Harbour Voices

In this Festival of the Sea episode of our Harbour Voices podcast, Rosie Paynes, a surfer from the Wavy Wahines—a fantastic female surf group based in Aberdeen—shares insights about the group and the surfing scene in Aberdeen. Tune in to hear all about the Wavy Wahines and their adventures on the waves!

In this episode of the Harbour Voices podcast, Jack Elphinstone, a Countryside Ranger for Aberdeen City Council, discusses his journey to becoming a ranger and the various responsibilities that come with the role. Tune in to this Festival of the Sea episode to hear Jack’s story and learn more about his work.

As part of Aberdeen’s Festival of the Sea 2024, we created a special series of our Harbour Voices podcast. The second episode in this series features an interview with Willie Deas, skipper of The Reaper - a former Fifie Sailing Herring Drifter. 

This type of boat was the most popular design of fishing boat on the East Coast of Scotland for the greater part of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Today The Reaper is the flagship of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, Reaper and is berthed in Anstruther harbour outside the Museum. She is now equipped as a floating museum of the herring industry and sailed to Aberdeen to be part of the Festival of the Sea programme. 

In this episode Wille shares his lifetime of knowledge of The Reaper, fishing industry and the sea. 

Fisherman Hans Unkles wants a different way of doing things. With a band of fellow eco-aware fishermen, he took apart his old boat and refited it with cutting-edge electronic tech. In this Harbour Voices podcast we take a deep dive with Hans into his building, learning, making mistakes, chopping and welding a path to an easier, and more environmentally friendly way of fishing. 

Chris Gove has a long family history linked with Old Torry and many fabulous stories of the Aberdeen’s harbour and fishing industry to tell. This extended version of his previous episode of Harbour Memories captures of few of the best. 

Scottish painter and printmaker Joyce Cairns lived and worked in Fittie for many years. The Fittie Community Hall on New Pier Road is her former studio and here she created a large body of work all inspired by the community and harbour. Joyce is the first woman president of the Royal Scottish Academy and in this podcast she shares her rich memories of Fittie – its people and cats – and the influence of living close to water on her work. 

We’re reaching across the generations of Fittie in this Harbour Memories podcast episode. Dorothy Young has been a Fittie resident for over 30 years and her granddaughter Louise Ouston has been a regular visitor since she was a child. Between them they recall the Millennium new year at Aberdeen harbour and the social life of the community old and new. 

Norma Reid’s family have lived in Fittie for generations. In this episode she shares her memories of growing up in the community, the fishing industry that many residents worked in and the strong women who have influenced her life. 

Chris Gove has a long family history linked with Old Torry and many fabulous stories of the Aberdeen’s harbour and fishing industry to tell. This episode of Harbour Memories captures of few of the best. 

In this first episode of our Harbour Memories series, Margaret Wright shares insights on growing up in the Torry area of Aberdeen and the influence of the fishing industry and maritime life on the community.

As part of her residency in Fittie environmental storyteller Cara Silversmith of One Nature Education crafted a story for the community, based on her time in Fittie, the stories residents shared with her and her environmental knowledge and passions. Listen here to the story she created.

The Port of Aberdeen (formerly Aberdeen Harbour Board) is the oldest company in the UK. In this episode Keith Young, Engineering Director at the Port of Aberdeen, talks of his lifelong connection with the harbour, the expansion into the South Harbour as well as the impacts of heavy storms such as Storm Frank in 2015.

Manson Geddes started life as a merchant seaman in Aberdeen Harbour. In this episode he shares stories of his travels around the world and life at sea.

Fittie resident and wild swimmer Dawn Farmer shares her experiences of swimming in the North Sea close to Aberdeen Harbour, and the mental health and wellbeing benefits of an early morning dip in all weathers.

Professor Marjory Harper is a Scottish historian with a focus on social history and emigration from the Northeast. Discover more about Aberdeen Harbour as a port of emigration, who left the Northeast, why they emigrated and where they went.

The Fittie Bar is an institution in the Harbour area of Aberdeen. Long time bar maid Catherine O’Donnell shares stories of the locals and visitors who frequent this unique pub and talks of its place at the heart of harbour life.

Natalie has lived in Torry on the south side of Aberdeen Harbour for 30 years and volunteers with a number of charities in the area including the Torry Memories and Heritage Society. In this episode Natalie talks about life about life and community spirit in Torry from community cleans up to supporting local shops. As well as the amazing views of the old and new harbours.