Millhaugh

Puppy training at Millhaugh

by

Our Millhaugh community facility will be resounding to cries of “Good boy!” and “Good girl!” this autumn, when a new programme of dedicated puppy classes gets going.

Canine Consultations Perthshire started the classes this week and will be running them from now until late October. October.

Local dog trainer Syd Taylor says she is excited to be offering classes at Millhaugh. Her business, Canine Consultations Perthshire, centres around ensuring dogs and their humans are communicating effectively. 

Syd offers private training consultations and will be offering classes for dogs of all ages soon.  Her puppy classes for young pups can be attended on a pay-as-you-go basis throughout October before the next block starts.  She looks forward to helping the dogs of Alyth have fun and be on their best behaviour (and their humans too!).

Millhaugh is the community facility created by Alyth Development Trust at the old sawmill on Bamff Road. With plenty of open space, partly under cover, it’s the ideal venue for puppy training.

ADT funding helps teach Scouts stone-carving

by

Alyth’s Scouts are learning new skills as part of a project to create a public sculpture for the Millhaugh community facility, thanks to a grant from Alyth Development Trust’s Community Projects Fund.

Local stonecarver Neil Paterson is running a series of workshops for the Scouts over the next few months, teaching them carving techniques.  They will then help Neil design and create a public sculpture using a specially-selected block of local sandstone, which will celebrate and commemorate the Scouts’ long association with the Millhaugh site.

Stone carver Neil Paterson teaching Scouts the secrets of his craft
Stone carver Neil Paterson teaching Alyth Scouts the secrets of his craft

Millhaugh has been at the heart of Alyth life for centuries, with corn-milling and timber milling providing employment for generations of Alythians right up until the sawmill closed in the 1980s.  ADT raised £170,000 to acquire the site in 2023 and refurbish the former sawmill buildings as a community event facility.

Neil explained:  “We will be creating the sculpture from a lintel recovered from one of the derelict buildings demolished during the refurbishment.  The sculpture will be carved as a legacy piece that will enhance the site, reflect upon the history of the site, celebrate the involvement of the Scouts in the site and encourage the community and visitors to explore and appreciate the site.

“It will be a permanent tangible memorial symbolising the history of the site and in particular the involvement of the Alyth Scouts – very much aided by scout-leader Ron Kirkpatrick, whose family formerly owned the site.  It will also help to raise awareness of stone-carving as a practice and traditional craft historically associated with the local area.”

The Community Projects Fund grant is paying for materials, stone-carving tools and safety equipment for the Scouts, as well as Neil’s time and expertise.  Once this project is complete, Neil will use the equipment for other community groups and individuals to learn new skills.

ADT’s Community Projects Fund distributes the community benefit funds provided for Alyth by the operators of the Tullymurdoch Windfarm, some five miles north of the town.  Applications to the fund are judged by an independent panel of volunteers drawn from across the community.  Apply at https://lovealyth.org.uk/projects/alyth-community-projects-fund/.

More info about the Millhaugh site is here:  https://lovealyth.org.uk/millhaugh-development/

Please avoid Millhaugh site till works are complete

by

People are still going into the old sawmill site at Millhaugh and risking severe injury or worse. The warning signs and fencing are there for a reason while the site is being cleared and and its remaining structures made safe. Please spread the word, especially to all the kids/teenagers, that only licensed and fully-trained contractors are permitted to enter the site just now, and that anyone else going in is putting themselves in considerable danger!

Clearance work starts on Millhaugh site

by
view of derelict buildings on Millhaugh site
Image courtesy of Richard Wilkins/Blairgowrie Advertiser

We are delighted to announce that work to make safe the former sawmill site at Millhaugh is scheduled to start next week. During these works the public are not permitted to enter the site for safety reasons. We estimate that the work will last from 13 November 2023 until 1 March 2024. 

The works due to be carried out can only be done by trained and qualified construction staff. The tasks to be done are:

  • Asbestos removal works – Disturbed asbestos dust and fibres are highly hazardous; 
  • Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) Removal – Deep excavations required which will be prone to flooding, plus removal of petrochemical impacted soils which are hazardous and toxic to humans; 
  • Demolition of dangerous structures – Hazards during demolition are falls, being struck, or buried in falling material or by the unintentional collapse of the structure; 
  • Working at height – Potential of items falling from above can cause serious injury. 

For all these reasons, we cannot permit any public access to the site during the work. We appreciate your cooperation during this phase and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Find out more on the Millhaugh project page:

Millhaugh development

Latest Update on Sawmill:  Seeking Volunteers!

by

Work is finally about to start on an ambitious project to transform the Millhaugh site into a gathering place to benefit the whole Alyth community.  Having secured funding from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund and the Scottish Land Fund to purchase the site, we have commissioned contractors for the first phase of works – clearing debris and making safe the large sheds and derelict buildings on the land.

view of derelict buildings on Millhaugh site
Image courtesy of Richard Wilkins/Blairgowrie Advertiser

Starting in June and lasting up to eight months, the works will involve stabilising and making safe the former corn mill, Millhaugh House, the former sawmill building and sheds, and the old Scout hut, as well as removing disused fuel tanks and generally tidying up the site in preparation for Phase 2 starting, it’s hoped, later next year.  At this stage, there are no plans for new building on the site, and the works will comply with SEPA and PKC recommendations about how to best take care of the Den of Alyth, with Millhaugh as a new hospitable and accessible entrance to the Den and public education space which is covered but out of doors.

The Millhaugh project is responding to one of the priorities in the Community Action Plan by acquiring the sawmill site in town and undertaking work to make it a safer, more educational and more accessible entrance to the Den of Alyth.  We are now looking for volunteers to join a programming committee for the Millhaugh site.  This group will determine how we make the space available to all within the town for gatherings, events and educational programming.  If you would like to express an interest in this committee, which will begin meeting later this year, please do get in touch via millhaugh@alyth.online   We want to make sure that this important new space reflects the interests of our town!

Back to top