Derelict Thursday: Herdies

A somewhat personal shot this week.

When I was young, Buckie had three shipyards: Jones, Thomson, and Herd & McKenzie - latterly Buckie Shipyard, but affectionately known as "Herdies".

Herdies was the last of the three to survive, and finally closed in 2013. I can remember when they launched the Captain Scott, a magnificent schooner built as a training ship. While fishing was thriving the slip was constantly busy, but as the industry declined, I suppose it was pretty much inevitable that the yard's business would too. The RNLI was a major client for over 60 years, with many lifeboats being maintained and refitted there; when that contract as cancelled in 2011, that must have been pretty much the final nail in Herdies' coffin.

I read something earlier this week that reminded me of Buckie's lost shipyards, and as I was arriving here on Thursday it was the obvious choice for my Derelict Thursday shot. I didn't get here until almost 9pm (the shot is a 2 second exposure, on a mini-tripod sitting on the car roof - I didn't plan the reflections in the car roof, but I like them!), and as I'd no way of knowing if the weather would be good enough to get a decent shot, I'd already managed to take a quick fallback shot in Aberdeen this morning. As a photograph, I think I prefer Dreams come true, but the one of Herdies is much closer to my heart.


This week's challenge is hosted by Himself and freespiral. All entries can be found under the tag DerelictThursday.