Last night we watched Bill Forsyth's wonderful Scottish movie, Local Hero. The movie is a gentle comedy in which the Scottish coast is as much a character as it is the setting. Throughout the past week, we have intersected many of the movie's filming locations: Fort William, Mallaig, and the Ship's Inn Pub in Banff. Today we are heading to our neighbouring village of Pennan, the main setting (Ferness) in the movie. A single row of stone houses wedged between cliffs and a rocky coast with a small harbour, hotel and an iconic red phone booth make up this picturesque village. We had a cup of tea with scones on the harbour wall and then gritted our teeth for the steep, narrow, winding drive back up to the Aberdeenshire countryside and onward down the coast to Fraserburg. After a disappointing walk through Fraserburg (drab and dreary), we headed back up the coast to MacDuff for fish and chips, which we devoured while sitting on the rocky shore beside the aquarium.
We explored the Moray coastal paths around Portknockie and strolled the expansive sandy beach of Cullen before returning to our cottage in Gardenstown. On the way home, we made a detour to the farm of Tillybo, the birthplace of one of Jim's ancestors. We will be sad to leave Aberdeenshire and the Moray coast.
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