Aberfeldy

General Wade's Bridge Over the Tay

Aberfeldy is a bustling small town built on the south side of the River Tay. It sits at the point where the high-level road south to Crieff meets the east-west road along the Tay valley. And it owes much of its growth to the first bridging of the river here in 1733.

The Square Chapel Street Aberfeldy Distillery

General Wade's Bridge over the Tay is a beautiful structure still used by modern traffic, though only in one direction at a time. It was built as part of the network of military roads put in place by General George Wade following the 1715 Jacobite uprising. The bridge was designed by William Adam, father of the rather better known Robert Adam. From the bridge the military roads headed south towards Crieff, and north to Tummel Bridge. Today the bridge is also used by the 79 mile Rob Roy Way which passes through Aberfeldy on its route from Drymen to Pitlochry.

Main Street

Memorial & Glen Lyon Hills

Overlooking the river and bridge, and with stunning views north west to the Glen Lyon and Ben Lawers hills is the Black Watch Monument. This was erected in 1887 and records another aspect of the troubled first half of the eighteenth century.

Aberfeldy itself spills out in all directions from its heart, the Square, and offers visitors access to a range of shops, amenities and accommodation.

The town also has an industrial history to offer, ranging from cotton milling dating back to 1799 through to laundry and machine tool businesses in more recent times. Today the most striking and, for many, most interesting, industrial heritage revolves around distilling.

The history of distilling in and around Aberfeldy dates back several centuries, and fits the pattern common across Scotland of informal illegal distilling taking place anywhere the locals thought could be kept hidden from the excisemen. Changes in legislation in the first half of the nineteenth century made legal distilling more attractive, leading to fewer but usually more legitimate stills.

Distilleries were set up on the outskirts of Aberfeldy and along the Tay valley at Grandtully. Grandtully distillery survived until 1909. Aberfeldy's own distillery, Pittiely, closed in 1867. It was replaced in 1896 by Aberfeldy Distillery which uses the same supply of water from the hills to the south.

Aberfeldy Distillery was expanded in the 1960s and 1970s and visitors today can call in on Dewars World of Whisky, one of the more organised distillery visitor centres you are likely to find when touring around Scotland.