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The Coastguard Service in Collieston has a long histoy of meritious service in rendering aid to shipwrecked mariners and unfortunate folk who have been involved in accidents on the cliffs north and south of the village. It evolved from its 18th century origins as the Preventative Service (primarily engaged in tracking down and arresting smugglers), through a company of regular Coastguards, to a company of some 20 Auxiliary Coastguards equipped with a rocket line and breeches buoy and by the 1990s to a much smaller rapid response team.

 

     
  Cluny Cottages  
 
 
Built in the early 1830’s, the cottages, formerly the Preventive Houses where the King’s Men, the forerunners of the customs and excise men lived, are now called Cluny Cottages. Built with stones from the local quarry, the red granite lintels came from nearby Stirling Hill.

Slates for the roofs were shipped in by schooner from Wales and carried up from the shore by the women of the village in creels strapped to their backs. Each of the seven single storey cottages originally consisted of two rooms and an outside toilet. A staircase separated the two rooms and led to a loft.

The two storey house at the east end of the row is reputed to have been the Collieston home of Thomas Blake Glover, the 'Scottish Samurai', whose father was head of the Coastguard Station in Collieston from 1847 to 1849.

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  The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company  
 
The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company was awarded the Board of Trade Shield in 1931 for saving the ten-man crew of the Aberdeen trawler ‘Nairn’ after it had gone aground in stormy seas on 2nd December at Broadhaven one mile south of Collieston.

Bronze medals for gallantry in saving life at sea were also awarded to District Officer Smailes, Coastguardsman F Shelley and Messrs Walker, Henderson and Robertson. It was a great occasion for so small a village and the first time that the shield had been awarded to Scotland.

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The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company circa 1930. The company of some 16 men makes its way back to the village after a rocket practise on the cliffs near the coastal path leading to Forvie. Hackley Head is clearly visible in the background.

The Life Saving Apparatus being pulled was stored in the ‘Rocket Shed’ at the top of Perthudden, near Cluny Cottages, the former Coastguard Cottages.

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The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company is engaged in ‘Rocket Practice’ circa 1930. During the testing of the equipment, a line would be shot from the top of the Quarry over to Cransdale.

This would enable the Company of sixteen men to practise operating the breeches buoy, a vital piece of life-saving apparatus and one frequently used during a rescue operation. At the end of the 1940’s ‘Rocket Practise’ was moved from Cransdale, to the cliff top above the Peerman Braes on Forvie Moor where a pole was erected.

Similar to a ship’s mast and known as the ‘Rocket Pole’, it was in use until 1992 when the Company was re-graded from a Company of sixteen men to an Instant Response Team of four, who currently train with their colleagues in nearby Cruden Bay.

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A Coast Guard life saving breeches buoy held by a young woman. On either side of the woman stand two members of the Collieston Coastguard Company while at the rear is Charles Ingram, a resident of Cluny Cottages, who was himself a member of the Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company.

The Coastguard Company kept their life saving equipment in the rescue apparatus store, known locally as ‘the rocket shed’, at Cluny Cottages, which is where the photograph was taken circa 1935.

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Shipwreck
 
On 9th April, 1931 the trawler Rightway went ashore on rocks at Broadhaven, south of Collieston. The Collieston Coastguard Company heard the sounding siren at 0030 and reached the scene at 0130. Three of the crew were taken ashore by breeches buoy but the vessel then slid off the rocks.

The seven remaining crew had to jump on to an island rock where they were told to stay until they were rescued. Cliff ladders were then used. One end of a line was attached to the bottom of the ladder and the other end was secured to the heaving cane which was thrown over the rock to the stranded men.

Scrambling along the ladder onto rocks near the base of the cliff, the crew were then assisted up the main cliff face. The last man was brought to safety at 04.00 and the Company was dismissed at 0630.

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Winning the Board of Trade Shield
 
The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company was called out to assist after the drifter ‘Stephens’ ran aground in bad weather some 200 yards offshore on the Forvie Sands on November 8, 1956. For their part in the successful rescue of the ship’s 10-man crew by breeches buoy, the Company was awarded the Board of Trade Shield in 1957 for the best wreck service of the year.

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Shipwrecks
 
The Middlesborough coaster Brightside ran aground on rocks off Hackley Head near Collieston on 24th April 1949 in thick fog. The crew of nine got clear in a small boat and were picked up by the Kirkcaldy drifter Noontide three hours later and were put ashore at Aberdeen.

Before abandoning ship the Brightside’s master, Captain J.W.Hopper of Sunderland, sounded the siren for assistance. It jammed and brought Collieston Coastguards and the Life Saving Brigade hastening to the cliff top.

Unable to see the coaster because of the thick fog, they aimed rope-carrying rockets in the direction from which the noise of the siren was coming. For a few minutes the fog lifted and they saw one line had fallen across the ship. They then realised that the crew had managed to get away.

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The breeches buoy is clearly visible as are two members of the rescue party, happy that on this occasion no lives were lost. To the right leaning on the pole is Jack Ingram who was on holiday at the time staying with his parents at No 2 Cluny Cottages. Jack’s father, Charles Ingram, was a long serving member of the Collieston Coast Guard Company.

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The S.S. Holdernook ran aground on dangerous rocks a quarter of a mile north of Hackley Head near Collieston on 21st August, 1947. The Collieston Coastguard Company was alerted and immediately proceeded to the scene intending to assist in the rescue of the crew.

Having set up their rescue gear they had to keep it in hand owing to the working of the vessel in the heavy seas. The ship’s crew were hesitant to use the breeches buoy due to the stormy conditions and were subsequently rescued by the Newburgh Lifeboat and landed safely at Collieston.

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  World War 2  
 
 
A form written in English and Norwegian, signed by a Norwegian Brigadier and dated 29th December 1941. The pass was issued to Lewis Mackie, a coast watcher and temporary coastguard, to identify him to any Norwegian Forces which he might meet while on patrol from Collieston to the mouth of the River Ythan, part of the area also covered by the Norwegian Brigade during the 1939-1945 World War.

Once while on patrol Lewis discovered a partly hidden dinghy which had been brought up from the shore by some Germans landing from a submarine. The Germans were eventually caught further north in Moray.


Rescue at Sea

The Bronze Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea was awarded to Richard (Dick) Ingram for his part in the rescue of members of the crew of the Hull steamer ‘Lesrix’ which ran aground on the rocks off Hackley Head during a storm on January 26th 1942.

The obverse of the medal gives the effigy of King George V1 and the Royal Cypher with the words ‘For Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea.’ The ribbon is scarlet with two narrow white vertical stripes.

Accompanied by his sister, Isabella, Dick travelled to London where the medal was presented to him by King George V1 at Buckingham Palace on 13th October, 1942.

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Dick Ingram is wearing the Bronze Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea awarded to him by King George V1. The Hull steamer Lesrix ran aground on the rocks off Hackley Head during a storm on January 26th 1942.

Dick and George Ross, a young lad from the village, rescued four men by breeches buoy from the bow of the steamer but the unrelenting blizzard conditions caused the stern of the Lesrix to break away and sink with the loss of ten of her crew.

Dick’s heroism was recognised when he was awarded the Gallantry medal for life saving at sea, while the unfortunate young George received nothing more than a rebuke from the headmaster for not turning up for school that day.

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Coastguards
 
On December 16, 1966, the m.f.v. ‘Semnos II’ ran aground on a sandbank, in heavy seas, about 500 yards north of the River Ythan. Belhelvie and Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Companies were alerted and immediately proceeded to the scene of the shipwreck where well-rehearsed rescue procedures were put into operation.

The shield awarded by The Board of Trade for the best wreck service of the year, was jointly awarded to the Auxiliary Coastguard Companies of Belhelvie and Collieston for their part in the successful rescue of the six-man crew. The presentation was held the following year at the New Inn, Ellon.

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  Coastguards  
 
 
The Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company circa 1983. Coming into being as an LSA (Life Saving Apparatus) Company in 1859, there followed a subsequent regrading of the station in 1925 when it was changed from a Regular to an Auxiliary station with a full company of approximately 16 men.

The company is standing in front of the shed where the rescue apparatus is stored, some of which is clearly visible. The building, which can be seen on the extreme right, is one of the former Coastguard Cottages.

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  Rescue at Sea  
 
Four members of the Collieston Auxiliary Coastguard Company received a commendation and special medallion from Gordon District Council for their part in the rescue of Paul Forbes on May 13 1993 after he had been washed into heavy seas from rocks at the Needle’s E’e, Cransdale.

HM Coastguard in Aberdeen was alerted and the Company from Collieston was called out to assist with the rescue. Treacherous sea conditions at Collieston harbour meant that a boat had to be launched instead from the beach at Cransdale.

From the vantage point on top of the Needle’s E’e, John directed his colleagues by radio to where Paul was trying to keep afloat about one hundred yards offshore. While Robin controlled the boat, Malcolm and Jack managed to haul the boy on board. A search and rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth soon appeared and Paul was winched on board and flown to hospital in Aberdeen. He was found to be in the early stages of hypothermia but otherwise OK.

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