Pennan is a small village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland consisting of a small harbour and a single row of homes, including a hotel. Pennan became famous in the 1980s for being used as one of the main locations for the film Local Hero, and representing the fictional village of Ferness. Film enthusiasts have come from all over the world to make a phone call in the red telephone box which featured in the film. The phone box was in fact originally put there only as a prop for the film, and then removed, but as a result of public demand a genuine telephone box was installed a few metres from the original spot (+44 (0)1346 6210), and has been a listed building since 1989.
Portsoy is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The original name may come from Port Saoithe, meaning "saithe harbour". Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth Coast of North East Scotland, 50 miles North West of Aberdeen & 65 miles East of Inverness. It has an approximate population of 2000 persons. Portsoy was created a burgh of barony in 1550 and its first harbour was considered to be the safest in the North East. As a result it handled a lively trade with England and the Continent. The town was particularly famed for its marble, cut from a vein of serpentine which runs across the braes to the west of the harbour. Portsoy Marble was greatly appreciated for its beauty and was used in the construction of parts of Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles. The 19th century herring boom brought further prosperity to Portsoy. At its peak, the herring fleet totalled 57 boats. The harbour was washed away in an extremely violent storm in 1828 and it took until 1884 for the harbour to be rebuilt. At one time a railway line ran down to the older harbour which maintained a busy commercial trade, particularly in coal. Towards the end of the 19th century the Portsoy fishing fleet moved to the larger harbours of Macduff and Buckie and today Portsoy's harbours are primarily used by pleasure craft and creel boats catching lobster and crab.
Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that eventually merged into one. From 1890 - 1975 it was a police burgh as Lossiemouth and Branderburgh. Stotfield, the first significant settlement (discounting Kinneddar which has now disappeared), lies to the north west of the town. Next was the Seatown - a small area between the river and the canal inholding of 52 houses, 51 of which are the historic fisher cottages. Following the decision to build a new harbour on the River Lossie, the 18th Century planned town of Lossiemouth, built on a grid system, was established on the low ground below the Coulard Hill. Branderburgh formed the final development during the 19th Century. This part of the town developed entirely as a result of the new harbour with its two basins and eventually covered the entire Coulard Hill and providing the town's impressive profile when seen from afar.
