Strichen Viaduct to Howford: A Spring walk.

Crossing the viaduct at Strichen, Grey Granite was attracted by the abundance of wild flowers, wood anemones and celandines in particular, growing on the banks of the Ugie below the viaduct and went down to explore. A clearly marked footpath, reached from close to the road bridge over the Ugie, leads along the bank of the Ugie emerging at Howford Farm from where, by turning left along the farm road, the Line may easily be rejoined east of Strichen Station. Grey Granite walked back along the Line to the viaduct in bright spring sunshine.

The piers of the bridge have been colonised by grasses, dandelions and a small elder sapling. The tranquil area alongside the river is secluded and sheltered from the road above by a steep bank and trees - willow, ash, elm and beech. It can be quite wet and boggy but makes a delightful walk particularly in spring when there are often mallards on the river.

  Dense clumps of wood anemones and celandines line the banks of the Ugie

Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) a delicate white flower with a blush of pink on the underside of the petals,  also known as Wind Flower.

Howford Farm (The French Farm) seen from the Line. The track along the Ugie emerges close to the humped backed Howford Bridge (1777)  which carried the old coach road over the river just below the farm.

A replica of the original station sign has appeared on the platform at the east end of Strichen station.

The viaduct looking back towards Strichen Station. The beech, willows, sycamore and  birch trees along the Line are developing a feint haze of new green leaves, whilst ash flowers, 'delicate as flowers of grass' are also starting to open.



On a sunny embankment close to Strichen Station these, the first violets of the year, were emerging from the dry undergrowth.

Mormond Hill from the kirkyard which is to the south  of the Line just beyond the viaduct.

'Strichen which is without exception, the most attractive and picturesque spot on the whole line. Lying in a snug little valley, with the towering crest of Mormond on the one side, the limpid waters of the Ugie on the other, and embowered among trees - Strichen is, without doubt, one of the prettiest little villages in Buchan.'

From 'The Howes of Buchan' William Anderson 1865

Anderson's guide to places of interest along the route of the Buchan Railway  exaggerates the grandeur of Mormond Hill but during today's walk along  the short section of Line skirting the village Strichen lived up to his description.

Strichen Toll House

Strichen Toll House on the B9093, the old turnpike road, seen from the point where the entrance to the Aberdeenshire Council Depot crosses the Line.

Following the Turnpike Act of 1795,  local Turnpike Trusts, consisting of landowners and burghers whose estates exceeded £400 Scots,  were able to apply for an Act of Parliament empowering them to build roads, in some cases, by raising statute labour and to levy tolls to pay for their construction and maintenance.  

The Turnpike Act stipulated that the roads had to be built and maintained to a high standard, in Aberdeenshire  the average cost of turnpike roads was £350 per mile. The Trustees, usually the landowners through whose estates the road was to pass, borrowed capital to build the road then recovered  the cost by renting out the right to collect tolls. Toll houses  were built every six miles.  These were usually two roomed cottages, often with a rounded or semi-hexagonal gable end to allow the toll keeper to see travellers approaching from both directions. Outside the toll house a barrier with a counter balanced bar (the 'turnpike')blocked the road until the toll had been paid. Charges varied from locality to locality and with the type of traffic using the road, vehicles were charged according to the number of horses pulling them. 

 

The completion of  the railway in 1865 drastically reduced the amount of road traffic and sounded the death knell of toll keeping and in 1866 all toll bars were removed from Aberdeenshire roads.

Strichen viaduct to the B9093: The French Farm

Grey Granite walked along the Line from Strichen viaduct to the B9093 where she turned off to Howford Farm, 'The French Farm'. There is a pleasant walk along the bank of the Ugie back to Strichen from the farm. Alternatively one may cross the bridge below the farm and follow the old Peterhead to Banff coach road up to the Skillymarno Road, returning to Strichen via the kirkyard. MacFarlane writing in 1723 (Description of the Parish of Strichen) mentions that there was a bridge 'for those on foot only at Howfoord,  (sic) where there was also a ford'.The existing bridge was constructed in 1777. 



Cherry blossom at Strichen Station

The wet area of ground under the viaduct, close to the Ugie, has huge patches of exquisite wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa)

There is a large patch of snake's heads (Fritillaria meleagris) by the  large pond under the viaduct. These have almost certainly  been planted

There are currently many violets in flower along this section of Line

Howford, seen from the Line.

The rather imposing new house behind the trees on the left of the picture replaced  the original  early 19th century farmhouse, built  for Louis Servan, a French emigre.   This building, seen to the  right of the silage tower, is now a much decayed  ruin, used as a store but  still showing its former elegance.  Its rounded corners, arched windows, tiny pavilions and back courtyard are in complete contrast to  the traditional foursquare granite farmhouses of Buchan.

Little definite is known of Louis Servan, beyond that he died in 1834 , is buried in the old Strichen Parish Church kirkyard and married twice. His first wife, Mary Black died on 8th March 1814, Servan died,aged 80,  on 8th December 1834 at Howford and was survived by his second wife, Mary Keith.

Mrs C.J.  Thomson, in her memoir of Strichen in the 19th century,  'Around the White Horse' mentions an old Frenchman, Louis Survanne (sic) whose politics were of the Ancien Regime. Dr Gavin, Mrs Thomson's  father introduced Servan to a visiting Prussian who firstly   affected to be  a Republican and had a violent disagreement  with Servan. The Prussian then reappeared disguised as his own brother  and had another long political discussion this time  agreeing with Servan. This incident had a profoundly disturbing effect on Servan who had to be escorted home and died shortly afterwards. This suggests that Servan may have fled France during the Revolution  (1789-1799).  However, Jean Scott, niece of Lorna Moon (Nora Low) in a 1948 broadcast for the  BBC French Service, quotes, but gives little credence to, the legend  that Servan helped  the Laird of Strichen escape from a band of French soldiers, members of Napoleon's Army, against whom he was fighting in Spain. According to this particular version of events the laird, his henchman having been killed,  surrendered to the French in order to avoid capture then persuaded Servan to help him escape. As a reward for his help the Laird promised the impoverished Servan a house and land back in Strichen. On their safe return  laird built the 'French House' for Servan and according to the story it was in honour of his escape from Spain that the white horse on Mormond Hill was constructed. Coincidentally Jean Scott was a member of the French Resistance in World War 2.

Strichen Town House

At the edge of Strichen a viaduct carries the Line over the River Ugie and gives an excellent view over the village roof tops. The prominent embattled tower and spire belong to the Town House

The town hall building was gifted to the community by Mr Fraser of Strichen House in 1816, around the time he came of age  and succeeded to estates in Inverness and Ross-shire. McKean (Banff and Buchan, an Architectural Guide, 1990) describes the tower and spire as being of 16th century Scots Tollbooth inspiration, whilst the adjoining hall block is classical. Originally the hall had an open arcade on the ground floor which was used as a covered market. The steeple contained a bell. Mrs C. Thomson,( 'Around the White Horse'), records that prior to the steeple being fitted the inhabitants of Strichen were woken at 5 each morning by the Town Crier sounding a drum or, in foul weather, a horn. Once the Town Hall bell was operational the day began an hour later.The bell became the signal for the Town Crier, resplendent in his uniform, a red coat with blue piping, to begin his rounds announcing events of local importance such as the availability of a cart of fresh herring at the Town House or that an ox or sheep had been killed. For a time during the late 19th century a female school was held in the lower part of the building.

The plainer spire of the former Free Kirk, (1893) now the parish church,  at the far side of the village may also be seen from the viaduct.

Around the White Horse

Holmwood House

Grey Granite has been reading, 'Around the White Horse', the memoirs of Mrs C.J.Thomson, Miss Charlotte Jane Gavin of Holmwood House, Strichen. The original was written in 1888, just 23 years after the railway arrived in Strichen and  is a fascinating account of village life .Born in 1811, Miss Gavin was the sixth daughter of Dr Alexander Gavin of Strichen. In addition to his six daughters Dr Alexander had five sons, all the children were regarded as being well educated, the girls first by a governess, then when they were older, at a school in Aberdeen. The boys all attended the parish school until they were thirteen when they went to University in Aberdeen. The family was considered to be part of Strichen 'society' .

Today the front garden of Holmwood is carpeted in crocus and snowdrops, poultry roams the garden.

Miss Gavin describes the benefits of the railway to the community, 'This pleasant view (to the West of the town) down the valley of the Ugie is cut off now by the railway embankment, built in 1865, but in exchange for the amenity of  a pleasant prospect, there are the practical advantages of easy ingress and egress to and from the village with facilities for traffic which largely promote the prosperity of the people.



There are two banks in the village and a monthly market. The railway does good service on these occasions, bringing the country folk by noon and carrying them off again to their homes by four o'clock p.m.; so that scenes of drunkenness a thing of the past; all is quiet before evening as if no market had been.'

Miss Gavin records that when Captain Fraser of Strichen House returned from the travels of his youth he married a French wife, Miss Leslie of Bohine, a Roman Catholic. Although  a Protestant himself, 'he endowed the Roman Catholic Church with a nice house for the priest and several acres of land as a glebe'. This house, on Brewery Road, built in 1751, is now known as  'The Cloisters' and is just visible from the Line.

The Cloisters glimpsed from the Line. The building on the left was a originally a chapel.

The ruins of the chapel for Strichen House, seen from the Line opposite Borrohill Wood

 

Strichen to Maud -Part 1

This marker is alongside the track (right going towards Maud) just before the bridge near Viewbank. We presume it indicates the distance, in miles, to Aberdeen,  the circles representing quarter miles. We have so far been unable to locate further signs.

'The Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 required that the railway companies provide markers at quarter mile intervals along the track side. Section 94 of the Act read:



"The company shall cause the length of the railway to be measured, and milestones, posts, or other conspicuous objects to be set up and maintained along the whole line thereof, at the distance of one quarter of a mile from each other, with numbers or marks inscribed thereon denoting such distances."


One reason for compelling the railway companies to have mileposts installed was that it allowed passengers to verify that they had been charged an appropriate fare for the length of their journey.'  http://www.railsigns.co.uk/

Also on the right along this section of line is this hut constructed, apart from the roof and chimney,  entirely of sleepers. This attractive cast iron bridge parapet carries the line over the road to Strichen Mains.

Just before the bridge there are good views (to the left) of the ruins of Strichen House and the unfortunate corrugated iron agricultural extension.

Botanically this is a rewarding section. Close to Strichen wild strawberries, (Fragaria vesca) (pictured below) and wood avens line the track. there are beautiful bushes of white and pink dog roses, broom and gorse. 

In the same area there is also an abundance of Sweet Cicely (myrrhis odorata). For Grey Granite this plant always evokes Flora Garry's eponymous poem, a great favourite of her friend Eva who spent her childhood in Strichen during the 1920's

' We ca'ad it myrrh. It cam at the bare time

O langblae licht an broon new shaaven ley, 

Skwylin teuchart, reek o  burnin grouth, 

The caal Gab o Mey' 

By the first cutting this vegetation is replaced by predominantly rosebay willow herb, nettles, ferns  and brambles. There is an ivy covered road bridge over the line near ViewBank.

Trees along this section include the occasional Scots pine, beech, ash, mountain ash, sycamore, silver birch, willows and two or three hazels.

Grey Granite was plesaed to see a ringlet butterfly during her walk today.