Up to the Aros Falls

Some of you who have reached mature years, like me, might remember the BBC TV Production ‘The Onedin Line’ back in the 70’s. Well it is loosely based on the life and times of the Allan family between 1874 to 1959. These two seafaring families, one fictitious and the other, very real, achieved their wealth from shipping out of Liverpool, the Onedin and Fraser families transporting any cargo they could procure and the Allan family providing the means for thousands of families to emigrate to Canada through Toronto and Montreal.

The original business acumen and talent came from Sandy Allan the son of an estate carpenter and first cousin of Robbie Burns. From humble beginnings he trained as a shoe maker but then went to sea with the merchant navy and found his calling. After a few years he rose to become a captain and part owned numerous ships. At the same time and with the advent of steam power the Allan Line made its wealth from Scottish emigration until aviation literally took off and the golden days of passenger trans-Atlantic steamships were in decline.

Captain Sandy and his wife had five sons, all of whom spent some part of their careers in the business. His second son, Hugh, inherited his father’s talent for business and as well as running the Canada end of the business he also digressed into banking and other commercial interests. He became one of the wealthiest men in the world.

His second son, Bryce, another captain, moved to the Liverpool office when his father died and in 1874 he bought Aros house but sadly died only two months later. His son, Alexander Allan, immediately retired and became permanent laird of the estate. His great grandson, Alastair Hugh Allan is still remembered by some of the older generation around here. By the 1950’s the family wealth had dwindled and the house was sold to a house breaker who stripped it of its fixtures and fittings and in 1959 the Forestry Commission who now owned it decided to invite the army to blow it up. Today the site is a car park for visitors to the lake and grounds, developed by the FC as a recreational woodland area with fishing permits, woodland and lake walks and a woodland golf course.

We clambered up the wet and muddy path towards the upper falls and noticed some intriguing yellow metal baskets on posts. From the top of the baskets chains hung down into the bowls. There were no black smoke or burn marks so they weren’t beacons, besides they were in low woodland. Also, dotted around were small rectangular areas of gravel, not big enough even for a picnic table and benches. Further research explained they were golf tees and golf ball receptors. Imagine the shock of hearing a golf ball whizz past, cracking the branches on its way to the chains!

Climbing on up, the waterfall came into view and was impressive in its noise and volume, plenty of rain around here to feed it, unlike the grass browning drought we’ve been hearing of in southern England.

We came back down the path and followed what would have been the carriageway to the house. An information board in the car park explained some of the history and layout of the estate so we then found the lovely fishing lake, its edges graced with water lilies and rushes, and followed the path around it. The area is buried in beautiful natural woodland which has been threatened by the introduction of rhododendron plants threading suffocating roots through the area, but the FC are keeping them under control so they don’t change the diversity too much.

What became evident was the Victorian zest for innovation and self-sufficiency. An engine room with the remains of a burn water driven generator to provide electricity for the house and the water-powered sawmill by the substantial quay would have provided jobs for the locals as well as comfort for the lairds. I wondered if the Allan family were personally known to W.G. Armstrong of Cragside near Morpeth who pioneered water powered engineering within and outside his home for practical and pleasure use.

I could also imagine a fine steam yacht once moored in the deep waters of the Aros anchorage where Zoonie now lay.