Stonehaven's Success Celebrated

STONEHAVEN’S triple success in this year’s Beautiful Scotland competition was celebrated at an award ceremony on Friday 11 November in the British Legion.

Stonehaven was proclaimed Best Coastal Town, took an overall Gold award for their entry and received a special award for a project undertaken for Scotland’s Year of Stories.

Sandy Scott, one of the judges, who had been so impressed with the town’s efforts, returned for Friday night’s event to present the certificates earned along with the trophy for Best Coastal Town.

Horizon volunteers were joined by those from the other groups that had pitched in to sweep, wash, weed and tidy for the judging day on August 8 – a collaboration particularly noted by the judges, who were also delighted to see the effective working relationship between the groups and Aberdeenshire Council.

The prize-winning entry for Scotland’s Year of Stories saw The Mearns Writers penning a series of poems inspired by and set around Stonehaven. Meanwhile a once-eminent botanist, John Duncan, was the subject of a short story in the Doric by Alistair Lawrie. The collected works have been recorded and will be presented in a leaflet suggesting a walking route around the town.