GENTEEL AND REFINED - PERTH ON
THE BANKS OF RIVER TAY.
Perthshire
has three narrow lochs in the west of the region which spawn three major
river systems that give Perthshire much of its character.
In the north Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel give birth to
the River Tummel that flows south into Pitlochry and then into
the River Tay.
The Tay, one of Scotland’s most famous rivers, begins some
miles west in Loch Tay and flows through Aberfeldy, past Dunkeld
and through Perth further south, at the mouth of the Firth of Tay.
The third is the River Earn flowing from Loch Earn in
the west, past Crieff on its way to the Firth of Tay.
These river valleys have provided the home for towns and given the routes
for roads and today's urban transportation fabric has its roots in the
early settlement patterns dictated by this geography.
In the centre of the region and straddling a major north-south (A9/M90)
and east-west (A9/A85) crossroads there is no doubting the regional
importance of Perth.
The town has a dignified and classical feel to it, with a genteel identity
best appreciated along the banks of the River Tay. The river
is one of the most famous fishing rivers in Europe and it is here where
it experiences the first of the tidal influences. Along its banks are
trees and lovely weeping willows that add so much character. Then add
the stately, neoclassical buildings with their solid sandstone facades
on Tay Street, at the western bank, with old Whilst Clubs and
the like and you have the picture.
Across the wide river to the east are gardens with exotic plants and
pleasant riverside walks (Rodney Gardens and Norie Millar
Walk). Here also is where wooded slopes sweep up the hill and away
from the town.
On the town side (west) and close to the river is the Museum and
Art Gallery which features exhibits on local history, natural history
and indiginous exhibitions. (Admission free). Housed in The Round House
in Marshall Place in a splendid neoclassical building complete with
Roman Pantheon style rotunda is the Fergusson Gallery. The gallery
exhibits the distinctive work of J.D. Fergusson, an important Scottish
artist of the modernist school.
