Scotland officially has eight cities. My home town of Dunfermline received the royal charter last year. There is no agreed definition of what constitutes a city. One theory says a cathedral must be present. If you go down that route, the unexpected name of Brechin creeps on to the list. Moreover, the local football team is named Brechin City. It was to this small Angus settlement (population 7000) I headed on a Friday afternoon while Nicole had a session at Abertay University in Dundee. I dropped her off and drove the 25 miles up the A90 to the quirky cathedral city, set within prime agricultural territory.
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about a walk along the old Brechin railway. The iron road was also the reason for today's visit, although it would be an indoor activity. The Town House Museum was hosting an exhibition about the development and closure of railways in the county. The new transport system connected Angus to the rest of the country and transformed the local economy as vast quantities of produce could be quickly transported to markets far and wide. The museum is located within a historic municipal building built in 1790. Entrance is free and the ground floor covers the history of the town/city. Upstairs is an art gallery and a room for special exhibitions. Opening hours at the time of writing are 1100 - 1600, Thursday to Monday. The modern East Coast Main Line runs along the Angus coast from Dundee to Montrose. A few decades ago however, a network of inland routes criss-crossed the county, all of which were deemed uneconomical by British Railways in the post-war era and along came Dr Richard Beeching with his infamous axe. Brechin Station is still extant and I parked near this attractive Victorian terminus, built by the Aberdeen Railway company in 1848. Closed to passenger traffic in 1952, it serves today as the base for a heritage railway that has been running steam trains to Bridge of Dun - four miles away - since 1993. My dad and I did this tour around 10 years ago. The heritage operation trades as the Caledonian Railway - a nod to the company who controlled many routes in Angus and indeed Scotland, prior to grouping in 1923, at which point it was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Nationalisation followed in 1948. I entered the museum and proceeded directly to the railway display, passing a set of wall-mounted Pictish stones as I climbed the stairs. Probably the best place to start when considering the lost railways of Angus is the situation in Forfar. The county town was a transport hub and - even as late as the 1950s - a whopping 80 members of staff were associated with the station. A high-speed Caledonian line ran from Stanley Junction near Perth, through Forfar and on to Kinnaber Junction just north of Montrose, where the line converged with the coastal route, originally built by the North British Company after the opening of the Forth and Tay bridges. Kinnaber can be considered the meeting point of the east and west trunk routes from London. One set of tracks proceeded from here to Aberdeen. In 1895, two locomotives left the English capital in a "race to the north" - an event that aroused great public interest. The train running up the western side of the country reached Kinnaber first to claim the prize. Unbelievably, the old Caley route was closed in 1967 and the grand Forfar Station was no more, although the goods yard remained connected to Perth until 1982. Nothing remains of the station infrastructure today. Until fairly recently, football fans heading to Station Park - home of Forfar Athletic - had to pass through a short tunnel below part of the old platforms but that too has been demolished. Forfar was also connected to Dundee by a direct line that opened in 1870 and replaced more circuitous options via Arbroath or Newtyle. Competition from local bus services and the increasing popularity of the motor car led to passenger services being withdrawn in 1955. Goods traffic ceased in 1967 and another line to Forfar was lost. A branch to Kirriemuir followed a similar pattern of closure. Other casualties were the local lines that split off the trunk route to connect Forfar to Brechin and Arbroath.
Bridge of Dun was the site of a junction that fed a branch line from the Caledonian tracks towards Brechin. This is the stretch currently used by the heritage railway and good views of the stations at each end can be had from nearby road overbridges. Passenger trains stopped running in 1952 but a freight link was in existence until 1981. Had this line (and the Forfar goods stub) managed to cling on until the end of the decade, they might have been saved as railways became important political tools. Fate conspired otherwise and the last remaining portion of the old main line was lifted, leaving the heritage crew in charge of an isolated piece of track. They had negotiated a swift purchase and trains were permitted to run within the Brechin station limits until a Light Railway Order was obtained for the full stretch. Brechin also had a branch line running north to the village of Edzell. It diverged from the railway that ran along to Forfar. Edzell was a popular holiday destination in the early 1900s but passenger services were withdrawn as early as 1931. Goods traffic to the military base continued until 1964. Over on the coast, Arbroath is served by the East Coast Main Line but a link to Forfar was built as early as 1838. Some of the track was subsequently taken over by the Perth to Kinnaber main route, illustrating the jostling that took place between the various private companies that established our national rail network. Guthrie was the point where the new express line diverged from the original Forfar to Arbroath run. The portion from Guthrie to Arbroath closed to passengers and freight in 1955. The city of Dundee is historically part of Angus County (sometimes known as Forfarshire) but today's exhibition focussed primarily on lines that traversed the modern Angus Council Area. There was little mention of railway infrastructure within the Dundee municipal boundaries. But that's a minor quibble. The real oversight was the lack of a large map showing how the Angus lines were interconnected. Each featured route had a text panel with useful information about the construction process, type of traffic carried and the eventual closure (where appropriate) but you would have to be over 70 years old to have a vivid memory of the old network. A handful of geeks like yours truly spend hours studying the topography of long-gone railways but most people visiting the exhibition would not have been able to mentally picture the extent of the coverage. There was a wonderful diagram of Forfar Station (pictured below) but a county-wide basic schematic would have been a useful addition.
There were several examples of old promotional literature, including a leaflet produced by the Brechin heritage railway before websites conveyed this sort of information. The Beeching era was handled fairly. It's easy to think of the 1960s as a period of sheer butchery but the railways were losing money hand over fist and the decaying network still relied heavily on steam. Millions had been squandered building enormous freight marshalling yards in the post-war years, at a time when road haulage was already taking a lot of business away from the railways. Something had to give and Beeching himself was merely the hatchet man hired to do the dirty work. You could certainly argue he went too far and some of the closures should never have been sanctioned, such as the Forfar trunk route. It's interesting to note that Labour came to power before many of the lines slated for closure were actually decommissioned. The new government made virtually no attempt to halt the process. Due to my long-standing interest in Scottish railways, I was already familiar with the geography covered by the exhibition. One thing I hadn't heard of was the disaster at Elliot Junction Station, north of Carnoustie on the coastal main line. It was here the Carmyllie Railway diverged inland. Originally built in 1855 to transport quarried stone, the line carried passengers between 1900 and 1929 under the terms of the Light Railways Act. This allowed simplified low-cost lines to be authorised without the lengthy process of obtaining an official Act of Parliament. The accident occurred on the main line. In 1906, a stationary local Arbroath to Dundee passenger train was struck from behind by a southbound express during a horrendous blizzard. Three coaches of the smaller train were wrecked, as was the leading carriage of the fast service, whose driver (Gourlay) was pulled out uninjured from underneath a pile of coal that had fallen on top of him. However his fireman was dead, as were 21 passengers. Gourlay was blamed for the crash as he had been advised to proceed with caution - slowing down at all stations - and not rely blindly upon the signalling system during the adverse weather. The Carmyllie Railway closed to freight in 1965 and a factory stub by the main line existed until 1984.
From the railway gallery, I wandered through to the display of paintings in the adjacent upstairs room. The artwork was by Brechin native David Waterson (1870 - 1954) who lived in the town for most of his life. A prolific artist, Waterson painted with oils and watercolours. He also created etchings and dabbled in photography. After training at Edinburgh School of Art, Waterson's work was exhibited in London, Dresden and Paris. He gained substantial interest from collectors and could count King Gustav of Sweden among his admirers. A bright feature seemed assured. Unfortunately the big breakthrough never came and Waterson's career didn't live up to its early promise. He remained popular locally and the museum showcased a range of his paintings depicting Brechin and the Angus countryside. I particularly liked the image of Edzell Castle (shown above). I proceeded downstairs to learn about the history of Brechin itself. The Town House was constructed around 1790. Originally it contained the courtroom and jail at ground level, with the Council Chambers on the upper floor. The custodial facilities were described in 1819 as being "tolerably decent" for debtors but criminals were confined to "two wretched dirty cells". By 1844, a new jail had been built elsewhere in the town and the aforementioned criminal accommodation was converted to police offices. At the turn of the 20th century, local administration moved out and the Town House became a retail unit. The museum has occupied the premises since 2003. Religion played an important role in the development of Brechin and the A-listed cathedral dates from the 13th century. The adjacent round tower is even older and almost unique in Scotland, the only other example being located in Abernethy, Perthshire. The cathedral's future as a working church is uncertain. Dwindling congregation numbers caused a cessation of services in 2021 and the church authorities are exploring different options for the building's future. At the moment, the Society of Friends of Brechin Cathedral - a local community group - is managing the church on a one-year deal. The town was granted the right to hold a weekly market in 1150 by King David I. There was a flourishing trade in wool, hides and sheep fleeces but Brechin's success prompted the neighbouring Royal Burghs of Montrose and Forfar to lodge objections. Official Burgh status was finally conferred upon Brechin in 1451, cementing its right to trade.
The museum contained a mock-up of the cathedral scriptorium, showing a monk hard at work writing and illustrating manuscripts. In an age when few people could read and write, the production of documents was a highly respected art. In the 1980s, a sheet of 13th-century music was discovered during the conservation of a book published in 1660. The score had been incorporated into the binding, under the leather cover, with holes cut out for metal buckles. A more sombre display was the reconstruction of the "black hole" - a notorious prison cell. The shackled figure of John Gall sat inside. Born in Brechin in 1803, he was employed as a cattleman and was a popular figure in the town. Married with four children, he was convicted in of rustling in 1827 and sentenced to transportation, following his trial in Aberdeen. Placed on a prison hulk bound for Tasmania, little more was heard of him until 1837, when he petitioned the governor for permission to marry Ann Radford. His life then took a normal law-abiding course, as attested by the many Australian descendants of the couple. His Scottish family survived the trauma of the events and several people here have identified Gall as an ancestor. The museum speculated that Gall - previously a man of good character - may have been driven by desperation as the winter of 1827 was particularly harsh and a disastrous spring followed. Moving forward a century, I was drawn to the displays on Sir Robert Watson-Watt, a Brechin native who pioneered radar systems in the 1930s. Despite having a keen interest in WW2, I had no idea that one of the most important technical advances of the conflict had been developed by a Scotsman. We do seem to punch above our weight in the invention stakes. In 1935, Watson-Watt (a descendant of steam engineer James Watt) was appointed director of the British National Physical Laboratory. It was here he worked on a system named Radio Detection and Ranging - subsequently shortened to RADAR - which became a vital defence mechanism enabling enemy aircraft to be identified in flight. A chain of radar posts on the east and south coasts was already in place when war broke out and the technology became standard kit on British ships and aircraft. Watson-Watt was dispatched to America as an advisor and there is no doubt he contributed greatly to the overall war effort. In recognition of his genius, the British government awarded him the sum of £50,000. Bizarrely, the general public wasn't aware of Watson-Watt's achievements until 1971, when the information was declassified. He spent his later years in Canada where he was caught speeding by local traffic cops wielding a radar gun. He quipped "if I knew what you were going to do with it, I'd never have invented it!"
I browsed the diverse range of objects in the other display cases, noting a pewter beggar's badge and the rather gruesome instrument of torture known as the branks (pictured left). Women accused of witchcraft were forcibly led around town wearing this device. Although Brechin had built its economic success upon fertile farmland, the industrial revolution introduced linen and paper to the mix. There was also a tobacco works. Bonnie Prince Charlie never visited Brechin but part of his army passed through the town in 1746 after the disastrous defeat at Culloden. A century earlier, military personnel from both sides were present in Brechin during the war between royalists and covenantors. The towns location between the Highlands and Lowlands gave it a strategical importance. Further back, King John Balliol was forced to surrender his crown to Edward I of England at Brechin Castle. It is said the Great Seal of Scotland was destroyed within the castle walls. A display of medieval weaponry introduced me to the calthrop. Often scattered on battlefields, they were designed so that one of the four spikes always faced upwards. Cavalry horses could be lamed if they stepped on this early form of landmine. The things that humans invent! I found the whole museum very interesting and purchased a couple of souvenirs before I left. To my utter dismay, I learned the Town House was set to close towards the end of the year. I looked around online and discovered that the Angus Alive Trust - who are tasked with operating cultural venues around the county - have decided to relinquish the lease on the property. Budget constraints immediately spring to mind but there are suggestions the opening hours were deliberately pared back after the pandemic to engineer a reduction in footfall, then use this as a justification for closure. Ironically the main reason for my visit had been the railway exhibition and exactly the same accusations were levelled at British Rail back in the 60s. Make the timetables unattractive, then say the service is not worth keeping because nobody is using it. I emailed an independent councillor quoted in a local newspaper article and she informed me an organisation known as the Friends of Brechin Town House are investigating the feasibility of taking over the running of the museum. Let's hope a solution can be found.
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