1894/95 Collieston Pier under construction and fishermen drying nets at Cransdale.

At one time there were two entrances to the natural harbour at Collieston, the North Haven and the South Haven.  In order for a harbour of refuge to be built, one of the entrances would have to be blocked and there was a marked difference of opinion among the fishermen as to which one should be blocked and which one retained.

The story goes that the strong opinions held by some members of the community were based on personal convenience rather than on sound scientific knowledge. The fishermen from the south side of the village reportedly said that the reason the fishermen from the north wanted the North Haven blocked off was so that they could ‘dander doon tae their yawls in their carpet slippers!’ After much deliberation by the fishermen, a vote was taken.  When the result was announced it came as no surprise that there was a 50-50 split, therefore it was left to the chairman, Rev George Greig of Slains Kirk, to make the final decision.   After consulting with the engineer, Mr A C Melville, Rev Greig cast the deciding vote in favour of blocking the North Haven.   The total cost of the project was £6,040, based on plans drawn up by Mr Melville. The Fishery Board agreed to donate £4,440 to the project and the remainder, an impressive sum of £1,600, was raised by the fishing community itself. Lady Gordon Cathcart of Cluny Castle laid the foundation stone of Collieston Pier on 17th October 1894 and, following the official ceremony, great celebrations were held in the village.

However, despite the original enthusiasm and optimism of the fishing community, it soon became apparent that the decision to block the North Haven had been a mistake.   As some of the older fishermen had rightly predicted, the old enemy, sand from Aberdeen Bay, soon began to accumulate in the basin and, because of the prohibitive cost of regular dredging, the harbour was unable to accommodate the bigger boats. Fishermen, particularly those with young families, began to leave the village to join big boats working from Torry in Aberdeen, with the result that soon there weren’t enough able-bodied men left in Collieston to help haul the few remaining boats onto the increasingly sandy beach.  In fact, by 1900, only a few years after the construction of the Pier, the fishing industry in Collieston was in such decline, that only 16 of the original 50 working boats remained. 

The sight of fishermen drying their nets at Cransdale, so evocatively captured in the photograph, soon became a thing of the past.

If you have any further information or wish to have any of your photos featured please e-mail colliestononline@yahoo.co.uk