Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the
Perth and Kinross council area of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, lying on the
River Tummel
The River Tummel ( gd, Uisge Theimheil) is a river in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Water from the Tummel is used in the Tummel hydro-electric power scheme, operated by SSE.
As a tributary of the River Tay, the Tummel is included as part of th ...
. It is historically in the county of
Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.
[Scotland's 2011 census. (n.p.). Scotland's Census. Retrieved 24 November 2015, from http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ ]
It is largely a
Victorian town, which developed into a tourist resort after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and Prince Albert visited the area in 1842 and bought a highland estate at
Balmoral, and the arrival of the railway in 1863. It remains a popular tourist resort today and is particularly known for its Pitlochry Festival Theatre, salmon ladder and as a centre for
hillwalking
Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much unculti ...
, surrounded by mountains such as
Ben Vrackie
Ben Vrackie (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn a' Bhreacaidh; sometimes anglicised as ''Ben Y Vrackie'') is a mountain in Perthshire, Scotland. It lies north of the town of Pitlochry
Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and ...
and
Schiehallion
Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Perthshire. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, int ...
. It is popular as a base for coach holidays. The town has retained many stone Victorian buildings, and the high street has an unusual period cast iron canopy over one side.
History
![England and Scotland 244](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/England_and_Scotland_244.jpg)
Pitlochry today dates largely from Victorian times, although the areas known as Moulin and
Port-na-craig
Port na Craig (also spelt Port-na-Craig or Port-na-craig) is a historic village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, located directly across the River Tummel from Pitlochry
Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinros ...
are much older. History records that Moulin Kirk was granted by the Earl of Atholl to Dunfermline Abbey in 1180 and Moulin became a burgh of barony in 1511. Port-na-craig was the site of the original ferry over the River Tummel which operated until the suspension footbridge was built in 1913. Building between these two separate communities followed the construction of the
military road
{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The following is a list of military roads worldwide.
Australia
* Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman
* Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne
* Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just nort ...
north in the 18th century which followed the line of the present main street. Moulin contained the parish school which was attended by
Alexander MacKenzie (1822-1892), the second Prime Minister of Canada. This schoolhouse "Blairmount" now operates as a luxury holiday rental.
In 1842 Queen Victoria visited Perthshire on one of her grand tours and her favourable opinion of the area caused the town to be more widely noticed. After
its railway station was built in 1863, Pitlochry became a favoured destination for tourists.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
stayed at Fishers Hotel in June 1881 with
his wife Fanny and mother. The party then moved to Kinnaird Cottage in nearby Moulin. Here Stevenson worked on "
Thrawn Janet
"Thrawn Janet" is a short story, written in Scots, by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. He wrote the story in the summer of 1881 while he stayed at the rented Kinnaird Cottage in Kinnaird, a hamlet near Pitlochry, with his parents and w ...
" (1881), "
The Merry Men" (1882) and "
The Body Snatcher
"The Body Snatcher" is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). First published in ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' in December 1884, its characters were based on criminals in the employ of real-life surgeon Robert K ...
" (1884).
In 1947 Pitlochry became a burgh. That year also saw the beginning of construction of a dam as part of the
Tummel hydro-electric power scheme
The Tummel hydro-electric power scheme is an interconnected network of dams, power stations, aqueducts and electric power transmission in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. Roughly bounded by Dalwhinnie in the north, Rannoch Moor in the west an ...
. The dam and its
fish ladder
A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as move ...
are a popular tourist attraction today. The damming of the river created an artificial loch,
Loch Faskally
Loch Faskally (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Faschoille) is a man-made reservoir in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, northwest of Pitlochry.
Geography
The loch lies between steeply wooded hills and is approximately in length, narrowing to around wide. ...
, but flooded a large area north of the town including the old Recreation Park, which was relocated to its current position. The new burgh council adopted the local public hall as
Pitlochry Town Hall
Pitlochry Town Hall is a municipal structure in West Moulin Road, Pitlochry, Scotland. The structure, which is used as an events venue, is a Category B listed building.
History
Following a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1842 and ...
shortly after it was formed.
From the 1960s, Sir
Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...
, an inventor of radar, and his wife, Dame
Katherine Jane Trefusis Forbes
Air Chief Commandant Dame Katherine Jane Trefusis Forbes, Lady Watson-Watt, (21 March 1899 – 18 June 1971), known as Jane Trefusis Forbes, was a businesswoman and the first director of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (1939–43).
Career
J ...
, Director of the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...
in World War II, lived at her summer house, "The Observatory", in Pitlochry. Both are buried in the churchyard of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity at Pitlochry.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
The Pitlochry Festival Theatre is large performing arts theatre located in the town and burgh of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The idea of a performance space in the area was conceived in the late 1940s by John Stewart, a leading p ...
was founded by John Stewart in 1951, originally situated in a tent in the grounds of Knockendarroch House in Lower Oakfield. The tent became semi-permanent and remained there for 30 years until the current building at Port-na-craig opened in 1981.
The town was awarded a Gold Medal in the 2009
Britain in Bloom
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
horticultural contest, and outright winner in the category of ''Small Town''.
Governance
Pitlochry is part of the Perth and Kinross council area.
The Scottish Parliamentary constituency is
Perthshire North, represented by
John Swinney of the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, PÃ rtaidh NÃ iseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
. The UK Parliament constituency is
Perth and North Perthshire. The MP is
Peter Wishart, also of the Scottish National Party.
Demography
At the 2011 census, Pitlochry had a population of 2,776. In the same census, 29.2% of residents were reported as being 65 years old or older – significantly higher than 16.8% for Scotland as a whole. The median ages for females and males were 51 and 49 respectively, compared to 42 and 40 for the whole of Scotland.
Economy
![Pitlochry Fish-ladder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Pitlochry_Fish-ladder.JPG)
The town has two
whisky distilleries, whose visitor centres are popular attractions:
Edradour, which is the smallest legal distillery in Scotland, and
Blair Athol Distillery, which dates back to 1798. Edradour sits to the east of town at the foot of the Moulin Moor. It is privately owned and produces only 12 casks per week with a production workforce of three men. Unchanged since it started making whisky, it is the last example of a traditional distillery and hugely popular with visitors. Blair Athol sits on the main road at the southeast of town and since 1933 has been owned by Bell's, now part of the
Diageo group.
Pitlochry station is home to
Pitlochry Station Bookshop Pitlochry Station Bookshop is located at Pitlochry railway station, a Grade A listed station in Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The station was first opened in 1863 at the same time as the railway line from Perth to Inverness. It won the †...
. The bookshop was set up in 2005 and is situated on Platform 1.
The power station's dam is known for its 310-metre
salmon ladder; fish can be viewed swimming from weir to weir within the ladder, via an underwater viewing station or a video from inside the visitor centre. Over 5,000 salmon pass through annually. The dam and power station were completed in 1951 as the last link in the
Tummel hydro-electric power scheme
The Tummel hydro-electric power scheme is an interconnected network of dams, power stations, aqueducts and electric power transmission in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. Roughly bounded by Dalwhinnie in the north, Rannoch Moor in the west an ...
which comprises nine power stations and reservoirs. The new reservoir, which was named
Loch Faskally
Loch Faskally (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Faschoille) is a man-made reservoir in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, northwest of Pitlochry.
Geography
The loch lies between steeply wooded hills and is approximately in length, narrowing to around wide. ...
, was built across the River Tummel, flooding a large area upstream.
Churches
There are a number of churches in Pitlochry, including the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
Parish Church of
Pitlochry Church of Scotland on Church Road which was built in 1884. Holy Trinity, an
Episcopal Church at the eastern end of Pitlochry, was built in 1858. Pitlochry Baptist Church, built in 1884, is situated at the east end of the main street. There is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church, St Bride's, at Rie-achan near Loch Faskally which was established in 1949 as a temporary facility for workers building the dam and power-station there. However, when the workers moved on the chapel remained and following a fire a new church was built and opened in 1969 and serves the local Catholics and large number of Summer visitors.
Pitlochry Power Station
![Pitlochry hydro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Pitlochry_hydro.jpg)
Pitlochry was one of the pioneer schemes for hydro-electricity. The Pitlochry Dam was proposed in 1947 by the newly created Hydro Electric Board. Designs were drawn up by
Harold Tarbolton
Harold Ogle Tarbolton FRIBA (1869–1947) was a 19th/20th century British architect, mainly working in Scotland. He was affectionately known as Tarrybreeks. In later life he went into partnership with Sir Matthew Ochterlony to create Tarbolt ...
. Tarbolton was responsible for the power station but died soon after, and the scheme was then completed by architect T. H. Eley, being built by Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners. As a very early acknowledgement of ecological needs the scheme included the ingenious
Pitlochry fish ladder
The Pitlochry fish ladder is a fish ladder next to the Pitlochry Power Station, near Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, which allows salmon to travel upstream during the breeding season.
Although viewing the ladder is still allowed, the ...
to allow spawning salmon to bypass the huge dam.
Transport
Road
The town, which lies north of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, has been bypassed by the main A9
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
to Perth road since 1981.
Rail
Pitlochry railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = 2018 at Pitlochry station - forecourt.JPG
, borough = Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross
, country = Scotland
, coordinates =
, gri ...
is located on the
Highland Main Line
The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edi ...
.
Walking
The town lies at the eastern end of the
Rob Roy Way
The Rob Roy Way is a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Drymen in Stirling to Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross. The path was created in 2002, and takes its name from Rob Roy MacGregor, a Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18 ...
, a
long distance footpath that runs from
Drymen
Drymen (; from gd, Druiminn ) is a village in the Stirling district of central Scotland. Once a popular stopping place for cattle drovers, it is now popular with visiting tourists given its location near Loch Lomond. The village is centred aroun ...
.
Arts and culture
![Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dam - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Pitlochry_Festival_Theatre_and_Dam_-_geograph.org.uk_-_109463.jpg)
In 1951, John Stewart created the
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
The Pitlochry Festival Theatre is large performing arts theatre located in the town and burgh of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The idea of a performance space in the area was conceived in the late 1940s by John Stewart, a leading p ...
, originally held in a tent. A purpose built structure was created at Portnacraig near the River Tummel designed by Law & Dunbar-Nasmith in 1979 and completed in 1981.
Today it occupies a modern, spacious glass fronted building with open aspects across the river Tummell and Ben Vrackie. The theatre operates a unique repertoire system which means visitors to the area can see a different play every day during their Summer Season Festival. Open all year round.
The Winter Words Festival, first held in 2004, is a 10-day literary festival that takes place every year in early February. Most events take place at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, which attracts over 40 authors, broadcasters, wordsmiths and personalities.
The sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest, takes place in Pitlochry's nearby Faskally Wood every year in October, attracting 70,000 visitors to the town.
Every Monday during the summer, the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band, hosts a traditional evening of music, dancing and song, beginning and ending with a short parade along the high street.
Climate
As with the rest of the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, Pitlochry experiences a
maritime climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
with mild summers and cool winters. The nearest official
Met Office
The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
weather station for which online records are available is Faskally, about north-west of the town centre.
Typically the warmest day of the year will rise to and the coldest night will fall to . Pitlochry is notable for its range in temperature on 9 May 1978. The temperature in the morning was recorded as , rising to in the afternoon, giving a range of . This is one of the biggest daily temperature ranges in the United Kingdom.
Sport
![Pitlochry Recreation Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Pitlochry_Recreation_Park.jpg)
Pitlochry is home to the
Vale of Atholl Football Club. The "Vale" were founded in 1879 and originally played at the old recreation park now situated at the bottom of
Loch Faskally
Loch Faskally (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Faschoille) is a man-made reservoir in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, northwest of Pitlochry.
Geography
The loch lies between steeply wooded hills and is approximately in length, narrowing to around wide. ...
. Relocating along with the pavilion in the 1950s when the dam was built to the current location the Vale were regular competitors in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Paul Sturrock
Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player.
As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...](_blank)
, who remains a committed Vale supporter. The Vale's only First Division championship victory was in the 1990s but recently tasted Second Division success in 2004/5.
The Atholl Highlanders rugby team, created in 2007, also play at The Recreation Park.
Pitlochry
Highland Games has been held annually on the second Saturday of September since 1852 and is the last event in the Scottish Highland Games calendar. In 1852 the original Recreation Park was formed on the north bank of the Tummel at the foot of Rie-Achan Road across what is now known as Lady's Dell. However, with the building of the dam, the old park was flooded in 1950 and the Games moved to the new and current Recreation Park. The original pavilion had been dismantled and was re-erected for 1951. It remains unchanged externally today but was upgraded internally in 1964. A feature of the Games is the
Pipe Band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common.
The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...
Championship which attracts a large entry and culminates in the unique Massed Pipe Band parade at the end of the day.
Eve Muirhead
Eve Muirhead (born 22 April 1990) is a Scottish former curler from Perth and the skip of the British Olympic Curling team. Muirhead and the GB team became Olympic champions at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the br ...
, the Olympic
curler, played at a club in Pitlochry before the demolition of the curling rink.
Twin towns
*
Confolens, France
References
External links
''Explore Pitlochry Path Network''- Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust
Pitlochry Tourist GuidePerthshire & Blairgowrie Tourist Board
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