Leisure
As is typical of towns in the area, Buckie is well served by golf courses with the eastern and western edges of the community ending in 18 holes. To the eastern extremity with a spectacular clifftop location lies Strathlene Golf Course which stretches almost all the way to the village of Findochty and to the west, also on a clifftop, lies Buckpool Golf Club which reaches a good part of the way to the village of Portgordon.
Adjacent to Buckie High School is Victoria Park, home of Buckie Thistle Football Club . Although The Jags have been consistently high finishers in the Highland Football League in recent years the league title had eluded the club since it was last won in 1958 but that hoodoo was laid to rest on May 1, 2010 when an away victory at Wick Academy F.C. sealed a first championship in 52 years. The championship was retained in May 2011 by a 2-1 victory over nearest rivals Deveronvale in the last match of the season and with Buckie scoring the winning goal in the last minute. The 1950s was a decade when all trophies available were won with regularity and it was during this era that Buckie Thistle travelled to Hampden Park to meet Queen's Park in a Scottish Cup 4th round replay on October 30, 1954, prevailing 2-1 and at the same time becoming the first and, still to this day, the only senior non-league club to have won a competitive match at the national stadium. The go-ahead board has extensively developed the stadium in recent years and a function hall was built within the perimeter of the ground so that sponsors and match-goers can now enjoy more sophisticated licenced and catering facilities pre- and post-match at the venue.
In Buckpool, and next door to Buckpool Golf Club, is the Merson Park home of Buckie Rovers Football Club. The Rovers are members of the Scottish Junior Football Association and play in that body's North Region Division One. At one time they played at Victoria Park as well, alternating home fixtures with their senior cousins but when Buckie Thistle were suffering one episode of extreme financial duress the decision was taken to move to a new facility in the municipal Merson Park. As a club they have always played in the shadow of Buckie Thistle but they have a core of devotees who will always keep the Rovers going. The Merson Park ground is fairly rudimentary with only the perimeter fence and dugouts differentiating it from a municipal pitch and there are no covered or seated facilities at all.
Near the southern edge of town on High Street lies Linzee Gordon Park. This is home to Buckie Cricket Club, which has a very long history with numerous Macallan North of Scotland Cricket Association League titles in recent years (four in the past ten seasons to be precise) on top of various league and cup wins in the 1990s including two wins in the prestigious Scottish Cricket Union Small Clubs Cup, specifically in 1995 and 1997. BCC built a modern pavilion to replace their aging home and this was opened in June 1998. The construction was partly funded by sportscotland and the National Lottery. Linzee Gordon Park, also has a municipal pavilion along with adjoining pitch for football use. Additionally, for some of the year, the football pitch at Linzee Gordon Park has been converted to become a rugby pitch where Buckie RFC train and play home games although the club has ceased operation as of May 28th 2011 due to lack of interest.
Bowling is a popular pastime in Buckie and the town boasts two greens. Buckie Bowling Club is on North High Street and Low Street with attractive views over the Moray Firth from the clubhouse. Victoria Bowling Club sits on West Church Street adjacent to Victoria Bridge and the Buckie Burn flowing below.
Buckie has a 25m swimming pool which was built next to Buckie High School and opened in 1975.
Kickboxing is another leisure activity available in Buckie. There is a dedicated martial arts studio based in the Douglas Centre and it is fast becoming a popular pastime.
Buckie is at the end of the Speyside Way long distance footpath. There is magnificent coastal scenery all along the Banff coast, with easy access to areas such as Glenlivet, Speyside and the Cairngorms.
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Famous quotes containing the word leisure:
“A healthy man, with steady employment, as wood-chopping at fifty cents a cord, and a camp in the woods, will not be a good subject for Christianity. The New Testament may be a choice book to him on some, but not on all or most of his days. He will rather go a-fishing in his leisure hours. The Apostles, though they were fishers too, were of the solemn race of sea-fishers, and never trolled for pickerel on inland streams.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The superficiality of the American is the result of his hustling. It needs leisure to think things out; it needs leisure to mature. People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)