Old Strichen, New Leeds and New Pitsligo by Donna Donald

Take a look at this fantastic book which shows a photographic history of several planned villages in North Aberdeenshire - my shop is located in New Pitsligo!

All three of these villages in the ancient kingdom of Buchan in the north east of Scotland are prime examples of planned communities, laid out in straight rows by forward-looking land owners when the cottage industries of weaving and dying cloth were booming. Today they are quiet commuter towns but as these photographs attest, they still bear the marks of the thriving bustling places they once were.

The small weavers cottages can still be seen interspersed with more modern buildings and the imposing Station Hotel on Strichen High St. is redolent of more lively times. For those interested in more ancient landmarks there are many stone-age relics, standing stones and stone circles in the wooded areas around Strichen parish while the peatscrapes close to New Pitsligo are impressive in their scope.