Railway ballast from the Haughs of Rora

Bridge at over the Line at Strawberry bank. The trees in the distance are on the banks of the Ugie where a viaduct carries the Line across the river.

In 1861, when the line from Peterhead to Mintlaw was under construction, GNSR bought 6 acres of land on what is now Strawberry Bank but was then, more prosaically, Brick Croft, part of the Pitfour Estate. The land was used to extract sand and gravel to provide ballast for the railway.    Land in the vicinity has since yielded thousands of tons of sand gravel and aggregate. Extraction still continues and has been used for a wide range of projects ranging from the construction of the foundations of Peterhead Power Station, and St Fergus Gas terminal to footpaths in the gardens of Balmoral and Birkhall. Following extraction each area has been returned to agricultural use although the topography has considerably altered by the process. 

The Ugie from the viaduct, sand extraction continuing in the haugh.