Author : Brian H Watt ISBN : 9781840333091 Cover : paperback Price : £7.99
The village of Newtonhill grew out of an adjacent fishing community called Skateraw, and when steam trawlers from Aberdeen made sail-powered fishing boats redundant in the 1880s, the old cottages of Skateraw were taken over by commuters and also began to be used as holiday homes. Newtonhill grew up around the station and provided the village's new name. Muchalls, too, owes its origins to a village of another name which it eventually superseded, this time called Stranathro. Once renowned for its insanitary conditions, Stranathro was rebuilt as a model village in the 1850s, probably changing its name to Muchalls around the same time. Both Newtonhill and Muchalls are illustrated with a wide range of pictures that include local fishermen at work, the area's watermills, a wrecked schooner, the Marine Hotel in its heyday, and even 'Nippie' Middleton, an Edwardian cave-dweller. Two poems by Andrew Christie recall many local people and numerous long-lost traditions and events associated with both villages.
