The first plans for the railway were made long before the construction of the new harbour. Indeed, it appears that the idea was first mooted in the late 1850s. It was with the completion of the branches from Grange to Banff Harbour and from Tillynaught to Portsoy which gave added impetus for further extensions westward. An Act of July 21st, 1863, provided authorisation for the construction of fourteen- and-a-half mile extension to the line stretching from Portsoy to Port Gordon. However, the amalgamation of the Great North of Scotland Railway and the Banffshire Railway in 1867 resulted in the abandonment of the scheme to extend the railway. It took fifteen years for the plan to be resurrected. In July 1882, the Great North of Scotland Railway Act received Royal Assent. This Act provided for the GNSR to construct a new line from Portsoy to Lossie Junction. The first parts opened were Portsoy to Tochieneal and Garmouth to Lossie Junction in 1884. The remainder of the route required much more work, including the construction of the viaducts at Cullen and over the River Spey. Consequently, it was 1886 before Port Gordon’s station became operational.

Port Gordon Station with train heading to Buckie (late 1940s).

The line through Port Gordon also required some engineering projects. Several bridges had to be constructed; the doubled-arched viaduct over the Burn of Gollachy; the road bridge at the end of Gordon Street; the bridge over the school brae; that over the Station brae (under which went both the road and the open Tannachy burn) and finally, the Port Tannachy bridge at the west end of the village. The construction of the station itself was unusual in that it was one of the very few stations built on the south side of the track. Elsewhere along the line most of the stations were built on the north side but in Port Gordon’s case the geography of the site necessitated its construction on the southern side of the line. Once all these obstacles had been overcome the line was formally opened on May 1st, 1886, although goods trains had been using the line since April 5th. The first passenger train used the line on May 5th.

By the 1880s, Port Gordon had developed considerably from the hamlet of 1797. However, since the construction of the harbours in Buckie and Buckpool the trading position of the village had been reduced somewhat. By 1881, the number of boats operating from Port Gordon had declined to ninety-nine. This was considerably less than in comparable villages such as Findochty and Portknockie. Indeed, with the exception of Cullen this was the lowest number of boats for any village in western Banffshire. More significant however, was the fact that the number of fishermen had declined to 200, noticeably lower than any other port on this part of the Moray Firth. In addition, trading through Port Gordon’s harbour had also declined due to the new harbours elsewhere. Yet, in spite of this, the village had a prosperous air about it. There was confidence that the new harbour would rejuvenate the commercial life of the village and the arrival of the railway had also helped to underline this positive outlook.

The opening of the railway also encouraged a number of visitors to the village. In 1886, the Elgin Courant sent one its reporters to the village. He wrote about the conditions of the time and the people he encountered during his visit. The article which appeared in the Courant in November 1886 was not altogether flattering about Port Gordon and was written with more than a hint of customary Victorian clichés. The article began: “the village, as it appears on alighting from the railway train, is not calculated to inspire a stranger with any favourable impression of its external structure and general aspect. Nay, the very reverse, for our eye rests upon a conglomeration of red tile, thatch and rough slate, which is blended together in a manner suggesting neither architectural symmetry nor modern taste.”[i] However, the correspondent went on “but we take the village at a disadvantage so to speak and we shall not be so uncharitable as to criticise the roofs of humble cottages: nor is it within our province to do so. We have more to do with the internal aspect of the dwellings and dispositions of those who inhabit them.”[ii]

The article continued with the reporter’s walk down the High Street to the harbour where, he conceded there were some “tolerably handsome houses”. Sitting near the doors of some of the cottages he encountered some of the older fisherman and describes them thus: “some are seen dressed in the inevitable heavy, rough, blue serge, large neckerchief, soft, felt hats well and truly planted upon a head covered with bushy hair. “Most of these elderly men were engaged in reddin or baiting the lines. The wives of these “hardy, weather-beaten fellows seem entirely worthy of their husbands.”[iii]

As a boat arrives at the harbour the correspondent notes that “commotion is manifest in the village. The faithful wives, who had been watching the incoming of their husbands, make all speed to the harbour with creels on their backs. The glistening haddock and codling are conveyed, by means of a basket, block and tackle, and manual exertion from the boats on to the pier, and from the pier either boxes, which are in readiness for their reception, and which are immediately despatched to the southern markets, or into commodious creels of the comely fishwives.” The Courant’s man then decided to speak to one of the “swarthy, sun- burned, honest-faced ancient mariners”[iv] and asked him how long they had been at sea. He is told that they had set off at five in the morning and that they had not had a successful trip. He then enquired whether they had eaten anything that morning: “Naething bit a bittie biscuit. We niver tak muckle mait, an we dinna taste speerits o’ ony kind, that wid seen play up we’s. I hae been gan tae the sea for sixty eers noo, an for forty o’ that fusky hisna crosst ma lips an’ I’m safe tae say there’s nae a healthier chiel in a’ the port “[v]

The fisherman then asked the reporter to accompany him to his home for “a weel maskit drappie, poort oot be her ladyship fae the auld weel broont taepot.”[vi]  In addition they had yellow haddock and well-buttered cakes. Impressed by all that he had seen, the reporter concluded his article by saying: “And we left the hospitable home of the honest fisher-folk more convinced than ever we had hitherto been that, if they have to suffer hardships and injustices from their favourite element or from the hand of mean man, they have also a degree of humble contentment, home happiness, and social intercourse which almost compensates for any discomforts, and which is certainly not to be met within many better favoured communities”.[vii] The optimistic tone with which the article ended, stressing as it does the communal contentment of Port Gordon, summed up the atmosphere of the time.

The railway continued to be the lifeblood of the village until its eventual closure as a result of the publication of Dr. Beeching’s report on the railway network. As with hundreds of other stations the length and breadth of the United Kingdom the fate of Port Gordon’s station was sealed. Since 1964 part of the Banff Branch Line had been reduced to freight only and although the section from Tillynaught to Elgin remained open for passenger services it was inevitable that this line would close too. The Beeching Report, synonymous to many with the destruction of rural railway system, had pointed out an unpalatable truth; the railway network was unprofitable, underutilised and overstaffed. Consequently, the last train ran through Port Gordon on the evening of May 6th, 1968. Thereafter the station buildings slowly decayed. However, Port Gordon Railway Station did have one final moment of glory when a film crew came to make a documentary about the village’s finest hour, the capture of the German spies. The film crew visited the station and the police house and both Bob Grieve and John Simpson appeared in the final film.

Shortly, afterwards, the villagers decided that the decaying station and its accompanying land could be transformed into an ideal play park – which the village sorely needed – and bowling green. As with every other initiative in the village’s history a public meeting was called. The meeting, held in the Village Hall on January 23rd, 1978, was well-attended and included representatives from the Moray District Council. As a result of the meeting the Port Gordon Recreation Park Committee was formed and office-bearers were elected. Shortly after the meeting a fundraising campaign was launched. In just over three years more than £12,000 was raised and, together with grants from the Scottish Sports Council and Moray District Council, the scheme was completed by the late spring of 1981. The Bowling Green and play park were officially opened on June 27th, 1981. Thus, through the indefatigable efforts of the community, the eyesore of the derelict station was replaced with an amenity for the whole village.

[i] Elgin Courant. 11th March 1886, p7.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid.