Stonehaven Harbour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

I was celebrating New Year with friends in Aberdeen. On the way home on the 2nd of Jan, we took a quick stop at Stonehaven Harbour. Having celebrated pretty hard on both the 31st and the 1sdt, I was suffering, so needed some fresh air to blow away the cobwebs.

Stonehaven has quite a nice harbour and sea front, looking out into the North Sea. At this time of year it can be quite stormy, and the harbour is famous for having waves craashing over the harbour wall, but it was quite calm.

It still is used for some fishing vessels, but they have dwindled somewhat in number these days. Fishing is now titled controlled, limiting the catch, and hence the number of vessels, due to over fishing in the 20th century.

It was a little bit breezy and raining slightly when we stopped - we didnt stay long as it was getting cold - but it was worth the stop. It was surprisingly busy with quite a few others out walking along the harbour and sea front. Probably everyone else was trying to shift their hangovers too !

The headland on the south side of the harbour was quite scenic. This is taken from the tip of the harbour wall.

Stonehaven has quite an interesting new years tradition. They hold a fireball procession, where local people swing fireballs on a chain, and march down the main street and through them into the harbour. Unfortunately it has been cancelled these past two years due to covid - however it is a sight to see. It dates back quite a few years and was allegedly done to bring good luck to the fishing fleet and ward off back luck for the coming year.

Well I'm glad we stopped - the fresh air helped. Here's hoping they will be able to hold the fireball procession next year.

Happy new year everyone !