The Crooked Hythe

A hundred years back, this crooked notch in the Findochty coastline was not a place for a stroll. It was a shipyard, thick with the noise of wooden steam drifters going up, tall as the houses around them.

The story starts with Thomas Mackenzie, a ships carpenter from Dumbarton who came to Findochty on holiday in 1900 and, rather than switching off, spotted a business opportunity in the rocks. He came back in 1903 with brother-in-law James Herd and set about the grim, back-breaking task of building a slipway¹“The Old Skills Live on in Captain Scott”. Aberdeen Evening Express. 26 September 1974. Page 7.. By the end of that year, Herd & Mackenzie shipyard was open for trade.

Getting a boat in or out was another matter entirely. The Crooked Hythe earned its name honestly, and its awkward bend put off more than a few skippers before they had even tried. James Mair of Portknockie was the first to manage it, guiding his Zulu boat Valkyrie through the channel for repairs.

The first order came in 1905: a steam drifter called Bloomfield, built in the open air with no shelter from the weather, launched on 7th April 1906 for £915 for Messrs. Flett of Findochty²“Launches of the Week”. Fairplay. 19 April 1906. Page 41.. After that, the yard turned out about three boats a year, thirty-two up to the outbreak of war in 1914, until the last one, Courage, slid out in 1932, by which point Herd & Mackenzie had opened a bigger yard in Buckie which had rather stolen its thunder.³Addition to Centenary Supplement. Banffshire Advertiser. 17 November 1981. Page 49..

Incidentally, that first steam drifter, the Bloomfield, would venture far and wide chasing the herring. Off Whitby in 1912 she caught 120 crans of herrings which were sold at Scarborough for 33s. per cran, or £195⁴Nottingham Evening Post. 2 September 1912. Page 5..

Main Source: The Crooked Hythe Interpretive Information Board. Findochty. Viewed 5 Sept 2026.

• 1
  “The Old Skills Live on in Captain Scott”. Aberdeen Evening Express. 26 September 1974. Page 7. ↩︎
• 2
  “Launches of the Week”. Fairplay. 19 April 1906. Page 41. ↩︎
• 3
  Addition to Centenary Supplement. Banffshire Advertiser. 17 November 1981. Page 49. ↩︎
• 4
  Nottingham Evening Post. 2 September 1912. Page 5. ↩︎