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The blue surf boat Maggie Law on display inside the museum at Gourdon.
Aberdeenshire

The Maggie Law Maritime Museum

A little museum on Gourdon harbour built round the Maggie Law, a famous rescue surf boat.

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Welcome

Gourdon is a fishing village on the coast between Stonehaven and Montrose, and its museum stands right beside the old harbour and the slipway the villagers call the Gutty, on William Street.

It is housed in the historic two-storey building where the coastguard kept its equipment.

At its heart is the Maggie Law, a famous surf boat. Around it is a collection of maritime exhibits, artefacts and stories of the village's fishing and its rescues, all fitted into a compact space and laid out with care by the people who run it.

Gourdon is ten miles south of Stonehaven and eleven north of Montrose. It still has a working harbour, with boats landing fish and shellfish, and Inverbervie is a short walk north along the shore.

Round the cornerQuayside Restaurant & Fish Bar, GourdonFish and chips with a view over the harbour at Gourdon, from a fish bar on the West Quay, open Wednesday to Sunday from four until eight.1 min by roadSee itBattered fish and chips with lemon and tartare sauce from the Quayside.
Before you go

Beside the old harbour and the slipway called the Gutty, on William Street in Gourdon.

Where
William Street, Gourdon.
Where it is

Gourdon.

Close byAround Gourdon.
  1. Sillyflatt Farm ShopA family farm shop above the North Sea between Inverbervie and Gourdon, selling its own lamb and food from within a hundred miles.Under a mile 2 min by road
  2. The old stone mill buildings of Benholm among autumn trees.Mill of BenholmA restored watermill near Johnshaven, with a café baking its own patisserie.3 miles 6 min by road
  3. The Lobster Shop on Fore Street, Johnshaven, its blue windows under a lobster sign.The Lobster ShopLobster and crab from the Johnshaven boats, dressed and eaten on a bench by the harbour.4 miles 7 min by road
  4. The old lifeboat house in Johnshaven, its tall blue doors open under the museum's sign.Johnshaven Heritage MuseumThe village's own museum in its old lifeboat house of 1891, with a new exhibition every summer.4 miles 7 min by road
  5. The Grassic Gibbon Centre's gabled front beside Arbuthnott Hall, picnic tables outside.Lewis Grassic Gibbon Centre4 miles 8 min by road
Directions
Battered fish and chips with lemon and tartare sauce from the Quayside.RestaurantsQuayside Restaurant & Fish Bar, GourdonA step away
The white Creel Inn at Catterline with its sign, a lobster creel on the terrace.RestaurantsThe Creel Inn7.1 miles
Rowing boat "The Gray Starling" sits among wildflowers overlooking a rocky sea stackAttractionsCatterline Bay7.3 miles
Grassy dunes overlook a wide sandy beach with distant figures walkingAttractionsSt Cyrus National Nature Reserve7.6 miles
Waterfall dropping from grassy cliffs into a sheltered sea inletAttractionsRSPB Fowlsheugh8.3 miles
The white-streaked sea cliffs of Fowlsheugh above blue water, a seabird in flight.AttractionsRSPB Scotland Fowlsheugh8.3 miles
Grass-topped limestone cliff with a thin waterfall dropping into the seaAttractionsCrawton Waterfall8.4 miles
A ruined clifftop castle enclosed by sea stacks, waves breaking against the rocks belowAttractionsDunnottar Castle9.5 miles
A jar of Castleton jam beside a scone with cream and berries.CafeCastleton Farm Shop & Cafe10 miles
The Daily for 17 October, from Scotland with love. A wide waterfall churns over rock ledges, autumn trees lining the gorge.

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near The Maggie Law Maritime Museum, and when each is next free.

Timber cabin with metal roof and decking surrounded by woodland treesNorth Lodge and River Cabin
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Banchory
  • 14 miles from The Maggie Law Maritime Museum
Free 29–30 OctA stone farmhouse covered in climbing ivy stands behind a gravel drive, seen through overhanging pine branches.Cuttieshillock
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glen Dye
  • 14 miles from The Maggie Law Maritime Museum
Free 17–19 OctA stone cottage with dormer windows sits behind a low blue gate, a rose-covered archway framing the front door.Gamekeeper’s Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Strachan
  • 14 miles from The Maggie Law Maritime Museum
Free 2–4 NovA stone steading with a slated pyramid roof and a chimney stands behind a green nameplate sign, a chair visible through the window.No 2 Steading Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Strachan
  • 14 miles from The Maggie Law Maritime Museum
Free 18–20 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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