This month’s striking photo is of the War Memorial in MacDuff. 

Remembrance Sunday, and the honouring of the dead of two world wars has been extensively covered over many years, and it can be difficult to capture an image that catches the eye in a novel way. For such a sensitive subject, this simple but effective picture taken by Mike Diamond, is moving. The simple memorial, surrounded by the symbolic poppies and set against a big sky at the setting of the sun, speaks of the losses endured by nations as a result of war.

Macduff, on the northern coast of Banff and Buchan, sits across the mouth of the river Deveron from Banff, on Banff bay. The twin towns can be regarded as the gateway to the Moray Firth, stretching westward to Inverness.

Boat building is still carried on in the town, maintaining a long tradition of the area.

The coastline is dotted with settlements, some of which are tiny hamlets, others are well established towns. Inland from the coast there is productive farmland, rivers and distilleries. Further inland the ground rises to become mountainous. All in all it is a great piece of country.

Macduff also has a popular aquarium which is well worth a visit. The town is full of character and is thirled to the sea, as so many towns and villages are, in this region. The area is justly popular as a holiday area, famous for its big skies, coastal scenery and golf courses. If coastal scenery starts to lose its appeal, there are ample reasons to divert into the hinterland for a change of scene.

If you’re interested in learning more about each one of our images as part of our photography competition, then why not take a look at one of our previous submissions, here.