On what turned out to be a calm and balmy
January day, 34 Strollers met at Newhaven for a tour of the historic village
led by our Blue Badge Guides Karen and Helen. Given the weather of the previous
days, it turned out to be a really nice day for the walk. Hopefully the rest of
this year’s walks will be as calm!
We met up outside the Brewers Fayre and
walked past the fish market and Loch Fyne Restaurant on our way to Newhaven
village, on what is reclaimed land. The River Forth used to go all the way up
to the village. At one time the Forth was called the Frisian Sea. This is said
to be due to the link with the Frisian Islands and settlers from there.
People from Newhaven have the nickname of
BowTows. Thanks to Ann P for passing on the source of this nickname. It’s from
the buoys and tow ropes. The men from Newhaven used to be the pilots for access
to this part of the Forth as well as fisherman.
Newhaven fishwives were famous throughout the
country for their brightly coloured traditional outfits, quick wits and for
their sharp tongues, which gave rise to the Scots’ expression ‘a tongue like a
fishwife’. In the 19th Century they became an attraction for the new art of
photography.
Newhaven was redeveloped in the 1960s. The
buildings more in keeping with how the village used to look were the work of
the eminent Scottish modern architect Sir Basil
Spence. He incorporated the ‘sets’ from the road
into his designs and used them as bricks in the newly built houses. Everyone
was moved out whilst this work was being done and it led to the loss of quite a
few of the shops and pubs which had been in the village.
Andrew Wood Square is named after Sir Andrew
Wood, a sea captain who traded with the Netherlands but also acted as a
privateer for James III preying on English ships. His ship the Caravel also
acted as the Britannia of its day for the king and his wife. He also commanded
the Great Michael when it was built and launched at Newhaven before becoming
ambassador to France and then Regent for the young James V. He was granted
lands at Largo in Fife and built a canal to get to church.
The Society of Free Fishermen of Newhaven,
dating from at least 1572, was one of the oldest Friendly Societies in Scotland.
It survived until 1989.
We finished at St Andrew’s Free Church which
was founded in 1843 when the Church of Scotland split in the Disruption. It re-joined
in 1929 and the congregation moved in 1974 to the older Newhaven Parish Church.
It was then time to head off for the
obligatory plate of soup or scone!
Our thanks to Helen and Karen for a very interesting walk.
