Port Erroll Past Times

Her husband Gordon, whose phenomenal memory helped bring this archive to life, has a rich history of his own. He was born in Longhaven in 1938 and worked at P Scrogies the printers in Peterhead before enlisting for national service. On his return he moved to Cruden Bay where he married Ann and commenced his long career in the brickworks, staying there until its closure. Following his time at the brickworks, Gordon is fondly remembered by many as the janitor of Port Erroll Primary School from 1991 to 2004—a role he describes simply as “the best job I ever had!

With generations of local knowledge and a treasure trove of stories to tell, Ann and Gordon have now collaborated with Cruden Bay Life to enable the sharing of their memories to a wider audience than they ever thought possible.

If these short teaser articles capture your imagination, you will be delighted to know that their document is included in its entirety at the bottom of this page for you to read and enjoy.

We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to Ann and Gordon for generously allowing us to share their wonderful stories with you. We also wish to acknowledge Lindsay Savage, who first edited the work in 2016, and celebrate this new adaptation by Cruden Bay Life.

Please enjoy exploring the past times of Port Erroll!

Showing incredible presence of mind, George dangerously crawled through the American steamer’s hawsepipe. Before the Kwasind’s own crew even came to their aid, he managed to haul three of his struggling shipmates up through the narrow pipe to safety. Experienced fishermen later noted that without George’s daring and perilous actions, the entire crew would likely have perished.
The survivors were eventually transferred to a nearby Lowestoft drifter, the Au Fait, bringing home a harrowing tale of loss and unforgettable courage.

Local Characters and Village Life in Old Port Erroll

Life in mid-20th-century Port Erroll was bursting with colourful characters, charming daily routines, and a deeply rooted community spirit. A familiar sight in the village was the older fishermen gathering in black wooden sheds near the sea, dressed in their traditional dark ganseys, worsted suits, and “bunnets”. Puffing on their pipes, they would huddle around a cozy fire and lum to debate the weather, the tides, and the latest local gossip. The intriguing hum of conversation from Tom Summers’ shed was so regular that one local mother playfully declared, “the house of parliament is convened!”.
Among the most memorable village personalities was William “Wakey” Summers of Harbour Street. Banished from the family home by his wife Elsie due to his pipe-smoking and spitting habits, Wakey spent his days happily lounging on a settee in his white garden shed, where he even cultivated Black Brunswick grapes in an adjoining greenhouse. Wakey was equally infamous for his driving. When his black Baby Austin was rear-ended because he failed to signal a turn into his own garage, his unapologetic defence was simply, “A’body kens I turn in here”.
The village’s bustling streets were also home to a vibrant array of businesses and unique hazards. Residents could buy fresh pies, “bradies”, and slab cakes from Simmers bakery. Meanwhile, an elderly lady named Hannah Duthie regularly sent local children up to the baker to buy “crimpets” (crumpets) to feed her enormous brood of cats. Down on Main Street, a trip to Jimmy Beagrie the cobbler came with a strict warning: he kept a mischievous pet monkey tied outside his shop that loved to lunge at the long hair of passing girls!

The Congregational Church and the “DIY” Church Hall

Built in 1884, the Congregational Church has long stood as the spiritual heart of Port Erroll. Affectionately known as the “fishermen’s church,” it originally seated 238 worshippers and hosted everything from bustling Sunday Schools to summer open-air services down at the harbour, complete with music provided by the Salvation Army.
By the 1950s, however, the beloved church was facing a practical crisis: it lacked a basic water supply, sanitation, and a dedicated hall for community activities like the Boys’ Brigade. Enter the Reverend Alexander Taylor, a minister who had recently arrived in the village following seven and a half years of missionary work in Nigeria. Drawing on his past experience of having to build his own mud-hut home from raw materials in Africa, Reverend Taylor made a startling suggestion to his congregation: they should simply build the much-needed church hall themselves.
What began in 1954 as a surprising idea quickly transformed into a remarkable display of village spirit. The construction project relied entirely on voluntary labour. Retired engineers like 68-year-old Mr. Cordiner and 67-year-old Mr. Nicolson rolled up their sleeves to lay bricks alongside teachers on holiday. Local farmers lent their lorries to transport rubble salvaged from a ruined hotel, boys carted materials, and local women kept the thirsty workers fueled with tea. Even the nearby Cruden Bay brickworks pitched in, generously supplying the materials at below contractor prices.
Working tirelessly in the evenings and their spare time, these dedicated locals successfully constructed a 50-foot by 27-foot hall from the ground up. This extraordinary “DIY” project stood as a profound testament to the resilience, ingenuity, and deep-rooted camaraderie of Port Erroll.

One of the most terrifying shipping disasters on the north-east coast took place on January 18th, 1912.
The 3,000-ton steamer Wistow Hall was enduring a perilous voyage from the Tyne to Glasgow when it was caught in a relentless gale. After drifting helplessly for 36 hours with its funnel and bridge washed away by mountainous waves, the doomed vessel was driven toward the jagged Aberdeenshire coastline.
The devastating climax occurred just miles from Port Erroll, where the ship was bludgeoned against the towering, tooth-like Tempion Rock.
Local coastguards and hundreds of villagers gathered on the cliffs, but they were tragically helpless against the fury of the storm. Rockets were fired in desperate attempts to establish a lifeline, but the massive waves snapped the ropes almost instantly. To the horror of the onlookers, the colossal steamer sank beneath the seething breakers in just ten to fifteen minutes.
The human toll was catastrophic. Out of the 57 crew members on board—a mix of European officers and Lascar stokers from India—an astonishing 53 lives were lost to the freezing, turbulent waters.
Only four men miraculously survived, including the injured Captain Stoddart. The captain had suffered a broken arm and spinal injury during the storm and had given his gold watch to his mate, believing he would not survive. The three other survivors were Lascar crewmen, who were pulled unconscious from the surf and revived by locals in the nearby village.
In the solemn days that followed, the recovered victims were respectfully laid out in the Mission Hall at North Haven. Today, their graves can still be found at Cruden Old Church and St James’s Episcopal Church, serving as a sombre reminder of the sea’s merciless power.

In 2019, local filmmaker and historian Jill Cramphorn (McWilliam) recorded a series of short interviews with local people who had a connection to the Congregational Church in Cruden Bay. Among those interviewed were Ann and Gordon Findlay, who shared their memories and recollections of the church and its place within the local community.

These recordings provide a valuable personal insight into the history of the Congregational Church and the people connected with it, preserving memories that might otherwise be lost with time.

We are extremely grateful to Jill for kindly allowing us to include these two interviews as part of the collection originally recorded for her Doric TV series, Historians of Cruden Bay. We are pleased to be able to share these recordings and, in doing so, help preserve and celebrate the history, stories and memories of Cruden Bay for future generations.

“Along with their written Port Erroll Past Times collection, Ann and Gordon Findlay also provided these newspaper cuttings to help keep the village’s stories alive”.