National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000
It is still a working station, with ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper trains stopping there, although passenger numbers are low. The Friends of Blair Atholl Station have ambitious plans to give it another role at the centre of village life.
With National Lottery funding the group is collecting and sharing oral histories from older people in the community. Carolyn Ferguson shared her memories of catching the train to school from Blair Atholl station in the 1950s.
Mike Shanto’s story of growing up at the station has been made into an animated film and storybook, which are being used in a workshop on animation and railway history with local primary school pupils. The work of the project is being shared with the village through an interactive exhibition in August 2024.
Dr Viviene Cree, Chair of Friends of Blair Atholl Station, said: “We formed Friends of Blair Atholl station as we came out of the pandemic and started by working with ScotRail to adopt the station – tidying up the planters and community noticeboard. We’ve set up a YouTube channel to tell people about our wonderful little station.
“Our long-term goal is to bring the stationhouse back into use as a community hub, and this Heritage Fund support is a first big step towards that.”
Caroline Clark, Director for Scotland at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “This is a wonderful example of a community creatively exploring its past – this project will bring people together across generations and get them talking about, and celebrating, their local heritage.”
