Big Tree Country >> Our Story >> Projects Past

Big Tree Country... in the Past

To understand the history of Perthshire Big Tree Country is to pay tribute to an array of enlightened people who helped make the area what it is today.

From local world renowned plant collectors like David Douglas and Archibald Menzies to the ‘planting’ Dukes of Atholl, the landscape is a realisation of collective foresight.

The Jacobite uprisings led to a record breaking living war memorial and gave cause to incredible stories including a momentous leap and the harbouring of colourful historical figures within the branches of an oak.

Creative influence was brought to bear by Scotland’s most famous national bard, Robert Burns, whose petitioning through verse led to the development of one of the area’s favourite visiting places.

One of the nation’s best-loved children’s authors, Beatrix Potter, found inspiration amidst the plant and wildlife that have taken residence over the years. A glimpse of some of the UK’s rarer and more unusual wildlife is the reward for those stealthy of foot and sharp of eye.

Projects

Creative Writing Workshops

As part of the International Year of the Forest, Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust has joined forces with local writer Linda Cracknell to host a series of creative writing workshops on Big Tree Country (BTC) sites. The area already has some strong literary connections – Burns, Beatrix Potter, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson have all spent time in our stunning countryside. The workshops hope to inspire new writers to explore their own associations with landscape through writing. ...

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A Photographic Legacy

A Photographic Legacy Born in Perth on 25 September 1831, Magnus Jackson took an interest in the town and area of his birth throughout his life. His photographs captured life in Perthshire in the latter half of the 19th Century and he was known throughout Scotland for the quality of his landscape and nature photography. The Magnus Jackson Gallery reveals a stunning legacy of images of some of Perthshire’s amazing woodland heritage between the late 1850s and 1890. The detail in the photographs is incredible, partic...

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The Woodland Bus

The Woodland Bus project, which has now come to a close, saw thousands of school children throughout Perthshire learning more about the trees and animals on their doorstep. As part of the three year Perthshire Big Tree Country Heritage & Access Project, the Woodland Bus visited, or had contact with, almost all of the primary schools throughout Perth & Kinross, as well as some nursery and SEN schools too! By taking woodlands into the school grounds, the bus helped teachers and pupils make t...

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Heritage & Access Project Phase I

Heritage & Access Project Phase I The Heritage & Access Project was a £1.8 million partnership venture to develop and enhance essential sites across each of the six Big Tree Country clusters. It aims to conserve and protect Perthshire’s woodland heritage while promoting greater awareness and understanding of the area through improved access and involvement for everyone. An upgraded path network, and interpretation inspired by local stories and folklore, will ensure people of all ages and abilities experience the very best...