Shipwrecks   The Middlesborough coaster Brightside ran aground on rocks off Hackley Head near Collieston on 24th April 1949 in thick fog. The crew of nine got clear in a small boat and were picked up by the Kirkcaldy drifter Noontide three hours later and were put ashore at Aberdeen. Before abandoning ship the Brightside’s master, Captain J.W.Hopper of Sunderland, sounded the siren for assistance. It jammed and brought Collieston Coastguards and the Life Saving Brigade hastening to the cliff top. Unable to see the coaster because of the thick fog, they aimed rope-carrying rockets in the direction from which the noise of the siren was coming. For a few minutes the fog lifted and they saw one line had fallen across the ship. They then realised that the crew had managed to get away.

	The breeches buoy is clearly visible as are two members of the rescue party, happy that on this occasion no lives were lost. To the right leaning on the pole is Jack Ingram who was on holiday at the time staying with his parents at No 2 Cluny Cottages. Jack’s father, Charles Ingram, was a long serving member of the Collieston Coast Guard Company.

	The S.S. Holdernook ran aground on dangerous rocks a quarter of a mile north of Hackley Head near Collieston on 21st August, 1947. The Collieston Coastguard Company was alerted and immediately proceeded to the scene intending to assist in the rescue of the crew. Having set up their rescue gear they had to keep it in hand owing to the working of the vessel in the heavy seas. The ship’s crew were hesitant to use the breeches buoy due to the stormy conditions and were subsequently rescued by the Newburgh Lifeboat and landed safely at Collieston. Return to top of page

	World War 2
	A form written in English and Norwegian, signed by a Norwegian Brigadier and dated 29th December 1941. The pass was issued to Lewis Mackie, a coast watcher and temporary coastguard, to identify him to any Norwegian Forces which he might meet while on patrol from Collieston to the mouth of the River Ythan, part of the area also covered by the Norwegian Brigade during the 1939-1945 World War. Once while on patrol Lewis discovered a partly hidden dinghy which had been brought up from the shore by some Germans landing from a submarine. The Germans were eventually caught further north in Moray.

	Jack Walker, whose father Thomas saw active service in the Dardanelles during the First World War, was a child of thirteen when the Second World War broke out. Like so many of his contemporaries, Jack kept a scrapbook which he began compiling after the death of King George V in 1937. Among the many newspaper cuttings adorning the pages of the wartime years of the scrapbook are some of Jack’s own cartoon drawings of his heroes and villains. Judging by Jack’s depiction of Hitler, he clearly fell into the latter category. Jack, a cadet in the Merchant Navy, went on to study at the School of Navigation in Aberdeen and by the end of the war in 1942 Jack, then a young man, had seen action in the Mediterranean during the Italian Campaign. Return to top of page

	Rescue at Sea   Dick Ingram is wearing the Bronze Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea awarded to him by King George V1. The Hull steamer Lesrix ran aground on the rocks off Hackley Head during a storm on January 26th 1942. Dick and George Ross, a young lad from the village, rescued four men by breeches buoy from the bow of the steamer but the unrelenting blizzard conditions caused the stern of the Lesrix to break away and sink with the loss of ten of her crew. Dick’s heroism was recognised when he was awarded the Gallantry medal for life saving at sea, while the unfortunate young George received nothing more than a rebuke from the headmaster for not turning up for school that day.

The Bronze Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea was awarded to Richard (Dick) Ingram for his part in the rescue of members of the crew of the Hull steamer ‘Lesrix’ which ran aground on the rocks off Hackley Head during a storm on January 26th 1942. The obverse of the medal gives the effigy of King George V1 and the Royal Cypher with the words ‘For Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea.’ The ribbon is scarlet with two narrow white vertical stripes. Accompanied by his sister, Isabella, Dick travelled to London where the medal was presented to him by King George V1 at Buckingham Palace on 13th October, 1942. Return to top of page

	Education
	Pupils and Head Teacher of Collieston School in 1949. The school originally opened in 1877 but had to close temporarily in 1922 due to falling numbers in the school roll. The remaining children from the village were then required to travel some three miles to the nearest school at Slains to continue with their education. However, due to subsequent overcrowding at Slains School, the school in Collieston was re-opened in 1932. Sadly its reprieve was not to be permanent and it eventually closed for the last time on July 1, 1949. The school building is now the Collieston Community Centre and many local organisations such as the Children’s Playgroup, Over 60’s Club and Women’s Rural Institute, meet in the Centre on a regular basis. Return to top of page