Thank-you for a first class event
Organisers hail inaugural Crieff showcase
Heartfelt thanks have been expressed following the success of the weekend’s Crieff Lines Railway Festival.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the closure of the last of the railways serving Crieff and Upper Strathearn.
For more than a century, the lines were an integral part of the region, contributing to trade and tourism.
Held from Friday to Sunday, the festival was designed to celebrate the hey-day of these lines, the benefits they brought to the area and the staff who worked on them.
A full house of 65 people in one of the rooms at Strathearn Community Campus listened to a talk by John Young, author of ‘Branch Lines of Strathearn’, on Friday evening.
John gave an informative presentation and was eagerly listened to by all, while showing a marvellous selection of photographs.
On Saturday, the festival’s main day saw around 600 people pass through the event.
Outside the campus there was a selection of classic cars and a 1950s bus from the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond, Dunfermline, to greet and delight the crowds.
Inside, visitors enjoyed displays from the Caledonian Railway Association, RailFuture Scotland, Friends of the West Highland Lines, Scotrail and Strathallan Community Rail Partnership.
Other highlights included a working model of a steam locomotive made in Meccano by Alan Blair, as well as displays by the Perth and District Model Railway Club.
Slideshow presentations looked at the general history of the Crieff Lines and the demise of Crieff Station.
Further exhibits present were provided by Culture Perth and Kinross, which gave many people the chance to find out more about their ancestors who worked on the railway.
Younger festival-goers were given an opportunity to enjoy story-telling sessions in Strathearn Library.
Dave Ferguson, the main organiser of the Crieff Lines Railway Festival, said: “On behalf of everyone involved in running the Crieff Lines Railway Festival, I would like to say a great big thank you to everyone who attended the event over the weekend.
“Visitors were pleasantly surprised in the museum to find so many relics relating to the Crieff Lines still surviving.
“A huge thank you goes to the staff at the campus who fielded the many enquiries and organised visitors throughout the festival.
“Thanks also to the children of St Dominic’s and Madderty Primary Schools for a great effort in making 3D cardboard models of Crieff Lines stations and colourful posters and pictures – well done to all of you.”
Local resident and history enthusiast Ian Hamilton contacted the Herald to praise David for his efforts in organising the inaugural event.
He said: “Many congratulations should go to Dave for, more or less single-handedly, organising last weekend’s festival at the campus.
“The ‘buzz’ was very much like that generated by Steuart Cuthbert’s recent superb science festivals, with predominantly Crieff One of the models on show Walkers traced a former railway line families enjoying the wonderful resource and setting that is the locus of Crieff ’s future, as it expands south and eastwards with more new housing and, hopefully, a real supermarket in the Broich Road area.
“Well done Dave, and to those volunteer groups and clubs who supported him and gave us such a pleasant, nostalgic and memorable event.”