Boyndie

Ruins of Boyndie Old Kirk

RAF Banff Memorial on the A98

Boyndie is a parish in northern Banffshire, three miles west from Banff. It contains the village of Whitehills. This place, from which Banff was disjoined about the year 1635, was anciently called Inverboindie, signifying "the mouth of the Boindie," in consequence of the situation of the old church, now in ruins, near the spot where the small stream of the Boindie falls into the sea. The word Boindie is supposed to be a diminutive of Boyn, the name of a larger stream bounding the parish on the west. The church was erected in 1773: the ruin of the old edifice still remains, with its burial ground, standing on a site near the sea, where a battle with the Danes is supposed to have taken place, in the reign of Malcolm II.

To the west is the parish of Fordyce, to the east is that of Banff. To the south are Ordiquhill and Marnoch. The North Sea lies to the north.

Boyndie was once home to RAF Banff 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.

The A98 trunk road from Inverness to Fraserburgh passes through the parish, with which is a junction with the A95 which branches off from the A9 at Aviemore.

References

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