Peterhead

Peterhead sits at the easternmost point in mainland Scotland, Aberdeenshire.

Business start reopening after lockdown in Scotland from Monday 5 April

Business start reopening, cautious easing of lockdown

Hairdressers, garden centres, car showrooms and forecourts, homeware stores and non-essential click and collect services will be able to open from Monday 5 April Business start reopening after lockdown, subject to enhanced safety measures including physical distancing, face coverings and pre-booking where appropriate.

More college students will be able to return to on-campus learning and 12-17 year-olds will be able to resume outdoor contact sports from this date.

Restrictions on non-essential travel across local authority boundaries will remain in place.

People must stay within their council area for non-essential shopping and should only travel to another area for essential shopping if there are no practical alternatives.

People should also continue to work from home where they can to prevent unnecessary contact that could risk transmission of the virus.

Business start re-open — Business start reopening after lockdown

The latest easing of restrictions comes as data shows continued suppression of Coronavirus (COVID-19), and progress on vaccination. Virtually all over 65 year olds have now received a first dose of the vaccine, and the average daily case rate is now 539 new cases per day, a decline of more than 75% since early January.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“We have made progress both in suppressing the virus and in vaccination, and therefore the changes I previously indicated will go ahead on 5 April.

“The stay at home rule is being replaced by a requirement to stay local – while Covid levels remain high in some areas, and while a lot of people remain unvaccinated, we do not want the virus to spread from areas with relatively high prevalence to areas with low rates of infection. That’s why the current travel restrictions, which prevent non-essential travel outside your local authority area, are really important.

Lockdown Timetable — Business start reopening

“It will be easier to relax more restrictions in the future if case numbers remain under control, so when things open up slightly this weekend please continue to stick to the rules, and follow the advice and the instructions given by store staff to keep you and the other customers safe.

“Stay at home – for now – protect the NHS, and follow the FACTS advice when you are out and about to help save lives.”

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement – 30 March 2021 – gov.scot

Guidance will be updated on Friday and Monday to take account of the changes confirmed today.

During the pre-election period the usual parliamentary protocol applies and draft regulations will be shared with the COVID-19 Committee.

Consultation with sectors still to reopen is ongoing, towards further decisions on easing to be taken ahead of the next review point on 26 April.

Peterhead history

Peterhead History very rich and interesting

scotland pubs

Scotland Pubs and Cafes to reopen for outdoor service on 26 April

Scotland pubs and cafes, restaurants and bars will be able to serve people outdoors – in groups of up to 6 from 3 households – until 10pm from 26 April.

Alcohol will be permitted in Scotland Pubs, and there will be no requirement for food to be served.

There could be limited indoor opening of hospitality from 26 April too.

This will be limited initially to the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks until 8pm, and for groups of up to four people from no more than 2 households.

All remaining retail premises are expected to re-open on 26 April.

All tourist accommodation will be able to re-open, subject to any restrictions.

Libraries, museums and galleries will also reopen from 26 April.

Indoor gyms will also reopen for individual exercise on that date.

Monday 5 April will see the beginning of the phased re-opening of non essential retail.

Click and collect retail services will be permitted to reopen, along with homeware stores, and car showrooms and forecourts.

Garden centres will also be able to reopen on 5 April

Hairdresser and barber salons to reopen for appointments on 5 April.

Indoor meeting from 17 May

Up to four people from two household can socialise indoors in a private home or public space from 17 May.

Hospitality venues can open until 10:30 pm indoors (alcohol permitted, 2-hour dwell time) and 10:00 pm outdoors (alcohol permitted)

Outdoor adult contact sport and indoor group exercise can restart.

Cinemas, amusement arcades, and bingo halls can open.

Small-scale outdoor and indoor events can resume subject to capacity constraints.

St Olafs Well

St Olafs Well stay in sand dunes at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire

St Olafs Well, a natural spring, now enclosed within a rectangular concrete wall, 2.5m by 2.0m, a little mark where it is.

On the Buchan coast of Aberdeenshire, Cruden Bay stay to the North of the Bay of Cruden near the mouth of the Water of Cruden, 7 miles (11 km) south of Peterhead.

This is said to be the site of a battle where King Malcolm II of Scotland defeated the Danes in 1012, giving rise to the name – ‘Croju Dane’ meaning slaughter of the Danes.

Malcolm buried the dead of his opponents with honour and built a chapel to mark the spot, dedicated to St. Olaf (Olaus).

St.Olafs Well is an ancient site of pilgrimage amongst the sand dunes at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire.

The nearby beach was the site of a great battle between the Viking army of Prince Canute and the Scots army under King Malcolm the Second of Scotland.

Credit to Kenny Bruce

Peterhead Community

Peterhead Community Test Centre 1 week

Peterhead Community Test Centre – After a successful first week

Author: Morven Jane

I wanted to share some information about the site to make people feel more comfortable about visiting.

Community testing allows for early identification of outbreaks and reassures you that you can safely go about your essential duties.

If you are an employer, encouraging your staff to be tested can give you peace of mind, at no cost to your business.

If you are already being offered testing, e.g. teachers, but are apprehensive, we will guide you through the process and hopefully give you the confidence to test at home in the future.

Our Peterhead Community Test Centre is based in the Rescue Hall on Prince Street and is open 8.00AM – 7.30PM every day, including weekends, until at least late May.

Anyone who lives/works/studies/shops in Peterhead and the surrounding area can come along up to twice a week for a self administered lateral flow test, which obtains results in less than an hour.

Being tested counts as essential travel, but we encourage you to visit as part of another essential journey, such as before a grocery shop or at school drop off.

Peterhead Community - Morven Jane — **Morven Jane** | Peterhead Community Test Centre

All ages are welcome, but those aged 12-17 should have consent from a guardian and those under 12 must have a guardian with them to assist with the swabbing process.

If you need additional support, you can come along with other members of your household support bubble, such as a carer or translator (although we do have translation facilities available).

Peterhead Community Test Centre

Please note that staff cannot administer any swab test. To be eligible for testing you must not have any coronavirus symptoms (new persistent cough, fever, loss of change in taste or smell), have had a coronavirus vaccine in the last 3 days, or have tested positive for Covid in the last 90 days.

In addition, avoid eating or drinking anything in the half hour before you carry out the test.

On arrival we will take your name and a contact telephone number (only used if your test is positive, and destroyed at the end of each day).

Scanning a QR code opens the website where you will register your test – staff are on hand to assist with this if needed and tablets are available for those without a smartphone.

The form is quite long, but there’s no rush – you will be asked to stand on one of the socially distanced crosses while you complete it.

After registration, you will be taken to one of three testing booths where an operative will guide you through the swabbing process. Once seated, you may remove your mask and blow your nose.

Open the swab packet AT THE HANDLE END, just enough to pull the swab out.

Swipe the (tiny – see photo!) swab over each tonsil 4 times, taking care not to let the swab touch anything else (hands, table, tongue, teeth, etc.) then rotate the same swab inside one nostril 10 times (only going up until you feel resistance).

Insert the swab (swab end first) into the tube provided, then put your mask back on and wipe down your booth. You will leave the test centre following the one way system, where someone will provide you with an information leaflet. Your test result will be registered after 30 minutes and a text/email automatically sent to you.

Only if you do not have easy access to either of these may you wait in the centre to receive your result.In the unlikely event your result is positive, staff at the centre will contact you to arrange for PCR tests to be sent for all members of your household.

You and all in your household (including in extended household) MUST go home immediately and self isolate. If your PCR tests are negative, you may end your self isolation. A major misconception about community testing is that it is designed to increase the number of positive cases.

Undoubtedly some asymptomatic positive cases will be detected that would not have otherwise, however detecting these prevents them from spreading it to others, causing more positive cases in the following weeks. In addition, by testing asymptomatic individuals, the percentage of positive tests will likely decrease as most at the site will receive a negative result.

I hope this has reassured people who are apprehensive about being tested and highlighted the importance of community testing.

We hope to see you soon!

Peterhead Community Test Centre and Morven Jane

Peterhead Community Test Centre

Peterhead.Live on Facebook or Twitter to get more actual information

Peterhead Producers Market

Peterhead Producers Market 03 April

Peterhead Producers Market planned for Saturday 3/4/21.

Will be the first market since highly successful launch in November 2020, Rediscover Peterhead is delighted to confirm that the Peterhead Producers’ Market planned for Saturday 03/04/2021.

Here is Last Producer’s Market

This market will focus on Food and Drink and Peterhead Producers’ Market would urge any businesses who are interested in taking part to get in touch as soon as possible.

First market in November was really successful, with a number of traders commenting that it was their best ever trading day at any market.

Peterhead Producers Market 1 — Peterhead Producers Market in November 2020

Priority will be given to those who supported first event and then on a first come first basis with the emphasis being very much on local Scottish produce.

The pitch fee is £40 which includes a fully assembled stall, if required.

Market stall fees have been subsidised by Rediscover Peterhead with the support of funding from Aberdeenshire Council and the NESFLAG Coastal Communities Challenge Fund.

Peterhead Producers’ Market Will be working hard to ensure a well organised and safe market with a one-way system in operation.

Peterhead Producers Market 2 — One-Way System

For further information and bookings, please contact Alasdair who is our market operator – alasdair.boyne@outlook.com

dracula castle

Dracula castle is widely acknowledged is Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire having inspired Bram Stoker 1

Dracula castle is widely acknowledged is Slains Castle near Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire having inspired Bram Stoker to write world-famous novel Dracula.

Abraham “Bram” Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.

There are many stories about how Bram Stoker came to write Dracula, but only some of them are true. According to his son, Stoker always claimed the inspiration for the book came from a nightmare induced.

Stoker was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1893 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books.

Dracula Castle — Slains Castle, Cruden Bay

Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: The Watter’s Mou’ (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902).

He started writing Dracula here in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel.

sign bram stoker — **Kilmarnock Arms** Hotel, Cruden Bay (Port Erroll) Picture: **Bram Stoker’s** Signiture in hotel Guest Book

The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives.

The nearby Castle (also known as New Slains Castle, Dracula Castle) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase in 1897.

A distinctive room in Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula.

The early chapters of Dracula were written in Cruden Bay, and Slains Castle possibly provided visual inspiration for Bram Stoker during the writing phase.

This is why the other name of the castle, Dracula castle.

The early chapters of Dracula were written in Cruden Bay, and Castle possibly provided visual inspiration for Bram Stoker during the writing phase.

NewSlanesCastleWhenNewBW850 — Slains Castle, Cruden Bay

151823356 1398429917167938 990362670726630685 n — Slains Castle, Cruden Bay

The Scotland castle thought to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been awarded listed status by Historic Environment Scotland.

In 1916 the 20th Earl of Erroll, Charles Gore Hay sold the Castle and it’s contents to Sir John Ellerman, the shipping magnate. This ended 300 years of the Earls of Erroll staying at Slains. The surrounding estate and farmland were not productive enough to support the castle, especially after a period of agricultural depression and after death duties (inheritance tax) were introduced.

In 1925 the Castle was abandoned and the roof was removed to avoid paying taxes. Valuable dressed stone was also taken away and the castle has been deteriorating ever since. It is now quite a surprise to see old photos of how grand Slains Castle used to look. However there are modern-day plans to convert the castle and grounds into 35 apartments.

New Slains Castle 01 — Slains Castle, Cruden Bay / Dracula castle

To find the Slains Castle, follow signs for Cruden Bay. This picturesque village is 26 miles north of Aberdeen and has a lovely harbour and beach well worth exploring.
Impressive architecture is still clearly visible today as you roam the castle grounds and you can climb upstairs to the lookout and downstairs to the basement.

There was once marble steps, fourteen bedrooms, tennis and croquet lawns, stables, a walled garden, a kitchen with firepits and seven main reception rooms! As I walked through the castle I wondered about which room I was in and who might have stayed in it in the past.

Slains Castle is free to enter and the views are incredible.

I hope you visit soon!

The Temple of Theseus

Peterhead Roadworks on 15 Ugie street, Peterhead.

Temporary restriction of traffic on road.

Start Date/Time 10 Feb 2021

End Date/Time 10 Feb 2021

Location roadworks: Outside 15 Ugie street, Peterhead, either side of road. For 1 Days

Peterhead roadworks — Peterhead roadwork

Access will be provided for emergency and vehicles requiring access to properties but may be subject to delay until the road is cleared of construction plant to allow safe passage through the work.

Any queries please contact Sunbelt Rentals – 0370 050 0792