Standing stone at Spittal of Glenshee - geograph

The Spittal of Glenshee ( gd, Spideal Ghlinn Sìdh, ) lies at the head of Glenshee in the highlands of eastern Perth and Kinross, Scotland, where the confluence of many small streams flowing south out of the

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region t ...

s form the Shee Water. For centuries, there has been a hostel or inn at the site and, in modern times, the small village has become a centre for travel, tourism and winter sports in the region, sited at a bend on the A93 trunk road which leads from Blairgowrie north past the Spittal to the

Glenshee Ski Centre Glenshee Ski Centre is an alpine snowsports area in the Scottish Highlands. It is located above the Cairnwell Pass at the head of Glen Shee on either side of the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Rattray, Blairgowrie and Braemar. Glenshee is Brit ...

and on to Braemar. Inhabitation in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

period is indicated by a Megalithic standing stone behind the old kirk, and the ''Four Poster stone circle'' on a nearby mound. When interest in

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

revived after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the Scottish Ski Club was resuscitated in 1929, they restarted weekly snow reports with reporters appointed at Lix Toll near

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

Dalwhinnie Dalwhinnie ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Dail Chuinnidh'' "meeting place") is a small village in the Scottish Highlands. Dalwhinnie is located at the head of Glen Truim and the north-east end of Loch Ericht, on the western edge of the Cairngorms Natio ...

, Braemar and the Spittal of Glenshee. The Dundee Ski Club used the ''Spittal Hotel'' as its meeting place, and pioneered improvements, setting up the first ski tows in

Britain 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 ...

at Glenshee in December 1950. The hotel burnt down in 1959 and was rebuilt in Scandinavian style. However it was once again destroyed by fire in August 2014 and currently the site is for sale. The village also provides a stopping place on the ''Cateran Trail'' waymarked long distance footpath which provides a 64-mile (103 km) circuit in the glens of Perthshire and Angus. Scotland's folklorist,

Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and dis ...

, spent a number of years in the village and developed his interest in Gaelic culture there.

References

Villages in Perth and Kinross Neolithic Scotland {{PerthKinross-geo-stub