A STUNNING beach that was used to film the remake of Whisky Galore! could be yours for just £90,000.
New Aberdour Beach covers 36 acres of sand, sandstone caves, pebbles and wildlife on the Aberdeenshire coast.
The beach’s wild location meant it was perfect as a location for the 2016 remake of Whisky Galore! which starred Eddie Izzard, Game of Thrones’ James Cosmo and Rab C Nesbitt actor Gregor Fisher.
It is rare to be able to buy a beach because most are effectively owned by the Crown Estate which controls everything from the high water mark out to sea.
But in the case of New Aberdour, the Crown Estate controls from the low water mark, meaning the beach itself is privately owned while remaining open to the public.
The ownership deeds to the beach date from 1617 and it is the first time in exactly 400 years that it has been put on the open market.
The current owners, who have not been identified, are separately selling a B-listed farmhouse next to the beach.
Hannah Christiansen, head of residential sales at Galbraith’s Aberdeen’s office who are overseeing the sale, said: “The Crown normally owns anything from the high tide mark out, but on this occasion we have confirmation from our clients that it is from the low tide mark.
“We’ve tried to make the marketing as clear as we can, and the farm house requires complete upgrading.
“But our client will consider separate offers for the beach above £90,000.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful beach. It is genuinely a hive of activity with the amount of tourists that come up.
“It gets a lot of Germans, for example, and people who make a point of visiting it. It is lovely.
“Scenes from the new Whisky Galore movie was also filmed there, so that was all very exciting for the owners not too long ago.”
The popular beach also comes with public parking and features a white walled drinking fountain in the centre called St Drostan’s Well.
St Drostan is said to have landed at the beach in 580AD and a church up the hill has been named after him.
He apparently used the water from the spring there to baptise local residents and was known for his miracle cures.
There is also a memorial for local heroine, Jane Whyte who spotted the”William Hope” steamship run aground in Aberdour Bay on 28th October 1886 during a storm.
Fifteen men clung to the wreckage and Whyte entered the sea and caught a rope, wrapped it round her waist before pulling it to shore.
All fifteen lives were saved and Whyte then took them in into her own home to feed them hot food.
She was awarded a silver medal and £10 by the RNLI in recognition of her bravery.
However the memorial is not within the boundary of the sale but is easily accessible by anyone visiting the beach.
A spokeswoman for the Registers of Scotland said that, because of the land’s age, it was not yet on the country’s land registry.
Instead, it forms part of the Sasine Register which dates back ownership deeds to 1617.
Roger Goodyear, chairman of the Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership, said it was the first time he had heard of a beach going up for sale.
“I’ve never come across anything like this,” he said.
“I have heard over the years where the National Trust has taken over lengths of the coastline, although to the best of my knowledge that is only in England.”
Whisky Galore! is a 1949 British comedy based on the same titled 1947 novel written by Compton Mackenzie.
The story centres around the story of a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island where the inhabitants have run out of whisky.
The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, which they salvage, against the opposition of the local customs and excise men.
It was remade in 2016 and premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh Film Festival featuring many scenes from New Aberdour Beach.
