Portgordon fairy walk spreading its magic far and wide as kids flock to new attraction
A Moray village has become home to a magical fairy walk which is attracting attention far and wide.
A stretch of the old railway line walk behind Gordon Street in Portgordon has been transformed into a world of fairy houses, fairy doors, a seating area and a whole host of magical characters.
Behind this transformation are Fairy Gollachy and Fairy Lennox - aka local men Allan Cowie and Dougie Wilson.
It all began back in January of this year quite by chance, as Allan revealed.
“I’ve been off work ill and rather than sit around on the sofa I decided to go out to the shed and see if I could make something out of the timber I had stored there.
“I ended up making a fairy house and soon one of my neighbours asked for a couple and then a friend asked for another couple.
“My son them came up with the idea of creating a fairy walk on part of the old railway line walk. By this time I had 16 fairy houses as well as fairy doors. I made a few more and at that point Fairy Lennox agreed to come on board.”
The project is one that local folk have readily bought into.
Allan continued: “There’s been a real positive vibe to it.
“We’ve now got our Phantom Stone Painters, who have been painting stones etc with messages on them. they’re brilliant, whoever they are!
“We got two reels from Karl Thomsen Marine for picnic tables.
“One of the upcoming projects is Richmond the Rock Snake at the village harbour. I’ll be looking to get boulders and paint them to make the snake’s head then we’ll see how long the body can grow by asking folk to paint their own stones and add them to the snake.
“We’ve been getting kids at Portgordon Primary involved with the fairy walk and St Peter’s nursery kids will be helping start off Richmond the Rock Snake. I’m also hoping to work with kids at Buckie High School.”
Initial interest in the fairy walk was sparked by a post on Portgordon Village Hall’s Facebook page, but in the short time the project has been running it has amassed a fan club from much further afield than the village boundaries.
Allan said: “The interest in the fairy walk has been unbelievable, the traction we’ve been getting on Facebook is incredible.
“There’s folk been coming from as far afield as Dufftown and Aberdeen to see the fairy walk as well as people from across the local area.
“The fairy walk Facebook page got over 1000 followers in the first fortnight and it’s gone viral across Moray. We’re delighted to hear that the local village shop and the volunteer-run Lampie Hoose café have both been experiencing increased footfall as a result of people coming to see the fairy walk.
“It’s been great to see the kids’ faces when they go to the fairy walk. This has really brought out a sense of community spirit.”
Keep up to date with the progress of the fairy walk by following its Facebook page.
