OUR HISTORY GOES DIGITAL
New archive created
An ambitious new project designed to digitally archive the rich history of Blairgowrie and Rattray, as well as the surrounding area, has been announced.
A new website and timeline, commissioned by the east Perthshire town’s Our Heritage Group, will be launched on Friday next week.
Ten historical events and sites are among the first to be included and the group is keen to hear from anyone with ideas regarding what should be added in the future.
Chair Caroline Shiers said: “We are so lucky here that the history of the area has been well documented but we are aware that many local people and people who have moved here or visit the area have no idea of some of the stories we are featuring and we want to help to bring those stories to the fore.
“The stories we have decided to highlight initially have been chosen for their ‘wow’ factor – they are particularly interesting and it is important to grab people’s attention but, to be honest, we are quite spoilt for choice.”
Plans for a new digital archive recording the rich history of Blairgowrie and Rattray and the surrounding area have been announced.
The new website and timeline, which has been commissioned by the east Perthshire town’s Our Heritage Group, will be launched on Friday, June 25.
The Our Heritage Group was set up three years ago and aims to celebrate the cultural, economic and social heritage of the town and to “establish a longterm solution to its display and promotion”.
The volunteer-run group organised six popular ‘pop-up’ heritage exhibitions in Blairgowrie Library during 2018 and 2019, with others planned for 2020 as part of efforts to demonstrate an appetite for a cultural and heritage centre in Blairgowrie and Rattray.
The events were supported by many local groups and residents with visitor numbers totalling well over 2000.
However, the global coronavirus pandemic meant that plans for similar exhibitions in 2020 and much of 2021 have had to be put on hold.
In addition, efforts to secure a physical base for the huge number of pieces of memorabilia have also been thwarted by the impact of the pandemic, with many funding streams being diverted away from providing grants for buildings.
And development of a website that was due to be launched in April last year was also put on hold for several months.
Caroline Shiers recently took over as chair of the Our Heritage Group.
She explained: “The intention was always to include a timeline as part of any physical exhibition we developed and as part of our new website and we are delighted to be able to launch that this month.
“Those involved with the heritage group decided to choose 10 local historical events as a start for the website launch – we have hundreds to add and will be adding them steadily over the coming months and years.”
Caroline went on: “The work on the timeline has been tremendous.
“Ian Richards and Graham Reid have been a real driving force behind the whole initiative for several years now.
“Steve Johnson and Graeme Berry have been absolutely amazing in pulling together their technical knowledge to help create something which is really userfriendly and easy to navigate.
“The volunteers – especially Wilma Philip and Elaine Ness – have done an outstanding job bringing all the text together and we are now looking forward to unveiling the timeline as it currently stands.”
And the Our Heritage Group is keen to hear from anyone who has a story they think should be included in the timeline.
She added: “This is an ongoing project, it is not set in stone and will be continuously added to.
“We want people to take ownership of it and take pride in the area, sharing the stories it has.
“We’re really hoping that people will come forward with their stories and help populate it, and that there will be a section adopted by local schools.
“Although the focus is on east Perthshire we will also be including points of interest throughout history that have had an impact on the area as well as elements of culture, sites, events and people.
“The stories and events will all be linked and inter-connected and you can search by different categories or names in a way that is really easy to navigate.
“There will also be social media pages linked to the website.
“We are so lucky here that the history of the area has been well documented but we are aware that many local people and people who have moved here or visit the area have no idea of some of the stories we are featuring and we want to help to bring those stories to the fore.
“The stories we have decided to highlight initially have been chosen for their ‘wow’ factor – they are particularly interesting and it is important to grab people’s attention but, to be honest, we are quite spoilt for choice.”
Caroline stressed that as well as being a fantastic resource for local people the new website was also aimed at attracting visitors to the area.
She said: “The launch has been deliberately timed to coincide with the school holidays and what promises to be a bumper ‘staycation summer’.
“By pulling together all of the many historical sites and stories the town has to offer we hope that visitors and locals will look again at Blairgowrie, Rattray and the wider area and that will have a positive impact on our visitor numbers and the economy.
“This has been a labour of love and all those who have played a role should be so proud of what has been achieved so far.”
To get in touch with the Our Heritage Group, and share your stories, email contact@ourheritageblair. scot
We want people to take ownership of it, take pride in the area, sharing the stories it has