A WANDER AROUND BLAIRGOWRIE

 Leaving Perth behind, we head north to Luncarty, seeing a couple of Highland Railway services pass through the station.

Our first pint of the day is at the Meikleour Hotel, in the village of the same name.

Passing through Coupar Angus, there's just time to look at the LMS (ex CR) station.

Darkness has fallen over our next calling point, The Tavern at Ardler.

Our last visit of the evening is to the Kinloch Arms at Meigle.

The railway station serving Meigle was called Meigle Junction. This is what remains of it!

The nearby Belmont Arms is also closed now.

Next stop Blairgowrie. Here's the station in 1961, six years after closure to passengers (Ben Brooksbank CC).

Stageccoach buses now serve the town.

Wellmeadow, Blairgowrie town centre (Creative Commons License).

The River Ericht flows through the town (Creative Commons License).

Blairgowrie has several decent hostelries. Here's the Ericht Alehouse.

Sadly, the Old Cross (technically in Rattray) no longer has real ale.

It seems that the Royal Hotel is "long term closed".

The Stormont Arms is, fortunately, still trading.

We now come to the village of Spittalfield, home of McLennan's Buses.

A great variety of vehicles could be found here.

After Stagecoach took over, the depot remained in use for a while.

A few miles to the north is Bridge of Cally and the Bridge of Cally Hotel.

Now we move on to Dunkeld and the River Tay.

Dunkeld station is still open and served by Scotrail.

The signal box was still in use in 2008.

The Taybank is a great venue in Dunkeld.

The Atholl Arms is not bad, but no longer has real ale.

Foolowing the railway, we come to Pitlochry. 26003 passes the signal box in 1986.

Pitlochry is a magnet for coach operators. Here we have examples (top to bottom) from Highland Omnibuses, Eastern Scottish, Central SMT (ex Newtons), Yeomans of Herefordshire and Southdown.

We could stay the night at the Wellwood Hotel.....

.....or we could just admire the views.

But the best thing to in Pitlochry is to walk out to a brew pub, the Moulin Hotel. (pics from their website). 

That seems a good place to conclude this post. Next time we'll be in the hills. Follow the map here.

THE FAIR CITY

We've now left Dundee behind and are arriving at Perth, known as the "Fair City". Our first stop is on the outskirts, at Walnut Grove, where Stagecoach had their original depot.

On the way into Perth, we happen across the excellent Cherrybank Inn.

Arrivng in the city centre, we call in at the Greyfriars. Another good boozer, it's since changed its name to Malky's Bar.

Our final stop of the evening is at a pub called Dickens Bar, though it has since been renamed as the Silvery Tay.

 In daylight, the next morning, I can reveal that the Dickens Bar was originally called John Moirs.

The nearby Old Ship is said to be the oldest pub in Perth.

In contrast, one of the newest is the Capital Asset, the city's Wetherspoons, close to the banks of the Tay.

Here is the River Tay, as it flows through Perth.

Close to the river was the Caledonian Railway station called Princes Street.

The main railway station in Perth is a grand affair, once served by the Caledonian, North Britiish and Highand Railways. Here's a NBR 2-4-0.

LNER 9417 and 246 double head a train out of Perth station.

LMS 14382 gives off plenty of steam as it sits in Perth station.

The north end of Perth station in post-grouping days.

The south end in 1986. 47715 Holyrood arrives.

158703 forms a service bound for the south in 1999.

Perth loco shed was nearby. Highland Railway No. 7 Ben Attow was once found there.

In a later view, 55215 and D5338 were photographed on shed.

W Alexannder & Son was once the main bus operator in Perth.

Strathtay later took over. 

Strathtay operated Routemasters for a short while.

Fife Scottish could also be found in Perth. Here's an unusual coach at the bus station.

Stagecoach now has a major presence in the city.

Messrs Smith, of Coupar Angus, also can be found here.

That's it for now. The next post will see us perambulating aound the smaller towns of Tayside.