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Angus Land

Feeding, milking, and caring for animals; crop sowing, growing, and harvesting... Work on Angus farms ploughed on throughout the pandemic, despite the far reaching restrictions and the fluctuating availability of workers.

People living in rural areas watched the fields transform through the seasons, as always. Hearing machinery working late into the summer evenings; seeing lit-up combine harvesters signal the arrival of harvest and autumn. Watching this familiar annual routine unfold gave some comfort to people feeling overwhelmed by the uncertainties created by the pandemic. These uncertainties were increased by Brexit (the name given to the UK’s departure from the European Union in January 2020): our fishing and farming communities were already navigating drastic changes.

During lockdowns, local produce reached our kitchens via doorstep deliveries, farm and harbour collection points, and mobile food vans. Some people told us that they tasted local produce for the first time as they avoided supermarkets and found alternative ways to source their food and supplies. Oonagh Devoy’s photographs show life on an Angus farm in 2020.

A grayscale image of a silhouette of a farmer standing in the doorway of a barn. They are facing away.
A grayscale image of a stubble field. In the distance on the horizon we can see 3 large barns, with trees next to them.
A grayscale image of cylindrical hay bales piled high in a barn lit by skylights.
A large arm of a farm machine puts potatoes in square wooden boxes. The image is black and white. A tractor is hidden at the end of the boxes. Seagulls fly around the bare earth.
A farm worker stands in a field with boxes of potatoes, organising them as they are filtered through a mesh funnel.
A grayscale image of a farm yard, the ground is wet and muddy and the path leads us through an open metal gate to a corrugated barn.
A colour picture of a field with a crop in it, tramlines are being made by the combine harvester. The sky is bright blue with white clouds in it.
A grayscale image of a farm building. The ground is made of large stone slabs, and we are facing a stone facade of a building. The door is corrugated and there are two small windows.
A colour picture of a field with a crop in it with tractor lines going through the middle.
A colour image of a field full of barley crop. The sky is bright blue and on the horizon are telegraph poles
A black and white image of a tractor ploughing a potato field. Seagulls stand in the ploughed tracks and are flying near the camera. At the end of the field is a woodland.
A grayscale image of a birds footprints in a muddy farm track.
A grayscale image of tractor tyre marks left in muddy ground. A puddle of water has collected in a dip.
A crop is piled high in a barn. Sunlight bathes the image.
A colour image of a machine and farmer wrapping straw bales in a field. They are lined up, wrapped and some unwrapped. The sky is pink at sunset.
A grayscale image of a field, telegraph poles line the boundary of the field, and the hills gently rise in the distance.
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Angus Sea

Abbey Craig and photographer Mhairi Edwards met with fisher folk who shared their experiences. They tell some of the Angus fishing stories from before, during, and since the pandemic in the short film edited/produced by Mark McGreehin.

Angus Remembers The Fishing Trade Accessible Version from Angus Remembers on Vimeo.

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Photographs shared with us by Morag and Alec Smith show the fishing industry in Angus as far back as the 1970’s. Mhairi Edward’s photographs bring us to 2024.

An image of The Bellrock Lighthouse in Arbroath. The lighthouse is centred in the picture and has flags attached from the top to the ground. There are people in the bottom right hand corner of the image, they look tiny.
An old image of a red fishing boat at sea. There are lots of gulls following the boat.
A sepia image from the past. Seven fishermen are standing and organising their nets in a harbour. They are of varying ages.
An image from the past, three men are repairing a fishing net in a carpark.
An image of Arbroath harbour from the past. We are looking through the mast of a boat, and can clearly see two fishing boats, one red and one white and blue.
An image from the past. Two fishermen are bringing up a net full of fish onto their boat. One wears a yellow fisherman waterproof and a red beanie hat. The other wears a woollen jumper and a flat cap.
A young fisherman is piling up creole crates in the harbour. Behind him are lots of boats, and you can see the buildings surrounding the harbour in the background.
An image of a white man with white hair and glasses. He is smiling at the camera, he wears a blue cotton overshirt. He is pictured outside and the sky is blue with a few clouds in it.
A cut out of a newspaper from the past. The title reads ‘KIRK GIFTS DEDICATED’ and there is a black and white image of a fishing boat.
A fisherman is loading a creole crate into his fishing boat.
A woman in a purple uniform is holding a tray of fish, she is putting them over a fire.
An image of six women dressed up as fishwives, recreating an image from the past. They are laughing and talking. They are wearing long skirts, boots and tartan shawls.
A black and white image of four women dressed up as fishwives, recreating an image from the past. They are laughing and one is smoking a pipe.
Two women wearing purple uniforms are standing close to each other and laughing at the camera, they are inside a fish shop.
An image of someone swimming in the sea. They are doing the front crawl and their head is in the water, they are making splashes in the water.
An image from the past, a man and child are eating ice creams in cones on a fishing boat. We can see a red and white lifebuoy.
An image from the past. Two fishermen are bringing up a net full of fish onto their boat. One wears a yellow fisherman waterproof and a red beanie hat. The other wears a woollen jumper and a flat cap.
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Angus Remembers invites you to try some of our well-kent (well known) recipes and some newer recipes. These can be made from our locally sourced food. We have meat, fish, veggie and vegan recipes. Something for everyone! The Singing Buddies sing us some Angus food in this song, listen to it here.

Download our activity here
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Creating together through shared memories to offer hope and healing