The Friends of Blair Atholl Station are creating a community project which will see the oral history of Blair Atholl Station recorded and saved for future generations to enjoy. The project has seen £24,294 of funding allocated via The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The station which serves Blair Atholl, Perth and Kinross sees ScotRail services and the Caledonian Sleeper call.
The station-house is a Grade B listed building and was completed back in 1869 and is famous for welcoming Queen Victoria as she visited the Duke of Atholl.
It is hoped the project will bring the station to the centre of village life with the Heritage Funding providing Friends of Blair Atholl Station with an opportunity to complete Phase 1 of the Blair Atholl Station Heritage Project – ‘Listening to Stories'.
The project will see an inter-generational oral history project created involving capturing the stories of older residents for children at the local primary school to enjoy. The project will also be displayed via the school website and in a community exhibit this summer.
The station has been unstaffed since the 1980s and unfortunately, the station house is no longer safe to access.
Dr Viviene Cree, The Chair of Friends of Blair Atholl Station, said:
“There were already concerns about the condition of the station house, but following the collapse in passenger traffic resulting from the pandemic, a group of locals and visitors decided we wanted to show how much we cared about it and formed Friends of Blair Atholl Station.”
“We started by working with ScotRail to adopt the station – tidying up the planters and community noticeboard and sharing our love of the station on social media. We even have our own YouTube channel.”
“Our long-term goal is to bring the station house back into use as a community hub, and this Heritage Fund support is a big step forward.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said:
“This is a wonderful example of a community creatively exploring its past – this project will bring the community together across generations and get them talking about, and celebrating, their local heritage.”
“Blair Atholl Station was a vital stop as the development of rail travel opened up the Highlands to visitors and created new opportunities for local people – thanks to support from National Lottery players we will get to hear its story.”
