Mormond Station and a New Leeds rags to riches story

Grey Granite set off from Mormond Station to check that New Leeds is visible from the Line and in doing so found an attractive circular walk of about 3 miles along the Line and pleasant country lanes and tracks.

From Mormond Station walk towards Strichen for about a mile, New Leeds can be seen to the south as one walks beyond the belt of trees near West Cockmuir. Just beyond  a series of marshy ponds a sign on the embankment indicates a clear foot path leading across fields to Smiddyhill. Turn left when reaching the New Leeds to Strichen road, New Leeds and the  A952 are ahead, three wind turbines near West Cockmuir form prominent landmarks.   After about a mile look out for the sign to North Redbog and walk down a hedged farm road, continue beyond the farm along a track  towards the turbines. The road leading down to Mormond Station is a short distance to the left once the tarred road is reached.

Bridge over the Line near Mormond Station

Centaurea Macrocephela

A bee enjoying foraging on this eye catching giant yellow thistle like plant, growing in the station garden, gives some idea of the size of the flowers. Commonly known as Armenian Basket plant this member of the knapweed family is a native of the Caucasus Region. It has been grown in  the UK since 1805 and is not thought to be an invasive species here threat but is so rampant in some USA states that it is illegal to cultivate the plant.

Looking back towards the Line from the track leading to Smiddyhill

The Line is marked by the hedge in the middle distance, Mormond Hill beyond that.

In his essay 'The Last Journey', David Toulmin describes the struggle single engines had hauling long goods trains heavy with fish, potatoes or grain along this section of the Line as being:  'a sair trauchle on the gradients, and round the base of Mormond Hill the local folk swore the engine was alive and complaining sorely of its tormentors. Approaching the hill the engine would puff slower and slower as if in apprehension of its task, the smoke from the lum would get thicker and blacker as the fireman shovelled more and more coals into its flaming belly,. 'Wull I m-a-n-a-g-e, W-u-l-l I m-a-n-a-g-e, W-u-l-l I m-a-n-a-g-e, W-u-l-l I m-a-n-a-g-e...' This was the rhythm of the engine on the steepest part of the brae, and to get its vocal effect you must repeat in slow motion. Half way up and  a regaining of confidence brought forth 'I t-h-i-n-k I w-u-l-l, I t-h-i-n-k I wull, I think I wull, I think I wull..' and on reaching the summit the chooking of the engine became an exhilaration as it sped away on level ground with quickening pulse to the tune of   'I ken't I wid, I ken't I wid, I ken't I wid!', this one as fast as your tongue can go.'

New Leeds just glimpsed from the Line beyond a field of ripe oil seed rape. The hamlet, still too small to be called a village, despite the recent addition of several smart bungalows, originated in the 1790s as a futile attempt by  Captain Fraser, son of the founder of Strichen to establish a settlement which would rival Leeds as a centre of the textile industry. This enterprise failed miserably and the settlement failed to flourish. Mormond Station, was a little over a mile away from New Leeds, probably most easily reached by the track taken through North Redbog followed during the course of this walk. New Leeds is of interest chiefly for the unusual church and manse (now a private house) and as the birthplace of James Rollo Duncan.

New Leeds Church and manse

A mission station of the united Associate Presbytery of Stuartfield was established in New Leeds in  1832 and  a church was built the following year.  In  1853 the original church, which eventually became a United Free Church,  was replaced by the present building, an unusual combined church and manse, which in due course became  Church of Scotland and is now a private house. 

The  former Post Office in New Leeds, thought to have been the sweet shop where James Rollo Duncan, born illegitimately on 20 July 1859, was brought up by his mother's sister and her husband. James Rollo Duncan had an extraordinary life. He became apprenticed to a New Leeds stonemason, Charles Penny, before emigrating to Bolivia where he enjoyed endured great hardships including being attacked by indigenous tribesmen and  contracting typhoid fever before he gained enormous success and amassed vast wealth as a tin and silver miner. In Bolivia he met and married (1898) Isabella Lawrie Davidson who was born about 15  miles away from New Leeds at Nethy Kinmundy in Longside. Following the death of her father in an accident at the Cairngall Home Farm steading where he was grieve, Isabella went into service. One of the families for whom she worked as nanny was that of the Strichen banker Mr Philip and when he was appointed as bank agent in Bolivia Isabella accompanied the family. The Isabella and James met two years later in Oruru,  where when she was crossing the muddy the town square, Isabella lost her shoe which James retrieved for her and romance blossomed and they married. The couple returned to Buchan in 1900 and bought the farm of Tillycorthie where they built an extraordinary opulent mansion, one of the first buildings to be constructed from reinforced concrete. Duncan retained his business interests in Bolivia and  the couple returned there frequently. In 1931 they also bought the 1,000 acre Cairngall estate which included the farm where Isabella's father had died.

The group of wind turbines forms a prominent landmark

Fraserburgh South Church, the Moses Stone and Fraserburgh University

Fraserburgh South Church on Seaforth Street with Fraserburgh Leisure Centre in the background.The building with the large blue window was, for a time, the station master's house. The station yard was directly below the kirk.  Contained within the kirk is the extraordinary 'Moses Stone'.

The South Church, originally the South United Free Church, was built,in a towering Germanic Gothic style,  on the site of the old parish school on Seaforth Street and opened for worship in October 1800. The imposing tower is topped by  a spire and houses a clock gifted by George Anderson, Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland.   The Moses stone, thought to be  a relic of Fraserburgh University, was set into the wall above the door of the parish school  then incorporated into the south wall of the South Kirk. In 1969 the stone was re-positioned inside the kirk.

The Moses stone, the sole relic of Fraserburgh University. The stone may have been an altar stone or may have been set into the wall above the main gateway.

Fraserburgh University had a vague and troubled history; there  is disagreement and conjecture as to exactly when it operated and even exactly where it was situated. The most likely location of the ill fated  University was on what is now College Bounds, probably  between  the  vicinity  of the former Alexandra Hotel, now demolished, and the  Barrasgate Road area. This is chiefly on account of sculptured stones, including the 'Moses Stone' depicting  Moses receiving the ten commandments and dated 1613 which are said to have originated in earlier buildings there. 1613, it should be noted ,was the date of Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth's contract with the feuars of the Broch in which a town council and merchant guild were established and rights regarding the holding of markets and annual fairs were given over to the feuars.

The University was founded by charter in 1592,  and financed originally by Lord Saltoun as part of his attempt to assist the  growth  of the town which was considered remote  from places of education. Lord Saltoun's efforts to improve facilities in Fraserburgh incurred huge debts, resulting in his having to sell part of his estate which  in turn reduced the income for the  university. The first, and possibly only,   principal was Charles Ferme,  protestant minister of  Parish Church of Philorth (Fraserburgh).  Ferme arrived in Fraserburgh in 1598 but was soon imprisoned for his involvement in  a series of protests against Episcopacy .  According to Alexander Gordon, his  19th century biographer, Ferme escaped twice  from Doune Castle before being exiled to the Isle of Bute. He then  returned  to Fraserburgh about 1610, dying there   on  24th Sept 1617. It is generally thought  that University  was did not survive Ferme's imprisonment and the  Lord Saltoun's reduced fortunes, closing around 1605. The University  building, described as 3 storey and 'quadrangular', was used to house students and staff of King's College, during 1647 outbreak of plague  in Aberdeen.  

Detail from the Moses stone. The splendidly bearded patriarch Moses is depicted looking heavenwards, presumably on Mount Sinai,  his left hand rests on the tablets which contain the Ten Commandments being handed down to him by God. 

Date stone from the Parish School

When the 'Moses stone was built in to the outside wall of the South Kirk this carved stone was displayed immediately below it.

Fraserburgh West Parish Church and Victoria Street

Victoria Street looking towards the West Parish Church and the Hexagon.The junction with Cross Street (A90) is beyond the line of parked cars on the left, these are parked outside the Bellslea football ground.

Fraserburgh West Parish Church was built 1876, at  a cost of £4,000, and stands on a traffic  island, known locally as The Hexagon, formed by  the junction of several of the principal Victorian streets of  the town. The  kirk's main entrance looks  down Victoria Street towards the sea.

The church was built  during the Victorian expansion of the town and was intended to serve those parishioners of the original Old Parish Church  who had moved out to the new, fashionable and prosperous, expanding district on what was then the edge of the town.  During its construction the church was described as 'among the green fields high on a slope on the edge of the town, a handsome Gothic structure'.

Designed by architects MacGibbon and Ross, and mainly constructed of dark sandstone, the church's  elegant steeple forms  a prominent landmark on the Fraserburgh skyline and is clearly seen from several points as  The  Line approaches  the town.

The Town Council began planning   Victoria Street  in 1857, when the monarch for whom it was named had been on the throne for twenty years. The street  had been laid out  by 1869 when it  appears on the 25" Ordnance  Survey map of Fraserburgh.  However, at this time there were no buildings between Seaforth Street and Cross Street and very few beyond the Cross Street junction. The street was destined to have an imposing church building at each end  and to  become part of a development in which, as  a report of 1875 states, 'numerous improvements have been made in recent times; elegant and comfortable houses have been erected and new streets laid out on  asymmetrical plan.' 

The South Church, built as  a United Free Church a quarter of a century after the West Church,  now occupies the site of the old parish school on Seaforth Street, slightly off set from  the bottom of Victoria Street.