TimeforBlairgowrie tore-claimitshistory
Thankstoeveryone whovotedforme
Congratulations on your front page article in last week’s Blairie. It’s about time the issue of grass cutting in parks and cemeteries was raised.
However,I feel the issue is a much wider one.
I am the co-ordinator of the Blairgowrie, Rattray and District Genealogy Group - a group of volunteers, who, because we enjoy it, assist local people and others from around the globe to research their roots, usually in Blairgowrie and Rattray, but further afield as well.
Our visitors bring untold revenue to the local economy.
We assist them when they want to visit the last resting place of their ancestors.
Just last week a colleague and I accompanied a couple from Ontario to the Hill Kirkyard.
It was heartbreaking to have to guide them through knee-high weeds to their family grave and then to watch as they removed the ivy from the headstone,while having their hands stung by nettles. I am delighted and honoured to have been reelected as the Member of Parliament for Perth and North Perthshire.
It was a nerve-jangling night, but I send my warmest gratitude to the 21, the 21,000 and the 783 in between who placed their trust in me.
To have won by 21 votes was down to the hard work of everyone involved and I would like to thank my team and especially my parliamentary colleagues John Swinney MSP and Roseanna Cunningham MSP who gave me their full backing.
It was certainly the closest-run election of my political career and, while we knew it would be a tight result, I don’t think anyone could have anticipated the outcome.
It turned out to be a fantastic finale to what was a great campaign and reflects the 16 years of service and the deep roots that I have in the
The wider issue is this. Why is Blairgowrie allowing its history to disappear?
The Hill Kirk has a prominent place in Blair’s history and its landscape.
There on the headstones visitors can read of the town’s history if they can fight their way through the nettles and brambles.
In the evening a group of us went to the Cateran Cafe where there was a presentation about the Laing Collection - the work of the Blairgowrie photographer now archived in Perth.
Because Blairgowrie does not have a museum or heritage centre many artefacts and historical items end up in Perth, Alyth, Kirriemuir etc.
There is nowhere in Blairgowrie where visitors can learn about Blairgowrie and Rattray’s mills and yet that is what draws many people here and to the Genealogy Centre because their ancestors worked in the mills.
It’s time for Blairgowrie to claim back its history. community.
As I have said after every election that I have been involved in, I am here to serve all constituents, regardless of how they voted.
I will be planning a series of surgeries in the near future, details of which will be available in the local press and on my website.
Should anybody require my assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do whatever is in my power to support my constituents.
I am looking forward to representing this constituency for the next parliamentary term and will maintain a strong voice for the people of east Perthshire at Westminster.
Pete Wishart 17-19 Leslie Street Blairgowrie PH10 6AH Tel: 01250 876 576 Email: pete.wishart. mp@parliament.uk