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Tag: Peterhead History

The iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead

The heart of Peterhead iconic Carnegie Building

Aberdeenshire Council is embarking on a search for a new operator of the iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead.

Forming the original home of the town’s Public Library and Arbuthnot Museum, the St Peter Street property will shortly undergo a major conservation restoration as part of the wider Cultural Quarter project being supported by the UK Government’s Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

As part of the development of the Cultural Quarter in Peterhead, the library and museum will be moving to a dynamic new home at a refurbished and extended Arbuthnot House on the town’s Broad Street in the heart of Peterhead. 

The Carnegie Building will then become available as a new venue offering the opportunity to cultural entrepreneurs, creative third sector organisations or social enterprises to find an inspiring place to deliver their creative vision.

Built in the 1890s and associated with the legacy of Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Building offers around 800 square metres of space over four floors including the iconic clock tower.

It is to undergo a sensitive restoration, including essential upgrades which will enable it to function as a modern, accessible multi-use cultural venue with the potential of a performance space, music and dance rehearsal studios and a vibrant café/bar. 

The council’s Buchan Area Manager, Amanda Roe, explains: “This is a very exciting opportunity for a new tenant to take on the management of this historic building and create a vibrant new asset not just for Peterhead but the wider region.

The iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead
Built in the 1890s and associated with the legacy of Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Building offers around 800 square metres of space over four floors including the iconic clock tower | The iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead

“It will be a tremendous venue for live music and other live performances and from an educational aspect it will also accommodate dance and music schools or visual arts and design. The new facility will also provide the perfect showcase for emerging talent and the contemporary arts, designed to meet the cultural needs of a younger generation and increase the appeal of retaining young people in the area.

“We are really keen to see any approaches which support local businesses and increases employment and which strengthen the night-time and town centre footfall with an enhanced cultural offer.”

The council will also consider interest from property agents, hospitality and other commercial organisations where a social and cultural focus is evident. The tenant could be a charity, a community interest company or a private organisation, or a consortium comprising cultural and hospitality partners.

Parties are being invited to register their interest and to arrange viewings by emailing 
eloise.grey@aberdeenshire.gov.uk 

The iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead
Aberdeenshire Council is embarking on a search for a new operator of the iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead | The iconic Carnegie Building in the heart of Peterhead
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Peterhead.Live on

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HMS Peterhead minesweeper

New HMS Peterhead minesweeper, Royal Navy during the WW2

HMS Peterhead was a Bangor-class minesweepers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

HMS Peterhead J59 So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy named after the Scottish town of Peterhead.

She was built by Blyth Shipbuilding Company, of Blyth, Northumberland and launched on 31 October 1940.

HMS Peterhead min 1
Pics by Stefan Girling

Under the command of Lt Cdr David Croom-Johnson RNVR (later Lord Justice Croom-Johnson), she took part in Operation Neptune, the assault phase of the invasion of Normandy and was mined off Utah Beach on 8 June 1944.

Croom-Johnson was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for Peterhead work in Operation Neptune.

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Pics by HMS Peterhead in the Bay of Biscay on 30 December 1943

Peterhead was declared a total loss, and was sold for scrapping on 1 January 1948. She was broken up at Hayes, of Pembroke in May 1948.

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the old streets

The Old Streets in Peterhead town

One of the old streets in Peterhead town used to be called Flying Gigs Wynd

One of the old streets in Peterhead town used to be called Flying Gigs Wynd.

Located between Broad Street and the Seagate, in the 18th century it was a narrow, twisty lane, largely populated by taverns, some of low repute!

the old streets
The old streets in Peterhead town

The most infamous of these was aptly named The Flying Gig and was owned by one Michael Flanagan, an avid buyer and seller of smuggled goods, indeed Peterhead’s most notorious smuggler, Alexander Elles, has a house which backed directly on to the lane.

Where does the name come from?

The most plausible suggestions are that it either refers to the small triangular pennant flag often seen at the top of sailing ships mast, this flag was often called a gig, or if could be that the name has become corrupted over time and was originally the Flying Jib Wynd.

the old streets
The old streets in Peterhead town

No one knows for sure, The Wynd is gone now and only the entrance remains, but I often wonder what went on down that lane every time I pass.

Credit by Kenny Bruce

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undersea telegraph cable

Undersea telegraph cable, which had been laid in 1868/1869

The Norwegian – Scottish undersea telegraph cable which had been laid in 1868/1869

If you happened to be strolling along the seashore in town of Peterhead.

You might just notice what look like a couple of old steel cables sticking out of the sand, these old cables are in fact the remains of the Norwegian – Scottish undersea telegraph cable, which had been laid in 1868/1869.

The building you can see on the right of the postcard is the Telegraph Station, where the first news of the Russian Revolution in 1917 was received and transmitted to the rest of the world.

More modern communication methods became normal in the 1920’s and the building was utilized as a small house, until it was demolished in the 1960’s.

undersea telegraph cable
undersea telegraph cable
undersea telegraph cable

To think that news of one of the most momentous events of the 20th century was first relayed to the rest of the world by them, via our small town on the remote NE coast of Scotland.

Credit to Kenny

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Arctic explorer

Arctic explorer Benjamin Leigh had new ship Eira built at the Peterhead yard.

Arctic explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith Expeditions on board the Eira 1880, 1881-82

This gravestone in one of Peterhead local cemeteries hides a tale of Arctic exploration and adventure. The stone commemorates Alexander Robertson, formerly a crewman on the steamship Eira, which was built by the Arctic explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith in Peterhead.

Benjamin Leigh Smith paid for Alexander’s headstone.

Leigh Smith was a wealthy man and travelled extensively to the Svalbard and Spitsbergen regions between 1871 and 1882. In 1880 he had the ship Eira (a screw barquentine) built at the Peterhead yard of Messrs Stephen and Forbes. The whaling family, the Grays, helped with the building, with David Gray assisting in the drawing up of specifications. Leigh Smith made his next voyage to the Arctic in 1880, departing Peterhead on board Eira on 22 May.

Arctic explorer
Arctic explorers

On this expedition he took William John Alexander (Johnny) Grant as the official photographer. Grant had established a reputation as a polar photographer, having been on many polar expeditions and exhibited his photographs at the Royal Photographic Society, as well as being a Fellow of the Society and of the Royal Geographic Society.

Leigh Smith and his crew of 24 (mainly Scots and Shetlanders as was common for Artic exploration at the time) aimed to explore Jan Mayen, but this was covered in mist. On 11 July, Eira met up with the Peterhead whalers Hope and Eclipse led by John and David Gray.

The crew of the sailing ship ‘Eira’ dismember a polar bear on the ice at the bows of the ‘Eira’ which is moored to the ice. A crew member stands on deck watching.

Arctic explorers
From left to right are: David Gray at the helm (Capt. Eclipse), Benjamin Leigh-Smith (Capt./owner Eira),  Arthur Conan Doyle (Surgeon Hope), John Gray (Capt. Hope), Dr.Walker and Dr.Neale, and William Lofley (ice master Eira) right at the stern. Pictures: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

They were finally rescued by the Dutch ship Willem Barentzs and transferred to the Peterhead whaler Hope for the journey home. It’s thought Alexander Robertson died of the privations his body had suffered on the ice.

Credit to Kenny Bruce

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Arctic explorer Benjamin Leigh had new ship Eira built at the Peterhead yard.

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