Balfron has found its own way of celebrating links to celebrated Scottish author and poet Sir Walter Scott.
Following the recent online launch of the WalterScott250 festival - celebrating two and a half centuries since the great man’s birth - Balfron Heritage Group has come up with a link between Sir Walter and their village’s nearby now-disappeared railway station.
The panel they have created for the disused bus shelter on Indians Road explains the connection.
Local historian Jim Thomson said: “The answer lies in his iconic work “The Lady of the Lake”.
“So popular was this piece of writing, inspired by Loch Katrine, that it created a tourist boom to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs followed by fellow authors Jules Verne and Hans Christian Andersen.
“The coming of rail travel opened the experience to the emerging middle classes. The Victorian tour which emerged linked trains and steamers in an idyllic circuit of some of Scotland’s most stunning scenery from the country’s biggest cities.
“While Glasgow had a direct railway link to Loch Lomond that still exists to this day, the journey from Edinburgh to Balloch via Stirling relied on the Forth & Clyde Junction Railway for which Balfron Station was a hub.
“From Balloch Pier, a steamer would convey the tourists up Loch Lomond to Inversnaid where carriages or charabancs awaited them for Loch Katrine. There, they would cruise the length of the loch before being picked up again by horse-drawn transport over to the railway stations at Aberfoyle or Callander and then by train back to their urban homes.”
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Walter Scott 250 is a partnership network of more than 50 organisations across Scotland and further afield, dedicated to showcasing new and exciting perspectives on Scott and his legacy across 2021-22 in a range of mediums, from art installations, publications and events to exhibitions and community projects.
The partnership is steered and facilitated by The Abbotsford Trust, the independent charity responsible for caring for Scott’s former home and estate in the Scottish Borders.
A host of online events are taking place into next year celebrating the author. For more details visit www.walterscott250.com
