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| The Esplanade looking west towards the harbour and 'Golden Horn' lighthouse |
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| Looking East over the Esplanade from the South Links, the road follows line of the railway |
After skirting the South Links for 0.25 miles east of the site of Fraserburgh railway station the Formartine and Buchan Way crosses South Harbour Road to join the Esplanade. There are views to the east along the beach towards the Waters of Philorth and Cairnbulg Point where the wreck of the Banff registered Sovereign, which went aground on 18th December 2005, can usually be seen. The actual course of the Line is now under the South Harbour Road but may be picked up again close to the children's play area.
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| The Golden Horn on a calm day |
The lighthouse at
the end of the Balaclava Pier has, in recent years, become known as 'The Golden Horn', possibly because of the
golden glow it takes on in certain lights. The lighthouse was erected when the Balaclava Pier was extended.
The original section of this pier, at
first known as the New North Pier, was completed in 1856 or 1857 during the Crimean War and swiftly
renamed to commemorate the Battle
of Balaclava. The lighthouse stands 22 metres above high water mark.
The extension to the Balaclava Pier was one of the first major marine
structures in the country to be built entirely of concrete. Unfortunately, since the
proportions of sand and stone to cement in the concrete were
miscalculated, the structure eroded very
quickly and had to be extensively repaired within a relatively short time.
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| Battered by the storm, December 2012 Coinciding with high tides and described as the 'perfect storm' by the Meteorological Office, this storm damaged the breakwater by the lighthouse. Grey Granite would be pleased to hear from anyone who knows how the tag 'Golden Horn' arose. |
One of the old fishermen at the Mission where I go for coffee sometimes said it was from someone who returned from South Africa.? The sunlight shining on it also whether that was what this returning person saw and hence the link to SA, Iam not sure. Did you notice on your walk, that the wreck at Cairnbulg was shifted quite some way during the storm, it is now to the left of the beacon not the right and a lot of its top bits have gone. Amazing after all these years of being in the same place!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this info Jill.
ReplyDeleteI must try to get into cafe Connect next week to see your exhibition.