Spittal of Glenshee
| Spittal of Glenshee Gaelic: Spideal Ghlinn Sìdh | |
| Perthshire | |
|---|---|
 Spittal of Glenshee and the Cairnwell Pass | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NO110701 |
| Location: | 56°48’50"N, 3°27’34"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Blairgowrie |
| Postcode: | PH10 |
| Dialling code: | 01250 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Perth and Kinross |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Perth and North Perthshire |
The Spittal of Glenshee lies at the head of Glenshee in the highlands of eastern Perthshire, where the confluence of many small streams flowing south out of the Grampian Mountains form the Shee Water.
For centuries, there has been a hostel or inn at the site, hence its existence and its name. In modern times, the small village has become a centre for travel, tourism and winter sports in the region, sited at a bend on the A93 trunk road which leads from Blairgowrie north past the Spittal to the Glenshee Ski Centre and on to Braemar.
Inhabitation in the Neolithic period is indicated by a Megalithic standing stone[1] behind the old kirk, and the Four Poster stone circle on a nearby mound.[2]
When interest in ski mountaineering revived after the First World War and the Scottish Ski Club was resuscitated in 1929, they restarted weekly snow reports with reporters appointed at Lix Toll near Killin, Dalwhinnie, Braemar and the Spittal of Glenshee. The Dundee Ski Club used the Spittal Hotel as its meeting place, and pioneered improvements, setting up the first ski tows in Great Britain at Glenshee in December 1950. The hotel burnt down in 1959, but Spittal of Glenshee has continued to provide accommodation near to the slopes.[3]
The village also provides a stopping place on the Cateran Trail waymarked long distance footpath which provides a 64-mile circuit in the glens of Perthshire and Angus.[4]
References
- ↑ The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map: Spittal Of Glenshee Standing Stone (Menhir)
- ↑ Spittal Of Glenshee -Four Poster stone circle
- ↑ Simpson, Myrtle (1982). Skisters. Carrbridge, Inverness-shire: Landmark Press. ISBN 0-9503440-1-X.
- ↑ "Cateran Trail". Visit Scotland. http://www.perthshire.co.uk/index.asp?lm=291. Retrieved 2013-02-27.