The village of Blair Athollis situated at the entrance to
Blair
Castle, the railway station and the old A9 trunk route road run
through the village. The village is mainly residential but you
will find one of Scotland’s oldest working watermills.
Blair Atholl
Watermill is still fully operational, grinding
wheat and barley using the traditional methods of the water powered
water wheel and large grinding stones. You can stop at the
watermill for tea, coffee, a snack or a light lunch (try the
famous authentic bagels). You can
also purchase excellent freshly baked bread of various
kinds. You will also be able to take a tour of the watermill to
investigate its workings.
I met Aran at the Blair Atholl Watermill on
Sunday 11th July 2010.
He was walking from Land's End to John O Groats and was hoping
to finish in time to celebrate his 18th Birthday at Home with
his family.
He is walking for Help for Heros Charity and has already
collected more than £1500.
www.helpforheroes.org.uk You can check out Arans progress on his website
www.aranlejog.webs.com Well done Aran it was a pleasure to
meet you. Hope you achieved all you set out to do!
by Eileen Owens.
There are two hotels in the village, two holiday parks, one for
static’s, the other run by Atholl Estates has lodges, caravans,
and touring pitches for tents or caravans. There is a post
office and two village stores, plus a variety of Guest Houses
and B & Bs.
The village has an active tourist association who run two summer
gala nights during July & August each year. There is an active
series of events at Blair Castle each year. The Atholl Estates
Ranger Service runs comprehensive schedule of events from Easter
to October each year. For full information on Blair Atholl area
visit the Blair Atholl Area Tourism Association web site
www.blairatholl.org.uk
Blair
Atholl starts the Scottish Highland Games season each year by
hosting the ‘Atholl Gathering’ on the lst Sunday of May each
year. This is a lovely local highland games, situated in a field
beside Blair Castle. A natural earth embankment allows
spectators to sit and watch the events taking place in the arena
below. The games are opened following an ancient custom by the
Duke of Atholl, also taking part in the opening ceremony are the
Atholl Highlanders the Duke’s private army.
Blair Atholl
is also very fortunate to host the Blair Castle
International Horse Trials and country Fair on the last
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of August each year. The
event attracts the top British and World riders as well as
hundreds of other horse enthusiasts all competing in various
other horse events over the four days. There are four arenas, a
3 day event international cross country course, as well as a
massive tented village, which has a massive variety of goods,
and produce on sale from a food hall, craft tent, horse related
produce of every kind, cameras, binoculars, art and much more.
This event is well worth visiting but make a full day of it as
you will need the full day to get the most out of your visit.
Walking, cycling, hill climbing are all well catered for with a
series of booklets produced by Atholl Estates and sold by Atholl
Estates Rangers. You can say the village of Blair Atholl has
much to offer the visitor.
Old New Year celebrations in
Blair Atholl 2008 The dance is called the 'Dance of the Black Cock' - it is a
representation on the male Black Grouse, who perform each spring
to attract a mate. The performance area is called a Lek.
