Nicholas Thorne's Family History Pages- Three days in Scotland 2006

Aberdour Harbour August 2006

The Pier, Aberdour. August 2006

Looking back !

Aberdour August 2006

Aberdour

I pointed the car in the direction of the Forth road bridge and Fife. As I approached the suspension bridge tollbooths, sandwiched between two juggernauts, I looked in vain for the tariff for using the bridge.

“How much is it please?” I asked the man in the booth.
“One pound” came the reply and he held up a single finger just in case English was not my first language!

Passing over a £1 coin, I joined the lane and was soon on the bridge concentrating on the massive lorries that were thrashing down the road with me. At the far end a sign welcomed me to “The Kingdom of Fife” and I looked for the A921 to Dalgety Bay and Aberdour.

I had chosen to go and see Aberdour as, not only was it where Tigress of Deben had been built, it was also the Parish where Jeanette Whitelaw Wemyss family lived.

Jeanette Hay, née Wemyss was the mother of Edward Hay, my great-grandfather. I had obtained, from Edinburgh, a copy of the Extract of entries in the Old Parochial Register for the Parish of Aberdour, 1832. It showed that when Jeanette and Charles Crosland Hay were married, this had been her parish.

Now, as I drove into Aberdour, I found myself immediately recognising the main street where in 1973 I had shopped for a Terry's Chocolate orange to celebrate Easter with, instead of an egg! This memory jogged the fact that it had been my Easter holidays and that was why I was able to attend the launch of 'Tigress'. I recalled that the harbour was down to my left and so I followed a narrow lane down to the banks of the Forth. A few yards on and I was at the old port. Having brought with me the photographic album that, as a boy, I had pasted my photographs, I could now do a comparison of then and now, thirty-three years on.

Next page. Aberdour Silversands.