Cell to sell

BY the Water of Ruchill, near Comrie, beneath Perthshire’s craggy Aberuchill Hills, you’ll find Cultybraggan —the notorious ‘Black Camp of the North’, erected in 1941 to house 4,000 SS and Wehrmacht prisoners. Now, the site is thriving, thanks to the dedication of the Comrie Development Trust (CDT).

Housed in some 80 Nissen huts— corrugated-iron roofs hooped over bare concrete floors in long rows, like oversized pig sheds, built to last only 15 years—the prisoners’ lives were harsh. After the war, until 2004, Cultybraggan served as a military training base; one recruit commented the huts were so draughty, he never knew whether to eat his bacon and eggs first, before they congealed, or the cornflakes, before they blew away.

New ventures have been afoot for some time, however. Local enterprises have moved in, setting up businesses as part of a general scheme of new use. One site, occupied by Beetroot and Chocolate, offers outside catering services. There are allotments, a community orchard, a cheesemaker, sourdough-baker, artisan workshops, proposed sports facilities, potters, herbalists and more. Visitors encounter storyboards telling the history; 66 cartoons drawn by a prisoner-of-war in 1944–45 are exhibited, as well as a hut restored to original prison conditions. Funding comes from a variety of sources, thanks to the enthusiasm of the CDT.

The area is clearly special. One former prisoner, Heinrich Steinmeyer, a young soldier in the Waffen SS who was captured in 1944, stayed on in Scotland until 1970, before returning to Germany. In gratitude for the kindness he’d met in his adopted home, he bequeathed his house and savings to a foundation for Comrie’s elderly residents. Visit www.cultybraggancamp.co.uk Graeme Fife

A new series of works by Chinese artist Zhang Enli is inspired by both the Scottish countryside and suburban London. The initiative is a collaboration between Fortnum & Mason and Mr Enli, who was the Royal Academy’s first Chinese artist-in-residence in 2018; 28 paintings, 18 of which have never been seen before, will adorn the Piccadilly store from September 10 to October 18