I think you are being a little over dramatic. Pennan is doing just fine, just like Crovie round the coastal bend...and generates a good income for savvy property owners. I live in Gardenstown, and we all know that Pennan as a tiny village could never live up to, or support the romantic idyllic image portrayed in the film. It's a pretty hellish place to live in in the winter; the coast battered by storms, the only access road often inaccessable, and not one single shop for miles. The Pennan Inn closed because it went out of business through serving over priced crap meals until recently, when the Thai lady took over, and you still get far better value for money (not to mention a parking space) in the Garden Arms, or further afield in Banff. The landslides in 2007 did nothing to help the image of the place either. It's a very beautiful, but boring place, that once you have had a pint and looked at the stunning view you can't wait to leave. The houses are owned by canny investors, and are all raking in over five hundred quid a week in holiday lets in the summer so that's why it is full of incomers and no one lives there permanently..it's just too much hassle. The local 'heroes' couldn't wait to sell out for the big money brought in on the tidal wave of publicity. They all bought big houses up on the main road where they still enjoy the spectacular views, but don't have to watch the single sh!t pipe from all the house drains deposit raw sewage on the beach, or have their front windows slammed by wave bourne rocks. They don't have to park at one end of the village any more and walk a mile back, lugging their shopping/logs/furniture etc. They can even check their big bank accounts on the internet - broadband is not available in Pennan.
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rallan5000
12 years ago
I'm being over dramatic? No I don't think I am. It's a shell of the place it was. It's a beautiful place and many of these rental properties sit empty all year round.
Honest to god I've never read such utter nonsense on this site.
Hey...if you were really a Gardenstown local, you wouldn't have called it that. Anyone from the area worth their salt would refer to it as Gamrie.
Canny investors...Mainly from outwith the uk.
And yeah. Broadband is available.
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BridgetB
12 years ago
You can't eat scenery. Nobody was forced to sell. (And Happer never did open that scientific institute.)
Seriously, save up to buy one of the houses (although I've read of landslides that are threatening the area--and they weren't caused by the film.) Do you live in a similar simple, isolated place? Or is it just that Pennan is no longer quaint enough for your tourist dollar/pound/euro?
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!!!deleted!!! (41638798)
12 years ago
Must put my hand up and own up to having contributed to this downall of the once-small village before it became "famous."
This was a few years ago and I spent 2 weeks there in a nice cottage. But a recent storm that was horrific had really destroyed alot of the waterfront and therefore the inn was closed and alot of works were being done at that time to fix up some of the buildings that had been severely damaged.
So I never saw it in its "prime." But it was still a wonderful place to go and stay. I didn't visit it primarly because of LH, but a friend from Fraserburgh had suggested it as a great place to "get away from it all" and that it did!
At that time (2008) you certainly weren't going to get wifi and not even my mobile worked. I was working on some writing projects at that time and it worked a treat.
The only thing that really reminded me though of LH's spirit was....the most exciting thing that happened in the two weeks was a HUGE oil platform way way out to sea and looking very small, transversed from left to right on the horizon as it was towed along. It was a day or two of "entertainment" for the denizens with the sea view.
So it was get a coffee/wine and sit on the bench for hours in front of the cottage watching that amazingly huge "thing" move at a snail's pace across the sea.
Ah. Bliss.
But sorry the visitors have created such a negative. I'd like to go back but not unless the Inn is operating. Due to (back then) the closest (even Spar) store being miles and miles away and no close place to get supplies, it would be nice to have a place to pop into for a meal within walking distance.
Those who have been there will understand when I say Pennan isn't a place you want to be driving down the steep and curved hill to with a drink under your belt! (Not if you want to survive.)
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Blik Revil
9 years ago
Just having returned from Pennan (a 2 weeks stay), and having spoken to maybe most of the people still living (or working) in Pennan, I fully agree with what Tilgathpilneser wrote. It wasn't the movie, Pennan just is too small to sustain itself.
Apart from that, Pennan and the country surrounding it was definitely one of the most beautiful spots I ever saw (and I've traveled quite a lot in my life). (We also went to Fraserburgh and Gardenstown/ Gamrie & Crovie.)
But: While Broadband is now (barely and not very reliably) available in the cottages at the beach, we still couldn't use our mobiles because there just was no connection. And, as already mentioned, the next baker/ butcher/ store is at least 10+ miles away (Fraserburg/ Banff), which is about a 30 minutes drive. And the road to & from the beachside must be hellish in winter.
But, again: Beautiful place!
Everyone who believes in telekinesis, please raise my hand!
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vimhawk
9 years ago
But: While Broadband is now (barely and not very reliably) available in the cottages at the beach, we still couldn't use our mobiles because there just was no connection. And, as already mentioned, the next baker/ butcher/ store is at least 10+ miles away (Fraserburg/ Banff), which is about a 30 minutes drive. And the road to & from the beachside must be hellish in winter.
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Why would you need a mobile connection, there is a perfectly good phone box in the village (just over by the jetty)....
You're absolutely right about the road out though, that is quite a steep climb and I would think impossible for vehicles often in winter.
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