was built around 1840-5 but has the date stone of the earlier house behind it, inscribed A S W J S 1711, above the front door. The house contains a sculptured panel and bannisters which originated in Brucklay Castle.

By 1853 Howe o Buchan was the home of Thomas Walker, one of four brothers whose family had originated at Waulkmill and Bankhead in New Aberdour who between them owned the neighbouring  estates of Richmond, Balmore, Grange, and Howe O’ Buchan. When the railway station opened in Peterhead the water needed for the engines was pumped from Howe O’ Buchan.

Snowdrops at the Howe O' Buchan

 The Howe O Buchan crossing

Daffodils making a brave effort towards relieving the urban dullness

Meethill Reform Tower, seen from Station Road

The Reform Tower was built in 1832, on the site of a prehistoric burial cist, by the local Whig (now Liberal) Party to celebrate the introduction of the Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832. The Reform Act made Peterhead a Parliamentary Burgh and gave all male householders whose property had an annual value of £10 or more the right to vote.  The 5 storey granite tower, in plan a Greek cross, was originally intended to be an observatory, according to local tradition a child met his death by falling from the tower which once provided a hiding place for an escaped prisoner.

The Peterhead Tories also constructed a monument to commemorate the Reform Bill, situated in Broad Street, this is a single column on a granite base surmounted by four square panels bearing Latin inscriptions, the plant badges of Scotland, Ireland nations, and the arms of the Earl Marischal - removed from Inverugie Castle by Captain Ferguson of Pitfour, in turn topped by a Lion Rampant, in gold rather than red, so that it   symbolises a united Great Britain.

 The path ends ignominiously on a large carpark behind Peterhead Academy and Community Centre, the one concession to its former status as a railway line being the bollards at the crossing with York Street which resemble sleepers.

The former station site

Victorian confidence and style and 21st century utilitarianism on the Links

The east end of the Fraserburgh Links, the engine shed which is all that remains of Fraserburgh railway station is just below the South Church, the edge of the Links was truncated and the ground levelled to allow for the building of the railway.

Victorian confidence and prosperity are expressed in the South Church with its elegant steeple, the splendidly baronial Dalrymple Hall and in the distance to the right the stubby point of the Old Parish Church steeple and the Town House rotunda. All in stark contrast with the modern Walking Way sculpture and alas, the rubbish bins on the Leisure Centre carpark

The railway is now celebrated by ‘The Walking Way’, prominent sculpture of steel girders and oak beams which attracts attention to a white concrete pathway on the seaward side of the Links .The shapes of the sculpture and pathway, which leads from the Leisure Centre car park to the crossing with South Harbour Road, were inspired by the railway which ran directly below the installation. This is the work of sculptural artist Jane Kelly and was put in place in the summer of 2007.

Vast crowds of excited people from Fraserburgh and the surrounding villages congregated on the Links on 22nd April 1865 when the first train steamed in to Fraserburgh Station. For almost everyone in the crowd this was the first time they had seen a steam locomotive and many were too apprehensive about the possibility of  'the train taking it into its head to try some gymnastics on the Links' (Cranna) to stand too close to the railway line. Evidently it was a common misconception that railway accidents occurred so frequently that it would be foolhardy to approach too closely.  Monday 24th August was a public holiday in Fraserburgh and hundreds of people overcame their fears enough to buy cheap tickets for the special excursion trains to Aberdeen and intermediate stations.

The Links were the scene of an extraordinary spectacle in August 1904 when Buffalo Bill (Colonel Wild Bill Codey) and his Indian Braves brought an extraordinary extravaganza involving 500 horses and over 800 people, including  Annie Oakley and an  enormous staging  like a wild west film set, to the North-east. It is estimated that over 19,000 spectators watched the spectacle in Fraserburgh alone. The company was transported to Fraserburgh in 3 special trains consisting of 49 wagons specially adapted to carry the livestock, which included elephants, the set and circus performers.