Tinkers’ Heart spruced up by retired builder
Community group director gets to work on generations-old site
The Tinkers’ Heart near Cairndow has been given a tidy up by a local tradesman.
The site, well-known to local people for generations, hit the national headlines in 2014 when a campaign was launched, led by Perthshire woman Jess Smith, to have it formally recognised as a scheduled monument.
The site comprises a series of 25 quartz stones set in tarmac and formed into a heart shape, with another in the centre.
It originally lay at the junction of the Lochgoilhead and Cairndow-Dunoon roads, but having been bypassed by a new carriageway in the 1960s it now sits in the ‘old road’ in the middle of rough pasture.
Cattle grazing around the site led to the heart becoming overgrown and untidy, prompting Cairndow-based community group Here We Are to erect – with the agreement of landowner Kate Howe – a single wire fence around it with help from the Clachan Wind Farm Trust. This, however, proved ineffective at keeping back cattle so a solid barrier was built in its place. Following the campaign by Ms Smith, which featured a petition to the Scottish Parliament, Historic Environment Scotland examined the site and – after an initial refusal – decided the Tinkers’ Heart should be added to the list of scheduled monuments and this was done in June 2015.
The origin of the quartz heart is unclear, but there are records dating back to 1928 which indicate that a heartshaped area of grass existed at the location.
It is said to have significance for the travelling community and in recent years has been ascribed spiritual importance by various groups.
The heart has also served on occasion as a venue for ceremonies, including weddings.
Cairndow man and retired builder John MacDonald, a director of Here We Are, took on the job of cleaning the site and giving the fence a paint job – silver-grey this time rather than black – to blend in with the regular Argyll grey skies and Loch Fyne far below the heart.