Peterhead

Peterhead (Ceann Phàdraig, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census.

Peterhead sits at the easternmost point in mainland Scotland. It is often referred to as The Blue Toon (Locally spelt as "The Bloo Toon") and people who were born there as Blue Tooners (Locally spelt as "Bloo Tooners"). More correctly they are called Bloomogganners, supposedly from the blue worsted stockings that the fishermen originally wore.

History
Peterhead was founded by fishermen and was developed as a planned settlement. In 1593 the construction of Peterhead's first harbour, Port Henry, encouraged the growth of Peterhead as a fishing port and established a base for trade.

Peterhead was a Jacobite supporting town in the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745. In particular, it was one of the Episcopalian north-eastern ports where reinforcements, plus money and equipment, were periodically landed from France during the Forty-Five.

A lifeboat station was first established in 1865. Since early times Peterhead has received a portion of its water supply from Morris Wells. Peterhead convict prison was opened in 1888, gaining a reputation as one of Scotland's toughest prisons.

The present harbour has two massive breakwaters, enclosing an area of approximately 300 acres in Peterhead bay. The south breakwater, about 2700 ft long, was constructed in 1892–1912 using convict labour from the prison. The north breakwater, constructed 1912–56, is approximately 1500 ft long.

A new phase of growth was initiated in the 1970s with Peterhead becoming a major oil industry service centre, and the completion of the nearby St Fergus gas terminal. At this time, considerable land holdings were allocated for industrial development.

In recent times, the town has suffered from several high profile company closures and is facing a number of pressures, including Common Fisheries Policy reforms. However, it retains a relatively diverse economy, including food processing, textiles, service industries and, still importantly, fishing. (Over 90,000 tonnes of fish, with a value of around £60m are now landed at Peterhead, which is still also base to over 550 fishermen.) The Peterhead Port Authority plans to extend the northern breakwater as a stimulus to the town's economic development. In addition, to assist with business diversification and town centre environmental improvements, the 'Peterhead Project' initiative under the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership brings together the Council, Scottish Enterprise Grampian, Communities Scotland, commerce and community representatives.

Until April 2005, the Royal Air Force station RAF Buchan was located near the town.

Peterhead Academy
Peterhead Academy houses around 1,300 pupils and the school is split up into 7 houses (Arbuthnot, Buchan, Craigewan, Grange, Marischal, Slains and Ravenscraig), with all the names associated with areas of the town. The school has pupils coming from surrounding villages such as Boddam, Cruden Bay, Hatton, Inverugie, Rora, St Fergus and Crimond. The Academy's moto is "Domus Super Petram Aedificata" (A House Built on a Rock). The Academy is Scotland's largest school at over 22,920 square metres in terms of gross internal floor area.

Primary/Specialist schools
Peterhead has six primary schools (Clerkhill, Buchanhaven, Meethill, Dales Park, Central, Burnhaven).

There is one special school – that being Anna Ritchie, which caters for most specific learning difficulties, autism and other disabilites.

There is also Peterhead Alpha School which caters for children with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties, as well as learning difficulties, e.g. dyspraxia and dyslexia.

Transport
Peterhead has a number of in-town and out-of-town bus services.

Peterhead is further from a railway station (32 miles from Aberdeen) than any other town of its size in Britain. The town once had two stations Peterhead railway station and Peterhead Docks railway station. Passenger trains stopped in 1965, and freight in 1970. The start of reconstruction of the Borders line to Galashiels (early 2013) has begun a local political debate into the possibility of reopening the line from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and Peterhead.

Blueprint for Growth
In 2008, a Blueprint for Growth was published – a plan to extend the town beyond its bypass. The plan involved 4500 homes, 4 new primary schools, a new secondary school and a new hospital to be built in the next 20–25 years – hoping to bring 9000 people to the town.

Economy
Company/Organisation Activity
 * Onsite Services (Aberdeen) Ltd The main supplier of Welding and Fabrication services in Peterhead
 * R C Welding Services
 * Buchan Power Tools
 * GE Oil & Gas Pressure Control
 * Score Group Plc, Engineering
 * JBS Group (Scotland) Ltd, Fabrication/Engineering
 * Scottish Prison Service (HM Prison Grampian), Prison Services
 * ASCO Plc, Oil Services
 * Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd, Oil Company
 * ASDA (Walmart), Retailing
 * Morrisons Supermarket Plc, Retailing
 * Peterhead Port Authority
 * Fresh Catch Ltd, Fish Processing
 * Lunar Freezing Ltd, Fish Processing
 * Taylor Crane Company Ltd, Crane Hire
 * Dingbro Ltd, National Motor Factor
 * Waterside Inn (Swallow Hotels), Hotel Services
 * Macrae Foods Ltd, Fish Processing
 * Barchester Healthcare Ltd (Kirkburn Court Nursing Home), Nursing Home Services
 * Community Media Ltd, Printing and Publishing
 * Strachans Ltd, Grocery Wholesale
 * Ken Cassells Ltd, Fish Processing
 * The Palace Hotel (Peterhead) Ltd, Hotel Services
 * Alexander Buchan Ltd, Fish Processing
 * Dales Engineering Ltd, Steel Fabrication
 * Stagecoach Bluebird, Bus Services
 * Department for Work and Pensions, Government Benefits Office
 * Aberdeenshire Council, Local Government Services
 * Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust, Health Services
 * Peterhead Box Company Ltd, Box Factory
 * Natural Skincare Factory, Healthcare Products
 * Peterhead Power Station operated by Scottish and Southern Energy, Electricity Generation
 * HRI-ARCHITECTS, Architects
 * ALCOLifts, Lifting Equipment Engineering, LIfts, Cranes, Vessels,Offshore

Tourism


The harbours, maritime and built heritage are the town's principal tourism assets. Recent initiatives include investments in the Peterhead Bay area, which have included the berthing of cruise ships in the harbour. A number of projects are planned under the auspices of the Peterhead Project initiative, including tourism strategy development, enhancement of existing attractions, measures to improve the town's physical attractiveness, and improved marketing and promotion.

Sport
Peterhead F.C. are a Scottish Football League side who currently play in the Scottish League One and were Champions of Scottish League Two in 2013-14. On the 20 April 2013 Peterhead FC beat Glasgow Rangers 2-1 at Ibrox in the Scottish League Two match.

Peterhead also has a successful amateur boxing club, and in 2008 was the most successful boxing club in Northern Scotland. And currently has two reigning Scottish champions. The boxing gym is open to all and located in Ellis Street.

Peterhead RFC are a Scottish Rugby Union team who play at the Lord Catto playing fields.

Located at the Lido beach, Peterhead also has an active dinghy sailing club Peterhead Sailing Club with a strong club membership and anyone interested in dinghy sailing are very welcome to visit.

Twin town

 * Ålesund, Norway

Notable natives

 * William Aitken, footballer
 * Eric Temple Bell, mathematician and science fiction author
 * Peter Buchan, editor
 * Charles Creighton, physician and medical author
 * William Gibson, politician
 * Alexander Hall, footballer
 * William Hay, architect
 * Margaret Jope, biochemist
 * George Keith, missionary
 * James Francis Edward Keith, soldier
 * Marino Keith, footballer
 * William Keith, colonial governor of Pennsylvania
 * George Kynoch, engineering businessesman
 * Jim Lovie, footballer
 * Jamie McLeary, golfer
 * Stuart MacLeod, magician
 * Gilbert Mair, sailor and merchant trader
 * Frederick Martin, politician
 * Peter Mullan, actor and film maker
 * James Niven, physician
 * James Wales, artist

The town is also mentioned in Jules Verne's science-fiction novel 'A Journey to the Centre of the Earth' (1864).