The 1980s was a time of great change in Portlethen, as new developments took it from a coastal village to one of the biggest communities in Kincardineshire.
In just one decade, a new police station opened, the railway station reopened, an Asda superstore was built, the first dentist opened, and Portlethen Academy finally welcomed pupils.
Portlethen was seen as one of the success stories of development around Aberdeen in the years after oil was discovered, going from a population of a few hundred to a few thousand.
Plans for a secondary school in the growing community had been mooted since the early 1970s, but took many years to come to fruition.
Even as late as 1978 a question mark still hung over the possibility of a new school.
Portlethen parents fought for secondary school in 1980s
Portlethen had grown exponentially with new housing, but without any additional community facilities.
Meanwhile, schoolchildren were travelling around nine miles for secondary school provision at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven.
Parents and community leaders expressed great concern about overcrowding at Mackie Academy, road conditions in the winter and a lack of bus services.
In 1976 new housing developments threatened to put so much pressure on Mackie that Portlethen pupils were nearly rezoned to Kincorth Academy in Aberdeen.
Despite this, the Scottish Education Department was still reluctant to justify a new school.
In 1979, North Angus and Mearns MP Alick Buchanan-Smith took his constituents’ fight to the House of Commons and argued for a “desperately needed” academy.
By 1981, with proposals for another 1200 homes in Portlethen, it was accepted that a secondary school was needed.
New school was described as ‘jewel in Grampian Region’s crown’
Tenders for the 750-pupil school were put out in 1984, and after negotiations, Aberdeen firm Alexander Hall & Co were appointed contractors for the £4 million project.
Ward councillor Roderick Kinghorn: “We are still aiming to have this long-awaited and much-needed new academy ready for use after the summer holidays in 1986.”
But like most developments, the build ran behind schedule. By summer 1986, pupils were still attending Mackie Academy.
However, the reopening of Portlethen Railway Station the previous year saw a special school service train introduced to take pupils to Stonehaven.
Although it provided a safer travel route for pupils, within months, British Rail removed travel passes from two dozen schoolchildren for “a spate of bad behaviour on the trains”.
It was with some relief that Portlethen Academy finally at Easter 1987, opening its doors to first and second year pupils.
The first rector was Clement Stewart, who was delighted with the “striking building” which featured large areas of glass and a spacious entrance way.
After the summer, the first pupils from feeder primary schools moved up to Portlethen Academy, taking the roll to 315.
It would not be until 1990 that the school reached its capacity with a full compliment of S1-S6 pupils.
But fewer than 20 years later, the school, once dubbed “the jewel in Grampian Region’s crown” was replaced by another when it became too small.
The current Portlethen Academy opened in August 2006 and the 1987 one was demolished.
Gallery: Photos of Portlethen in the 1980s
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