Aberdeenshire & Moray

Towns & Villages

MACDUFF

With a stunning marine aquarium possessing the deepest tank of any British aquarium, this old village across the bay from Banff was formerly called Doune but was renamed in honour of his father by James McDuff, Earl of Fife, in 1783. Its bustling harbour is replete with lobster pots and fishing nets. A harbour was first built in Macduff in 1760.

The maritime heritage of this region has meant that there has always been a need for  boat-builders and shipyards. However, the decline in the fishing industry has meant that many of these have now gone out of business and few survive.
 

Macduff Harbour - Photo:  Colin Smith CCL
 

Whilst there are still some traditionally-built wooden boats, there are few people left with the skills to work on them.

Macduff Shipyards still provide a maintenance service for wooden fishing boats which are hauled up a slipway from the dock so that they can be worked on as in this photograph taken in 2006.
 

Over the last few years, an annual exhibition has been set up in the area by a  group of volunteers known as the Banffshire Maritime Heritage Association.

For 2006 and 2007, the exhibition is housed at 6 to 8 Duff St, Macduff and runs from June to October 1pm to 5pm ever day except Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7pm to 9pm.

The ultimate goal of the association is to have a permanent exhibition in premises owned by the association. Fund-raising will continue to try to achieve this aim.

During the summer season there will be a variety of slideshows / videos and films available to view, these will generally be of the local fishing heritage, but may also show local attractions such as the beautiful Banffshire coast.

The exhibition includes information and displays on Fishing heritage & Shipbuilding, paintings, old photographs, boats and oil-rig models, stories and poems.