Eleven years after acquiring the category B listed buildings at Back Green in Portsoy, spring 2017 marked a historic milestone for the North East Scotland Preservation Trust (NESPT) and ensured their future as the Sail Loft Bunkhouse.

The Portsoy Community Enterprise will run the new accommodation for visitors to the town. It will be self-catering, and includes a fully accessible bedroom and bathroom and communal areas. The 18th-century buildings comprise a former sail making loft, a finely detailed Georgian House and two cottages.

Marcus Humphrey CBE, chairman of the NESPT, said: “We acquired these wonderful, iconic buildings in 2006 and have been working tirelessly ever since to find a way of preserving them for future generations. Our partnership with Portsoy Community Enterprise has enabled us to redevelop the buildings as bunkhouse accommodation for visitors and I am most grateful for their unerring help and support over the years and for the fact that they are taking on the buildings as operators of the Sail Loft.”

This was the first Scottish project to receive support from HLF’s Heritage Enterprise Programme, and was supported throughout by the Architectural Heritage Fund.

[quote=Paul Higson, Project Manager]“This had been the biggest and most challenging project in the Trust’s 32 year history but also one of the most satisfying."[/quote]

The project created two new full-time jobs and two part-time positions and will bring significant economic benefit to the town, which hosts the annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival each year which attracts around 20,000 people from all over the world.

Residential courses in traditional boat-building are on offer with accommodation in the Sail Loft. These will mainly happen in the winter, bringing visitors to the town out of season. Companies are also showing interest in team-building activities for their staff.

Paul Higson, Project Manager/Trust Administrator with the NESPT, said “This had been the biggest and most challenging project in the Trust’s 32 year history but also one of the most satisfying. Working so closely with the local community of Portsoy has been a great pleasure and we are keen to work on similar projects in other communities in Aberdeenshire in the future”.

To book your visit, go to the Sail Loft website.