Colin Farquhar: Macduff finally on the up – with long-awaited supermarket near and aquarium revamp taking shape

Macduff. Historic Burgh in Buchan on the eastern bank of the twisting River Deveron and Aberdeenshire’s latest boomtown.

Well, perhaps ‘boomtown’ is slightly far-fetched, but there’s plenty going on up the road at the moment. My Mum’s hometown has three major projects ongoing in an attempt to boost local fortunes.

A new Aldi is in the offing, with construction at long last having started on a saga I’ve written about before.

Tarlair Outdoor Pool’s supposed reopening continues to look more likely, with the community Friends group acquiring new funding recently through the Architectural Heritage Fund. Thirdly, the Macduff Marine Aquarium redevelopment has begun.

It’s good to see things moving and to hear more about the progress every time I go home. Folk seem genuinely pleased by the local investment, which brings people in, creates jobs and speaks to the town’s history, particularly, I think, the aquarium.

It’s a funny thing, as I was probably slightly too old a bairn to enjoy Macduff Aquarium when it first opened.

In 1997 I was bordering on a teenage tearaway and a fish tank wasn’t really the coolest place to hang about. But it’s found a place in my heart as I’ve gotten older and I’ve been to it a few times when visiting home over the last few years.

It was one of the first places I took my now-fiance on a date. We had driven up to Banffshire to meet some of my family, and for a longer introduction to my Mum, and before heading back to the city we popped into the aquarium.

A quick visit, just for the halibut. Lucky for me, she didn’t decide to put her skates on. Everything since has gone swimmingly.

The background picture on my phone is still my other half looking through the portal of The Kelp Reef tank there, holding onto an A4 sheet of paper with the fish species present in the tanks.

The big central one has 400,000 litres of water, is open to the sky and full of the finest marine life the Moray Firth has to offer. It really is quite an impressive bit of design, and best seen up close.

For Christmas 2024 we received the gift of a sponsored fish at the aquarium from my brother, in commemoration of our early date there. I’ve not quite been to visit him yet, but ‘Seabaxter’ is a wolfish and monikered after his more traditionally on-land and four-legged namesake, Baxter, our wheaten terrier. We love both equally, although one barks considerably more.

The Macduff Aquarium has received a considerable grant from the UK Government through the Not-Called-Levelling-Up-Anymore Levelling-Up Funding.

This genuinely delights me, and I think shows ambition to really placemake within Aberdeenshire’s towns. 50,000 visitors to the attraction is nae bad, but should be improved upon with better exhibitions and a better experience.

More spaces to entertain local and visiting kids, and teach them about Buchan’s natural heritage. More spaces to learn about the marine life and conservation of the Moray Firth, including quarantine tanks and a lobster hatchery that sees larvae released in the North Sea.

To support local education and local fishing and marine life in one movement sounds grand to me. Placemaking and plaice-making.

If that’s not enough, a first-floor restaurant is being added. If you’re not hugely familiar with Macduff I can assure you that the setting is beautiful, sitting right at the back of the harbour, in the shadow of the Macduff Shipyards, with views over the mouth of the Deveron and the North Sea. I couldn’t think of a more tranquil place to eat and take in the views. I just hope they don’t fry my Seabaxter.

It’s heartening to know that my hometowns of Whitehills, Banff and Macduff – and yes, I really do think of them in triplicate – aren’t being overlooked when purse strings are opened.

These are communities that have suffered enormously as the fishing industry has depleted and moved on. They have long deserved more economic development.

At a time when public funding is coming under such intense pressure, it’s wonderful that such a unique attraction as the aquarium will be supported by Aberdeenshire Council, which runs it, well into the future, and is helping to attract punters to the area.

Here’s to more of the same, with the hope that Tarlair Outdoor Swimming Pool can follow Aldis and Aquariums to become the next facet of Macduff to welcome the world.

Colin Farquhar works as a creative spaces manager and film programmer in the north-east culture sector