A building near a beauty spot that had been abandoned for more than two decades has been brought back to life. The property, located on Burghead Beach, has been transformed into the Cable Café thanks to the work of businesswoman Elaine Sutherland. It had laid crumbling and in a state of disrepair becoming an “eyesore” in an otherwise scenic location.
Residents of the town have long hoped to see the 19th-century building revived. And after nearly six months of work, their hopes were answered when the café opened its doors to the public last weekend. Ms Sutherland said: “The support that the people of Burghead have given us is just amazing.
We really can’t thank them enough. “The location is the main thing. You can’t beat it really because it’s so beautiful and you’re right on the water.
“I just thought it was such a shame because it had been empty for so long and it was just an eyesore. “It’s great to see that now it has been done up a little bit people are sitting outside and enjoying themselves. “It’s just such a positive place with so much to give.
” The business’ name comes from the building’s initial use as an old junction box where cables would run up the coast to Shetland and over to Aberdeen. It is believed to be one of 16 buildings across Scotland that helped facilitate communication between these different places. Part of the original cable can still be seen on the beach today.
But having served that purpose, the building became steeped in local legend and mystery. Legend has it that two star-crossed lovers sought refuge within the weathered walls of the building. “It’s all really quite funny,” Ms Sutherland added.
“We were going to get all the snippets of information about the building like that and put it up on a panel outside. “It’s location is obviously beautiful but it has really good history about it and it’s great to kind of keep that alive.” Ms Sutherland says the café will seek to use local produce where possible.
And although customers cannot sit inside the renovated building, freshly placed benches outside provide views across the beach. The cafe’s team of six employees has been busy serving customers during its first week and they have already been asked to extend their opening hours. Ms Sutherland continued: “We’re mainly serving things like bacon rolls, cakes, coffee, and ice cream but we’re trying to use everything that is really local.
“Everything we’re using is biodegradable as well which is really important to me. Everything minus bottles of juice. “We’ve been lucky with the weather so far as well because it has been so sunny.
Maybe it’s an omen. “Overall it’s been so positive and we’ve had no negativity so far. “In fact we’ve already been asked if we can stay open longer.
“We were only going to stay open from 10am to 4pm but we’ve decided to stay open from 10am to 7pm this week. “We will have that flexibility from week to week but it’s been a great start.”.
