Rebecca Buchan: Railway could make Peterhead town centre just as busy as Inverurie’s

Some of my earliest and most fond memories are of day trips as a young child, shopping in Aberdeen.

It would be a whole day event, where my mum would wrap me up in my knitted hats (or Peterheed bonnets) and bundle me into the back of her rust-coloured Nova.

We would quickly wheech past my granny’s house and pick her up and we would be off to the Granite City.

Once in town we’d spend hours whittling our way through C&A’s, What Every Women Wants and Littlewoods, before ending the day with a food shop at Markies.

And the icing on the cake was the prawn sandwich we would all split before heading home to the Blue Toon.

This might not sound like a special day out to many but for me, it was an adventure of the best kind and probably how I developed a love of shopping.

Aberdeen was always considered to have an offering on another level to any local shops in Peterhead.

Don’t get me wrong. In the 80s and early 90s there was a decent local economy in the north-east fishing port.

Donald’s, Just Right, Home Sense, Murisons, Woolies, you name it, we had it.

But there was nothing quite like the treasures you could bring back from Aberdeen. It just had that something extra worth travelling up the A90 for.

What can Peterhead learn from Inverurie?

These days, for a multitude of reasons, fewer and fewer people seem to be planning a big day out in Aberdeen. And the bus gates, now made permanent, seem to be scaring off those who might.

Earlier this week I was intrigued to read about the success of Inverurie town centre.

It’s a pretty different picture there to that of Peterhead these days – and it made me wonder why.

If you ask those living in Inverurie it would appear they credit the current success of the town on a few factors, including the business improvement district (Bid).

This is something which has been hugely controversial in Peterhead to the point where it didn’t last longer than its first term.

So what is happening in Inverurie that has everyone thinking so positively, because it feels like other groups around the north-east could take note?

Congratulations must be given to Aberdeen Inspired, whose recent campaign aimed at getting footfall back into the city centre helped attract an extra 10,000 people over one weekend.

Throw in the only Christmas village within hundreds of miles, a very successful restaurant week and I’m not really sure what there is not to like.

So perhaps Inverurie’s Bid has just sold itself a bit better? But I think it’s more than that.

I think Inverurie has hit the sweet spot making it one of Scotland’s busiest town centres.

The access to it on the train line will certainly help with this – and is a good case for the Campaign for North East Rail to use to push its agenda.

The railway line makes Inverurie far more accessible

Not only is it able to serve those living locally and the surrounding towns and villages but it makes for a nice and easy day trip from the city too.

So it’s fair to say our report about Inverurie has got tongues wagging and cogs turning as other town centres try to plot their own recovery.

Of course, there can be no “one size fits all”, but I do think this point about railway access is one worth exploring.

Peterhead has plenty to offer a family planning an excursion – and the idea of not getting stuck behind a lorry on the single-carriageway route would surely entice a lot more visitors.

Make it easy for people from the surrounding area to get there, and they will have the town’s cinema, Prison Museum, trendy diners like North all at their fingertips – not to mention the stunning coastal scenery.

In fact, with a town centre taskforce recently receiving confirmation of a £20 million cash boost from the UK Government – splashing some cash on the rail campaign wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world…

But let’s hope that people remember the magic the big city can bring.

While I love nothing more than to see our Aberdeenshire towns thrive, once in a while I’m sure they too would love an afternoon at the Art Gallery or a nosey around Annie Mos.

Many things have changed in the last 40 years but Markies still does a mean prawn sandwich.

Rebecca Buchan is deputy head of news and sport for The Press and Journal and Evening Express.