PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

Ben Vorlich & Stuc a Chroin From Bairds Monument River Earn - Lady Marys Walk   Glen Turret From the Knock Crieff It   is   now   some six months   since   I started writing   my Perthshire -Crieff- Strathearn local history “ blog ” . Incredibly the   site has notched up some   5000 hits in that comparatively short   period . Last   month alone it recorded well over 1000 , perhaps   indicating   how it is becoming   better   known on the wider stage . The tales   of the Strath I research are varied and fascinating . Our   culture and heritage are central to our Scottish nation , then and indeed now .I am delighted   that you have   chosen to read the blogs   and   do hope   that you   will some   day manage   a visit to our   beautiful part of Scotland ! What has astounded me   is   the international mix   of   my readers . As a   “ blogger ”, I am   privileged   to know where   my audience   come   from and that has proven a   real delight and reward for   my eff

Some of the many wells of Strathearn   This Edwardian lass with the hat about to sample the waters of The Jesus Well Crieff            Jesus Well Crieff as it is  now    During my researches into the history of the Strath over   a number of decades , I was somewhat surprised to discover the incredible   number of wells we have . Many are   listed on current Ordnance Survey sheets   but   many seem to have disappeared   from human ken . The   majority seem to have strong religious connotations with   many being named   after   a saint of the old Celtic faith or indeed are pre Reformation Catholic . It is intriguing to discover   what particular   attributes these holy wells   had and indeed   what made them so important in   by gone years   . As you will note from the listing below , they offered a wide range of miraculous   cures covering whooping cough to urinary problems   or gout to madness . What is   clear is that the holy wells   were   an anathem

In my last Blog about the village and Parish of Blackford , I made a brief mention of Tullibardine Chapel tucked away in the north west corner of the Parish close to the prestigious Gleneagles Hotel . I must admit it one of   my favourite retreats   when I just   wish a bit of peace and quiet away from it all . Tullibardine   can be   described as a “ collegiate church “ .   East window                                                                                                       Pre Reformation splendour A collegiate church sometimes   referred to as a   chantry chapel was a church built by a wealthy nobleman to house a "college" or small community of clerics whose role was to spend their days praying for the health and wellbeing of their benefactor and his family during life and, more importantly, for the salvation of their souls in the after l

Village and Parish of Blackford     As is the case with Crieff , Muthill and Auchterarder , Blackford is both a Parish and a village. The village in terms of amenity has benefited from the re alignment of the A9 which bi passes it to the south and ensures that a degree of sanity returns to the everyday passage of life !   Civic pride in the form of the Blackford Historical Society has helped generate a good level of enthusiasm   amongst its citizens   .(http://www.blackfordhistoricalsociety.org.uk/ ) . This is a superb and informative site and well worth a look  ! The demise of hand loom weaving and the once booming brewing trade could have left the village on its economic uppers and transformed it into yet another commuters ‘ haven . The growth of the natural spring water industry and Highland Spring has provided an influx of jobs and an injection of money to the area . The former breweries of Thomson , Sharp and Eadie are   long gone but the old buildings that were   T

Peter Crerar an outstanding son of the Strath What strikes me in compiling this list of Strathearn’s illustrious sons and daughters is that the preponderance of self-made men is quite dominant. Lewis Miller, David Jack, Andrew McCowan, Thomas Wright all fall into this category. One must now add the name Peter Crerar – a true son of the soil and someone who achieved an incredible amount in his eighty years. My initial interest in Peter Crerar arose from the web page of Scottish Cinemas www.scottishcinemas .org.uk , which is a superb record of an age that was. I contributed some info on the old Caledonian Cinema at the junction of High Street and Church Street and functioned in later days as the cinema Bookshop before transforming into a wine bar and pub   I had been involved in the original disposal after the Cinema Company decided that the Bingo usage was not pulling in sufficient income for them. It was then that I learned just a little about Peter Crerar but did not