Carse project in£10k legup
The Carse of Gowrie Sustainability Group is celebrating after being awarded £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The money will go to the group’s Patrick Matthew Memorial Project, which will run from September 30 until October 1, and will commemorate the life of the 19th Century Carse of Gowrie scientist.
Fiona Ross from the group explained: “This project, which is two years in the making, will create a storymap and trail for people of all ages to discover Patrick Matthew’s Carse and his contribution to science, orchards, redwoods and social justice.
“Securing the Heritage Lottery funding promotes a memorial to his legacy for local residents and Matthew’s descendants.”
Patrick Matthew, who is buried in Errol, was a 19th Century landowner. He was born in the Carse of Gowrie, was a farmer and social justice campaigner.
And he is also responsible for introducing the Californian giant sequoia redwood to the area, with impressive redwoods still in tact in Inchture and Errol.
Conservationists now say due to global warming, the number of sequoia redwoods in its native America are in decline, and a reserve of the giant trees in Scotland is crucial to the redwoods’ survival.
The Perthshire scientist is said to have discovered natural selection 30 years before Charles Darwin. The group are working on this project with Dr Mike Sutton from Nottingham Trent University and Patrick Matthew’s third greatgrandson and botanist Howard Minnick, says it is important to recognise his work on natural selection in his project.
Mr Minnick added: “I hope to help to bring this about with the memorial project.”
Deborah Thomson, centre left, presented the award to Giraffe Trading CIC operations manager Sarah Bradley, with Peter Thomson handing over a framed certificate to assistant manager Victoria Bramble, watched by Provost Grant, centre, and guests