Recently I’ve been doing research on my villages history. I didn't think that Cruden Bay was so special until I started to look. I doubt any of you have heard of Cruden Bay but after this you will think Cruden Bay is a pretty interesting place.

Cruden Bay is home to the ruin of Slains Castle the inspiration to Bram Stokers Dracula. He wrote most of this book while staying at the Kilmarnock Arms hotel (known to the locals as The Killie). It is still open to this day.

Cruden Bay is built on a Viking burial ground. From when the people of Port Errol (a village that was built into Cruden Bay) defeated the Viking raiding party led by Saint Olaf. Saint Olaf fell in this battle and was buried along with his men.

During the outbreak of cholera in the UK Cruden Bay was the only settlement totally untouched. And during the Black Death Cruden Bay was won of the few places untouched by it. They say that the Pagans that lived on ward hill protected the village from these plagues.

On the golf course (that’s in the top 100 golf courses in Britain) there is a natural spring called Saint Olaf's well. It is said that someday all the fishermen and sailors lost at sea shall raise from the dead and meet there.

During the First World War all the men that went to the war apart from one died. It’s said that he still walks through the streets playing a sad tune for his lost friend on his pipes. He is known as The Blue Piper

Finally Cruden Bay is home to one of the oldest woods in Scotland (I can see it from my house!)

As you can see Cruden Bay has a rich history... and yes the people are kinda creepy here.
So, what’s your towns claim to fame?

I come from Guildford, in Surrey, England.

The main claim to fame is that the Cathedral appeared in the movie 'The Omen' - it's in the scene where Damian is being driven up a long drive to a cathedral and starts screaming - well that's Guildford cathedral, famous for that and for having what appears to be a gold chicken on top of it.

Also has a Roman road running through the town centre (now cobbled) and a fairly intact Norman keep.

Well, I originally come from Bucyrus OH - home of Carle's Bratwurst - and we have our little Bratwurst Festival ever August - and we are they home of the Copper Kettle Factory ... oh, and me! hehe (jk)

BK

Selfoss the Biggest dairytown in south Iceland... wooptie freakin' doo

I was in Cruden Bay last August Evil Al - didn't I meet you in the Chemist shop. Half the twon was in there at the time - sniffles and coughs galore. I played your golf course - what hole is that spring on?

Perth West Australia is where I spent the last 10 years. It is known as the City of lights for the reason that when John Glen did his first manned space flight, there were some navigation malfunctions - computer? - I can't recall - anyway, he needed to get a good positional fix on exactly where he was. At a NASA request, all of Perth were asked to switch every light they had on that night (the local oil refinery even put 12 hours of production flow to the main flares), and Perth fairly glowed. JG made use of this info to fix his position and for NASA to redo his re-entry calcs. Leastwise - that's what they tell me ;)

Alkmaar in the Netherlands is famed for its cheese. Every Friday morning there's a cheese market in the centre of town - a ceremony that has took place every week for many years. Don't ask me how many.

There we go. Who says I never payed attention in history class? ;)

Well, my lovely little town is where Thornbury Castle is, built by Edward Stafford, at that time the Duke of Buckingham in the year 1511 IIRC.
He was beheaded later in 1521 due to King Henry being suspicious of Stafford making plans to overthrow King Henry and take the throne, as at the time he was the next in the line of succession.

Stafford's insignia was that of a plain knot, and you can see it in the gatehouse.

Also, the castle was converted into a very fancy hotel, and what a surprise it's called the Castle Hotel... how inventive.
It is a very expensive hotel and claimed to be one of the best or the best (I forget which) in Britain.
Oh, and of course it has it's own few ghost stories with it.
Some famous people have frequented it as well, such as Delia Smith, and someone else considerably more well known, as well of course as King Henry with Anee Boleyn in 1535, among other Kings and queens in later periods.

And plus, it's only about 5 minutes walk from my house.

[ 04-27-2002, 10:51 AM: Message edited by: Talthyr Malkaviel ]

Exton PA - where I lived - Stored the Papal cross after he visited Philadelphia.

Downingtown PA - where I went to school - The original BLOB film was filmed there.

Grafenwöhr Germany - where I live now - Largest Military Training Area in Europe and 4th Largest in the world.

Ive been to Crudenbay Al, tis a quaint town. My towns claim t fame is probably that it is near balmoral where the royal family go to stay .. in summer they drive through my town quite lot, sad i know.

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