Boddam, Aberdeenshire
Encyclopedia
Boddam is a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
. It is 29 miles (46.7 km) north of Aberdeen
and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Peterhead
. Sea cliffs rise to 200 feet (61 m), south of the village: a coastal path leads along these to the Bullers of Buchan
.
The adjoining settlement, on the Aberdeen to Peterhead road, was for many years known simply as Stirling: in 2004, it was renamed Stirling Village, to avoid confusion with the newly-granted city of Stirling
.
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The area around the headland of Buchan Ness was for many centuries the point from which trading and whaling
voyages departed across open ocean, bound for Archangel
, Greenland
and Spitsbergen
amongst other destinations.
Over time, many vessels had been run aground in poor weather and in 1819 petitions were sent to the Northern Lighthouse Board
to erect a lighthouse in the vicinity. As Engineer to the board, Robert Stevenson
decided upon the present location; the granite-built construction being completed in 1825 and the light established in 1827.
The red band was painted in 1907 to help passing ships determine their location and for many years a foghorn (locally known as the Boddam Coo or also as the Boddam Bear, prior to reequipping in 1978) was installed, this being officially turned off in 2000.
The lighthouse is 118 ft (36 m) high, flashing a white light every 5 seconds which with the current lamp is visible for 28 nautical miles (51.9 km).
Quarrying and crafting of high-quality "Peterhead granite"
from Stirlinghill above Boddam developed on a commercial scale during the 18th and 19th centuries, being used not only locally but further afield in many public, private and church buildings.
Examples from London include extensive use in Australia House, the former Stock Exchange
building, India Office
, Covent Garden
, the Carlton Club
and the original fountains in Trafalgar Square
designed by Charles Barry
and built by McDonald & Leslie, Aberdeen
(one of which is now in Confederation Park
, Ottawa and the other in the Wascana Centre
, Regina
, Saskatchewan
following remodelling in 1939).
The quarry officially closed on 16 June 1956, due to inability to compete on an economic basis for bulk construction requirements, rather than the more traditional architectural usages for which it had become so well known in the 19th century.
in 1862, it was not until August 1897 when a branch from Ellon
to Boddam via Cruden Bay
was constructed by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company
.
The success of the line for both Boddam and Cruden Bay was, however, short-lived and the line was closed to passengers during the Great Depression
in 1932; Boddam Station finally being closed to all traffic in 1945.
Prior to the arrival of the branch from Ellon, the Government had constructed a line covering the two and a half miles between Peterhead prison and the Stirlinghill quarries in order to obtain granite for construction of the breakwater across Peterhead Bay. At the time, prior to the creation of British Railways in 1948, this was the only state-owned railway in the United Kingdom
.
Following the opening of the nearby radar station at RAF Buchan
in 1952, a domestic camp was opened on the site of the former railway terminus
, but as of 2005 this has also closed; the site being sold to a private company.
(generating capacity: 2,390MW, limited to 1,550MW) on which construction commenced in May 1973, being brought into operation in 1980. Originally intended as a gas-powered station, it was later converted to burn gas or oil and is currently powered by the entire gas supply of the Miller Field.
Sea bass
may be caught in the vicinity of the warm water outlets, to which they are attracted.
Today, Boddam serves largely as a commuter settlement for Aberdeen and Peterhead although an involvement in the fishing industry still continues on a small scale, in particular for lobster.
Despite Boddam and Stirling Village possessing three hotels or inns, tourism in the area is at a low level.
The remains of Boddam Castle lie in a ruinous state, although Earl's Lodge which had previously been gutted in a fire was repaired as a private home in 2006. Information boards for the castle have recently been erected and Clan Keith
reunions from America have been invited to visit whilst in the area.
The village has yet retained public facilities such a Post Office, 2 Hotels and an Inn, a Library, Fish and Chip Shop, 1 local shop, 2 Car Garages, a Public Hall and a local Primary School.
An innovative carbon capture scheme at the power station which had previous been shelved was brought back onto the agenda in late 2007 with the hope of new jobs for the local populace.
The recently renamed "Noose and Monkey" pub in Aberdeen recalls this event rather than the infamous monkey-hanging
stated to have occurred in Hartlepool
during the Napoleonic Wars
. Indeed, Fiona-Jane Brown of the University of Aberdeen
, has suggested that the Hartlepool tale actually originates from an event in Boddam in 1772. She claims that a popular song about the Boddam incident was adapted over many years as it travelled down the east coast, eventually spawning a Hartlepool version.
The song relating to the latter dates no earlier than the 1850s, from famous Geordie comic singer Ned Corvan who had toured the Scottish Lowlands
and may have used the Boddam tale as his basis, perhaps influenced by the intense rivalry between Hartlepool and Old Hartlepool
, at the time a separate settlement, to deride the latter.
Indeed, Boddamers for many years after the event were often (and sometimes still are) taunted by the cry "Fa hangit the monkey?!" ("Who hanged the monkey?") from residents of Peterhead.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is 29 miles (46.7 km) north of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Peterhead
Peterhead
Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement , with a population of 17,947 at the 2001 Census and estimated to have fallen to 17,330 by 2006....
. Sea cliffs rise to 200 feet (61 m), south of the village: a coastal path leads along these to the Bullers of Buchan
Bullers of Buchan
The name Bullers of Buchan refers both to a collapsed sea cave and to the adjacent village, situated about south of Peterhead in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.- Cave :...
.
The adjoining settlement, on the Aberdeen to Peterhead road, was for many years known simply as Stirling: in 2004, it was renamed Stirling Village, to avoid confusion with the newly-granted city of Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
.
Buchan Ness lighthouse
History of whaling
The history of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986....
voyages departed across open ocean, bound for Archangel
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
amongst other destinations.
Over time, many vessels had been run aground in poor weather and in 1819 petitions were sent to the Northern Lighthouse Board
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
to erect a lighthouse in the vicinity. As Engineer to the board, Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)
Robert Stevenson FRSE MInstCE FSAS MWS FGS FRAS FSA was a Scottish civil engineer and famed designer and builder of lighthouses.One of his finest achievements was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.-Early life:...
decided upon the present location; the granite-built construction being completed in 1825 and the light established in 1827.
The red band was painted in 1907 to help passing ships determine their location and for many years a foghorn (locally known as the Boddam Coo or also as the Boddam Bear, prior to reequipping in 1978) was installed, this being officially turned off in 2000.
The lighthouse is 118 ft (36 m) high, flashing a white light every 5 seconds which with the current lamp is visible for 28 nautical miles (51.9 km).
Peterhead granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
from Stirlinghill above Boddam developed on a commercial scale during the 18th and 19th centuries, being used not only locally but further afield in many public, private and church buildings.
Examples from London include extensive use in Australia House, the former Stock Exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
building, India Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, the Carlton Club
Carlton Club
The Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London which describes itself as the "oldest, most elite, and most important of all Conservative clubs." Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.-History:...
and the original fountains in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
designed by Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
and built by McDonald & Leslie, Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
(one of which is now in Confederation Park
Confederation Park
Confederation Park is a park in downtown Ottawa and a National Historic Site of Canada. It is bordered on the south by Laurier Avenue and Ottawa City Hall; on the east by the Rideau Canal; on the north by the Mackenzie King Bridge, the Rideau Centre and the National Arts Centre; and, to the west,...
, Ottawa and the other in the Wascana Centre
Wascana Centre
Wascana Centre is a 9.3 square kilometre park built around Wascana Lake in Regina, Saskatchewan. It brings together lands and buildings owned by the City of Regina, University of Regina, and Province of Saskatchewan, each of which is represented on the board of directors, and contains government,...
, Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
following remodelling in 1939).
The quarry officially closed on 16 June 1956, due to inability to compete on an economic basis for bulk construction requirements, rather than the more traditional architectural usages for which it had become so well known in the 19th century.
Arrival of the railway
Although the railway reached Peterhead via MaudMaud
As a feminine given name:As a placename:* Queen Maud Land , an area of 2.5 million square kilometers claimed by Norway in 1938* Queen Maud Gulf, Nunavut, Canada* Maud Island, the second largest island in the Marlborough Sounds* Maud, Aberdeenshire, a small town in the Buchan area of the county of...
in 1862, it was not until August 1897 when a branch from Ellon
Ellon, Aberdeenshire
Ellon is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the Eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine...
to Boddam via Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden in Aberdeenshire, 26 miles north of Aberdeen.Just south of Slains Castle, Cruden Bay was the site of a battle between Danes and Scots under King Malcolm II in 1012...
was constructed by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company
Great North of Scotland Railway
The Great North of Scotland Railway was one of the smaller Scottish railways before the grouping, operating in the far north-east of the country. It was formed in 1845 and received its Parliamentary approval on June 26, 1846, following over two years of local meetings...
.
The success of the line for both Boddam and Cruden Bay was, however, short-lived and the line was closed to passengers during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1932; Boddam Station finally being closed to all traffic in 1945.
Prior to the arrival of the branch from Ellon, the Government had constructed a line covering the two and a half miles between Peterhead prison and the Stirlinghill quarries in order to obtain granite for construction of the breakwater across Peterhead Bay. At the time, prior to the creation of British Railways in 1948, this was the only state-owned railway in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
RAF Buchan
RAF Buchan
RAF Buchan is a Royal Air Force station near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. It has been there since 1952, although the domestic site in Boddam is now closed. Until 2005 it was also home of one of the two Control and Reporting Centres for the United Kingdom in the form of an impressive two story...
in 1952, a domestic camp was opened on the site of the former railway terminus
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
, but as of 2005 this has also closed; the site being sold to a private company.
Peterhead power station
Adjacent to the north side of the village is Peterhead power stationPeterhead power station
Peterhead power station is a multi unit owned and operated by Scottish and Southern Energy near Boddam and the A90, just south of Peterhead, in Aberdeenshire in the north east of Scotland.-Oil fired power station:...
(generating capacity: 2,390MW, limited to 1,550MW) on which construction commenced in May 1973, being brought into operation in 1980. Originally intended as a gas-powered station, it was later converted to burn gas or oil and is currently powered by the entire gas supply of the Miller Field.
Sea bass
European seabass
The European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, also known as Morone labrax, is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh waters. It is also known as the sea dace...
may be caught in the vicinity of the warm water outlets, to which they are attracted.
Present day
Despite Boddam and Stirling Village possessing three hotels or inns, tourism in the area is at a low level.
The remains of Boddam Castle lie in a ruinous state, although Earl's Lodge which had previously been gutted in a fire was repaired as a private home in 2006. Information boards for the castle have recently been erected and Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith is a Scottish clan associated with Aberdeenshire and Caithness.-Origins:It is said that a Scottish warrior slew the Danish General Camus at the legendary Battle of Barrie in 1010. For this, King Máel Coluim II of Scotland dipped three fingers into the blood of the slain and drew them...
reunions from America have been invited to visit whilst in the area.
The village has yet retained public facilities such a Post Office, 2 Hotels and an Inn, a Library, Fish and Chip Shop, 1 local shop, 2 Car Garages, a Public Hall and a local Primary School.
An innovative carbon capture scheme at the power station which had previous been shelved was brought back onto the agenda in late 2007 with the hope of new jobs for the local populace.
Monkey
A traditional song relates how a monkey was the only survivor from a local shipwreck and thus the villagers of Boddam could not claim salvage rights as those only applied when all had perished. One version of the first verse thus relates,- A ship went out along the coast,
- And all the men on board were lost,
- Except the monkey, who climbed the mast,
- And the Boddamers hinged the monkey O!
-
-
-
- - Traditional
-
-
-
The recently renamed "Noose and Monkey" pub in Aberdeen recalls this event rather than the infamous monkey-hanging
Monkey hanger
"Monkey hanger" is an affectionate term by which Hartlepudlians are often known.According to local folklore, the term originates from an incident in which a monkey was hanged in Hartlepool. During the Napoleonic wars, a French ship of the type chasse marée was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool...
stated to have occurred in Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Indeed, Fiona-Jane Brown of the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, has suggested that the Hartlepool tale actually originates from an event in Boddam in 1772. She claims that a popular song about the Boddam incident was adapted over many years as it travelled down the east coast, eventually spawning a Hartlepool version.
The song relating to the latter dates no earlier than the 1850s, from famous Geordie comic singer Ned Corvan who had toured the Scottish Lowlands
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
and may have used the Boddam tale as his basis, perhaps influenced by the intense rivalry between Hartlepool and Old Hartlepool
West Hartlepool
This article refers to the place; for the Rugby Football Club see West Hartlepool R.F.C.West Hartlepool refers to the western part of the what has since the 1960s been known as the borough of Hartlepool in North East England...
, at the time a separate settlement, to deride the latter.
Indeed, Boddamers for many years after the event were often (and sometimes still are) taunted by the cry "Fa hangit the monkey?!" ("Who hanged the monkey?") from residents of Peterhead.