Crieff coos settle into BLiSS-ful new home
Benches now part of Loch Earn art trail
Two of the 11 cow-shaped benches from Crieff Succeeds’ unique summer art trail have moo-ved to Loch Earn to join an awardwinning trail.
A combined effort from three community groups secured the Moodnight Meadow Coo by Ceri White and the On Watch cowch, painted by Chelsea Rodger, when they went under auctioneer Jim McLaren’s hammer in October.
Having collaborated with Loch Earn residents and community groups to fund a collective bid sum in advance, BLiSS trail innovators Loch Earn Tourism Information ( LETi) were prepared on arrival at the auction dinner held in Crieff Hydro’s Melville Hall.
After failing to win MacGregor by June McEwan – fittingly won by Crieff Highland Gathering – the LETi Loch Earn bid team persevered to win two cowches on budget.
On Watch, inspired by nature and the great outdoors, has found a new home outside the Lochearnhead Village Hall and is already evoking smiles and attention from passers by.
And the village hall committee is already considering spring flower planting to complement the installation.
Down the road at St Fillans, meanwhile, Moodnight Meadow has been installed in a new luxury paddock on the grassy verge overlooking Loch Earn opposite the Four Seasons Hotel.
Both artists are delighted their work will be visible to the public in a naturally beautiful area as part of an outdoor art trail that is open all year round.
The award winning BLiSS trail aims to make people spend time in the area linking St Fillans and Lochearnhead with neighbours Balquhidder and Strathyre.
LETi chair Kim Proven said: “We are delighted with our bid result.
“Not just for our community contribution towards the £24900 total raised for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and not just to enhance the BLiSS trail story, but for the collective ownership and sense of achievement by a community working together towards a common goal.
“It shows what can be done. “A huge thank you to everyone who supported this and hats off to Crieff Succeeds for an innovative and exciting summer campaign, culminating in a generous donation to a charity much valued by rural communities.”
Kim added that it is fitting that the Loch Earn community cowches can be seen on the BLiSS trail along the old drove road, pointing the way back to Crieff.