New bridge over Deveron

100 YEARS AGO

New bridge over Deveron – At the last meeting of the Upper Banffshire District Committee, there were submitted plans of a new bridge across the Deveron at Milton of Lesmurdie, Cabrach. Such a bridge has been a long and keenly felt want in the district. For instance, there is only one meal mill in the vicinity, and farmers have to cross the Deveron every time they want corn ground – often a difficult and hazardous undertaking – unless they make a long detour by Dufftown or Rhynie.

A sum of about £100 has already been collected locally for the work, and we learn that His Grace the Duke of Richmond and Gordon has promised a contribution of £100 towards the cost of the scheme, so that matters are now in a hopeful way for the project taking practical shape.

50 YEARS AGO

Turriff hospital officially re-opened – The unqualified success of the National Health Service since it was formed 13 years ago was referred to by Lady May Baird, chairman of the North-eastern Regional Hospital Board on Saturday. Lady Baird was speaking at the official reopening of the reconstructed Cottage Hospital, Turriff. Lady Baird described this benefit as part of the most wonderful step that any country could have taken. In the United States of America, which she had visited recently, this service had not been adopted, but President Kennedy and his ministers were quite determined that something of the sort be started.

Lady Baird said that one of the most important things to be done was the reorganisation of the maternity service in Aberdeenshire especially, and also in Banffshire. In the North-east, she thought it safe to say they had the highest number of beds for the provision of maternity cases of any place in the country. But maternity units were not always in the right places. The service would have to be reorganised so that it was more acceptable to the great number of women and to doctors.

25 YEARS AGO

Macduff bus depot stays – Fears that the modernised Macduff bus depot may fall victim of D-Day were removed this week. And the operators of the depot – Northern Scottish Limited – pledged that the Macduff facility will continue to play an important role. Large-scale investment has only recently been carried out at the depot in Union Road – but it is known that concern has been expressed over the future after October. This is because of the decision to deregularise the bus services and open up routes to competitive tender.

Already Northern Scottish have said that the 7pm and 8pm early-evening routes between Banff and Macduff – known locally as the hospital buses because of visiting hours at Chalmers Hospital – will not be competed for by them. This means that unless a private operator takes over the routes, they will disappear. Already protests are planned about the possible withdrawal of the services. However, with such uncertainty over the outcome of D-Day on local routes and services, doubts have been aired about the future of the Macduff depot. And these have been fuelled by the recent decision to run down the Buckie depot.

Only five drivers are now stationed at Buckie, which used to boast one of the busiest facilities in the whole of the North-east. But this week Mr J.S. Westaby, director and general manager of Northern Scottish, told ‘The Banffshire Journal’ that the fears over the Macduff depot were completely without foundation.

He said: "The Macduff depot has increased in size, and a large investment programme has been carried out by the company over the past year. New garage and workshop facilities have been provided, and now a new office block has been built to replace the old houses that, for many years, served this purpose. By involving such a high investment in Macduff, the company have ensured that the future of the local depot is very much in our forward planning."