351. Chains

You come across all kinds of interesting things lying around a working harbour.  

350. A splash of yellow

Beautiful daffies at the harbour, planted in an old boat...

...and by zooming out you can see the washing lines I mentioned the other day.

349. Blue, blue sea

Isn't this weather amazing?  I hear it's due to change over the weekend, so let's enjoy it while we can!

Apart from when the haar rolled in, the sea has been this beautiful, deep blue colour all week.  In today's photo you can see the Scurdie Ness lighthouse at Ferryden which was built by the Stevenson brothers and has been guiding sailors since 1870.

348. Empty lines

You'd think that this incredible weather would have lead to a frenzy of washing, but this line by the sea was empty yesterday morning!

This one's on private land, but the washing poles by the harbour are available to rent by folk like me who live in the old houses near the harbour and don't have a garden.  It's quite expensive though, so we just use our attic room and a dehumidifier which works a treat!

347. Buds

Aberdeenshire has been experiencing unseasonal weather with record breaking March temperatures this week and new life is appearing everywhere.  There are adorable lambs in the fields, flowers popping up everywhere and buds on the trees.

It's a shame you can't hear these photos!  There was a woodpecker in a tree nearby and my friend and I stood listening to it for ages.  What an amazing sound!  We did eventually spot it high up in a tree, but I couldn't get close enough for a photo.

346. The future of St David's Chapel

Shortly before I started this blog, the former St David's Chapel (more commonly known in recent years as 'Richard's Shed'!) was destroyed in a devastating fire.  I wrote a little about it on my other blog at the time and this newspaper article tells something of its history.  This is how it looks today with all the charred debris having been cleared.

A planning application has now been submitted for a workshop with living accommodation above.  This unique building in the heart of the village will be subject to very strict conservation regulations, particularly in regard to retaining the gable end with its bell tower.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this piece of village history.

345. Thick haar

The haar rolled in yesterday morning and it became thicker and thicker throughout the day.

Annoyingly, it can be like this in Johnshaven but gloriously sunny a mile inland!

344. Peace and quiet

These photos were taken yesterday beside the horse field. 

It's really quiet along here as it's far from any traffic and there are no big rocks for the sea to crash against.

343. Horses

If you walk the coastal path to the north, towards Gourdon, after about ten minutes you come to the horse field.  There's a high wall around most of the field so the horses don't have much of a sea view!

342. Thursdays

Thursday seems to have become 'Sociable Day' in Johnshaven recently.

As well as the weekly coffee mornings now taking place in the Church Hall, the Anchor Hotel has a regular Thursday Curry Night with a pub quiz.  I'm not sure whether the pub quiz is going to take place every week, but you can keep up to date with what's happening on their Facebook page.

341. Silver railings

I realised that I'd done a posting on the day Johnshaven Stores' new railings were fitted, but I've never shown the finished product.  They are an absolutely amazing sea themed work of art.  We commissioned Jim Shears, a blacksmith in Ladybank, to make them having spotted his work in the Fife Open Studios booklet.

The silver colour is a result of the galvanising process (to protect them from the salty sea air) and will dull over time.  We may paint them at some stage, but it's a very big job and how on earth do we choose a colour?!

340. Birds

Birds gathering under a threatening sky. 

339. Old & new

I know this isn't the most attractive photo or probably the most interesting subject matter, but if this is to be a historical record of the village in 2011/12 I think they should be included!  Work has been going on for some time replacing the lamp posts on New Road (hence the temporary traffic lights in post no.320).

This photo shows the contrast between the old and new and is a reminder of how much the small details can affect the whole appearance of a place.

338. Memorial

Sadly this drinking fountain no longer works.  It is situated next to Kirk Cottage, close to the church.

337. Springtime

The village is looking lovely with all these splashes of yellow brightening the place up!  These daffies are at the back of Golden Acre.

336. Choppy water

This boat was coming in to the harbour as I went for a walk this morning.  The sea was quite choppy and it was bobbing up and down a lot, almost disappearing from view with each wave.
To be honest I felt queasy just watching!

335. Lathallan

Taken from a similar vantage point as yesterday's photo (the raised section of the old railway line) but looking in the opposite direction, this shows the fabulous turrets of the former Brotherton Castle, now Lathallan School.  The foreground shows a small part of the extensive grounds of this private day & boarding school.

334. Bowling green

Here's the bowling green at Waird's Park as seen from a different viewpoint - the raised section of the old railway line.  There's no proper path here and it's very overgrown with jaggy thorns which make it quite difficult to get along in places.  In the summer it's full of very tall nettles and is best avoided!

333. The daffies are out

I'm sure the daffodils are blooming earlier than they did last year.  

These ones provide a lovely splash of colour beside the War Memorial.

332. Tractor

Another gloriously sunny day here today.  This tractor is currently criss crossing the field beside the cemetery.  It's making a lot of jingly noises, so I wondered whether it's picking up stones at the same time as ploughing/ seeding/ whatever tractors do?! 

331. Steep and narrow lanes

This is the point on Main Street (opposite the Masonic Lodge) where the road forks up to Seaview Terrace.

The sign says it all - 'Unsuitable for HGVs'.  Many a time the driver of a lorry has popped in to Johnshaven Stores to ask for advice on how to reach Seaview Terrace without destroying a wall / house in the process!  There are three ways, but they all involve tight turns on narrow roads.

330. Masonic Lodge

This is the Masonic Hall.  I was prompted to include it today having just read this article about Freemasons on the BBC News website.  I had intended to find out a little about its history before including it in the blog, but have never quite got around to it.  (If anyone wants to send me any info I'm happy to alter this post to accommodate it!)

I know very little about Freemasons, but I have to argue with the comment in the article about the non-existence of the famous secret handshake.  A few years ago the Johnshaven Freemasons opened the Masonic Lodge during the Fish Festival so the public could see inside.  A very lovely man shook my hand as  I left, and the experience was quite bizarre - very much as described by someone else in the article.

I do know a bit about the land at the rear of the building, which you can see in the photo below.  In the past it has been used as garden ground and apparently has incredibly fertile soil.  I think I'm right in saying that it is owned by Brotherton Estates, who are currently in discussion with the Community Council about turning this area of unloved and uncared for ground into allotments - a terrific idea!

329. Coffee morning

This morning saw the first coffee morning in what is to become a regular event in the village.  Coffee mornings are to be held every Thursday from 10:00-12:30 in the church hall to raise funds for the newly established Youth Group and Sunday School.


Music was provided by a visiting pianist and there are plans for some form of entertainment each week. Drawing materials are provided to keep young children happy whilst their parents have a blether.


There was an excellent array of home baking to choose from.  I can highly recommend those chocolate cakes on the far right of this photo - deeeelish!

328. Splashy waves

Isn't it lovely when the sun's shining and the waves are rough enough to create a splash against the harbour wall?  This was taken at lunchtime today.

327. Keeping watch

This seagull is perched high on a chimney, keeping an eye on everything that's going on below.

326. The cemetery

The peaceful, walled cemetery overlooks the village and has great views to the sea.  I like to think that the departed are keeping an eye on us, making sure we look after their village.

I find old graveyards fascinating, possibly because my dad often used to take me around them as a child.  We took rubbings and read the inscriptions into a dictating machine to research our family tree.  Dad started his research in his teens and still spends every spare minute on it now (mainly online), at the age of 70!  

Wouldn't it be great if gravestones told you a bit more about the person they commemorate?  Very few tell you much beyond dates of birth, death and sometimes marriage.  There must be countless years of fascinating experience amongst the inhabitants of Johnshaven's graveyard.  Who was a fisherman, a teacher, a tailor, a baker, a grocer, a cobbler, a blacksmith etc?

325. Milne's Wynd

Yesterday a customer asked for directions to a house in Milne's Wynd.  The higgledy piggledy nature of the streets in Johnshaven can make it quite tricky to explain how to find a particular spot (especially if it's Waughton Place which has parts going in all different directions!).
I ended up printing a map off for her (thanks Google).  Hope she found the house!

324. The church

Here's the church and the corner of Apple Cottage as seen from Mid Street.

323. Big shed

This building sits right in the middle of Waughton Place.  It is currently used as a large shed/ garage but looking at the bricked up windows, I assume it has an interesting history.