Boyndie is a village in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland.

History

Boyndie was once home to

RAF Banff Royal Air Force Banff or more simply RAF Banff is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and northeast of Keith, Moray. History The airfield was sited on land belonging to the Earls of Seafield since ...

Strike Wing, which played a pivotal role in protecting the area during World War II. Under the command of group captain the Hon. Max Aitken, six multi-national squadrons formed the Banff Strike Wing. Between September 1944 and May 1945, crews flying in Mosquito and Beaufighter aircraft targeted U-boats and surface vessels in the North Sea, causing the loss of thousands of tons of iron ore and other vital supplies. More than 80 airmen from the Wing gave their lives during the conflict. The airfield closed in 1946. In 1989, the R.A.F. Banff Strike Wing Memorial was erected on the Banff to Portsoy road near Portsoy.

Attractions

The Grampian Kart Club operates an 850 metre

kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance ...

racing track. In 2004, Boyndie's old school building was converted into a training centre for people with special needs, and a visitor centre and restaurant serving the local community. In 2006, Falck Renewables Wind Ltd built and commissioned the Boyndie Wind Farm, located on a disused World War II airfield. The wind farm has 8 turbines and when it's operating fully it generates 16.65 MW of electricity. The local community owns shares in the wind farm through the Boyndie Wind Farm Co-operative Ltd, which is the first wind farm co-operative in Scotland.

Royal visit

On 11 November 2004 the Princess Royal visited Boyndie to tour the newly converted school building.

Notable People

* Colin Fraser Barron (1893-1958), Canadian soldier, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

* John Charles Grant Ledingham (1875-1944), pathologist and bacteriologist * Mary Adamson Anderson Marshall (1837–1910), physician, member of the

Edinburgh Seven The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. They began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869 and, although the Court of Session ruled that they should neve ...

George Ogilvie-Forbes Sir George Arthur Drostan Ogilvie-Forbes (6 December 1891 – 10 July 1954) was a British diplomat who held two key postings in the years leading up to the Second World War, as chargé d'affaires in Madrid and Valencia 1936 to 1937 and as cou ...

(1891-1954), diplomat, humanitarian, recipient of the

British Hero of the Holocaust The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individ ...

award *

Thomas Ruddiman Thomas Ruddiman (October 167419 January 1757) was a Scotland, Scottish classical scholar. Life Ruddiman was born on a farm near Boyndie, three miles from Banff in Banffshire, where his father was a farmer. He was educated locally and then stud ...

(1674-1757), classical scholar

References

* United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map (2004) 1:50,000 scale, Landranger series; 29

Footnotes