This is the first real village on the A90 south of Fraserburgh, under the east face of Mormond Hill, with St Ethernan’s and the farm roads that peel toward Memsie and Cortes. You are not in Peterhead and you are not in the Broch — you are on the dual carriageway, in the village, or in a farm close the through-traffic never sees. DSBM starts from 2 Fordafourie Cottages, AB43 7UD. A pin here is usually a short run unless the live truck is already south of Ellon. Tell us carriageway, village or farm road before we choose the truck.
A90, St Ethernan’s and the Memsie farms.
Rathen village sits just off the dual. The dangerous jobs are the ones still on the live A90 with no hard shoulder worth the name; the awkward jobs are the ones down a farm track toward Memsie Cairn or the Cortes turn. The A981 inland toward Strichen is a different page. Call 01224 044741 or send GPS to 07475 722702.
When you call from Rathen
Registration, direction of travel on the A90, and whether you are on the carriageway, at the church, or in a named close. If it will not roll, say so. A photo of a car in a slurry yard or against a crash barrier decides the equipment. We know Mormond Hill; we still need the pin, not “just past Rathen”.
Access notes
No harbour, no industrial park. Agricultural access and dual-carriageway recovery are the two modes. A long trailer on a farm road with no headland means we stage on the A90 and winch or send a smaller unit. School and church parking in the village pinch the only wide street.
Breakdown and accident recovery
24/7: A90 shunts, non-starters in the village, 4x4s in fields under the hill, vans that died on the Memsie junction. Local recovery from Fraserburgh — we do not sell this as a long-haul product. Loading follows the vehicle and the verge.
Booked transport
Garage in the Broch or a planned move with both postcodes: quotes.dsbm.uk. Membership local radius is from AB43; Rathen is close enough that the conversation is usually simple once we have the pin.
Honest ETA from Fraserburgh
Minutes from Fordafourie if the truck is at the yard. The honest delay is a live truck already on an Aberdeen job, A90 traffic south of Ellon, or a farm close that needs a second vehicle. We keep the time we quote after the pin, not before.
ON THE A90 OR IN THE VILLAGE?
Call 01224 044741 or send GPS. Direction of travel first, then the farm name if you have left the dual.