Jim C. Mackintosh was born and raised in Perthshire and currently resides in Perth. Clare Cooper, co-producer of Cateran’s Common Wealth caught up with him to hear about how he is spreading the word about his craft and what poetry means to him.   Photo, Jim C. Mackintosh W.H Auden said that “A poet is, […]

Saturday 25th March saw the launch of our Walks & Talks Programme. First off was artist in residence Deirdre Nelson walking from Alyth to Bridge of Cally with a group of walkers.   Coming up are 14 other walks and talks spreading over seven months and running into September all arranged to share the rich diversity […]

Like many parts of Scotland, the Cateran Trail has a rich heritage of folktales, myths and legends. Glenshee takes its name from the Gaelic word sìth, signifying ‘fairies’. Until the old tongue died out in the late 1800’s the inhabitants were known as Sithichean a’ Ghlinnshith – ‘The Elves of Glenshee’.   Photo courtesy of Clare […]

“Margaret is, in many ways, the true spirit of Alyth. There is a real comfort in the unchanging nature of her shop. A warm welcome awaits all who cross her threshold and she offers an experience that is so much more than shopping. Margaret has a genuine warmth and she knows her customers and their […]

Creative technologist Rory Gianni and writer and film maker Shona Main are working with Producer of The Story Box, Alyth resident Marian Bruce, to make her vision a reality. Together with old timers, young people and children from the town’s Primary School, they will transform a decommissioned red telephone box in the Town Square into […]

A Story of the Cateran Trail in 100 Objects is the first of three Cateran’s Common wealth projects to launch this week with a 4 month public campaign to crowdsource ideas for 100 objects that tell the story of the Trail’s history right up until the present day. A dramatic view of Gleann Beag where […]

On 22nd September, 22 youngsters from Rattray Primary School undertook a heritage walk to view one of Scotland’s finest Iron Age Forts, Barry Hill next to Alyth. Accompanying them were Nicky Mcfarlane, Primary School teacher at Rattray and volunteers Scott Whyte, parent, Alison Hall of Historic Holidays Scotland and Clare Cooper, co-producer of Cateran’s Common […]

“In Deirdre’s projects, materials are inseparable from stories of their making; she makes narratives of matter, narratives that matter. Handheld stories that weave words and wool, that value knitting and narration as ways of living more fully and more carefully; stories that are threaded through our world to keep them from passing from our hands […]


Andrew Hunter is a graphic designer and artist who lives and works in Enochdhu near Kirkmichael, the start of one of the most glorious and remote sections of the Cateran Trail which winds up from the village of Kirkmichael, through Enochdhu up to the highest point of the Trail at An Lairag, then down to the […]

In addition to being Councillor for Blairgowrie & the Glens and involved in a host of other organisations and projects that promote outdoor activities and sports, Bob Ellis has played a key role in the story of the Cateran Trail. In this post he told Clare Cooper how it all began and why it holds […]