Somehow our usual autumn holiday downgraded itself in 2016 to a couple of nights in Perth in early December! I’m not complaining, Perth is a beautiful city and the weather, though cold, was wonderfully bright. We spent most of our day there, Sunday, following the River Tay Public Art Trail.

Our hotel (Sunbank House – highly recommended) was on the east bank of the river so we started there and followed the trail through a series of parks and gardens before crossing the river and returning along Tay Street. Here are some highlights.

East bank

This was my favourite part of the trail with the tall spire of St Matthew’s Church an ever-present landmark.

Vortex by Malcolm Robertson

River Arch by Doug Cocker

Reason by David Wilson

Millais’ Viewpoint by Tim Shutter

Evergreen by Kenny Munro

Rodney Gardens

St Matthew’s Church

Benchmark by John Creed

Norie-Miller Park

The Dance Within by Paul Eugene Riley

Perth Bridge

Perth Bridge by day

Perth Bridge by night

We crossed the river by the Perth Bridge which is equally attractive by day and night. It was built in 1766 and widened in 1869. On the other side are the Museum and Art Gallery and the Concert Hall – we didn’t go in this time, but enjoyed visits to both earlier in the year.

Perth Museum and Art Gallery

Perth Museum and Art Gallery

Perth Museum and Art Gallery

Perth Concert Hall

Perth Concert Hall

Perth Concert Hall

Returning to the river, some of the art serves a very practical purpose as flood gates.

Tay flood barriers

River Tay Themes by David Wilson

River Tay Themes by David Wilson

We passed the war memorial and regimental monument and admired the beautiful houses on the side of the river we’d just come from.

Regimental monument

Perth war memorial

Perth war memorial

Houses across the Tay

Then we crossed under the bridge to walk up Tay Street.

West bank and city centre

On the section of Tay Street between Perth Bridge and Queen’s Bridge there are ten wall carvings and several other sculptures, of which my favourite is Shona Kinloch’s chubby eagle standing proudly atop its fish.

Wall carving by Gillian Forbes

Wall carving by Gillian Forbes

Eagle of Perth by Shona Kinloch

The trail now took us away from the river into the city centre – lunch! But also more to see. The Salutation Hotel is another historic landmark, dating from 1699.

Salutation Hotel

Salutation Hotel

Salutation Hotel

St John Street has decorative lampposts and gratings – I’m not sure if they’re meant to remind me of Munch’s The Scream, but they do. Round the corner, Walter Scott’s Fair Maid of Perth sits forlornly on her bench.

Art works in St John Street by David Wilson

Perth street grating

Fair Maid of Perth by Graham Ibbeson

Nearby, Nae Day Sae Dark is another literary sculpture, inspired by Perth poet William Soutar. The two figures represent happiness and misery. It wasn’t possible to get a picture of the full circle because a (tuneless) busker had plonked himself right in the way.

Nae Day Sae Dark by David Annanad

Nae Day Sae Dark by David Annanad

Nae Day Sae Dark by David Annanad

Nae Day Sae Dark by David Annanad

After lunch, we continued along the riverbank, passing another sculpture inspired by Soutar, Soutar’s Menagerie, until we reached the Fergusson Gallery. Housed in an old water tower, this is dedicated to the work of Scottish Colourist JD Fergusson (1874-1961). It’s not open on Sundays, but we’ve been before and it is well worth a visit. It also has information about Fergusson’s partner, the dancer Margaret Morris, and their life together.

Soutar’s Menagerie by Rhonda Bayley

Fergusson Gallery

Craigie walk

From the Fergusson Gallery we set off to follow another trail – there was life in the old legs yet – which focussed on the life of the aforementioned poet, William Soutar. We set off across South Inch (large grassy area) – Soutar was born in one of its bordering terraces.

South Inch

St Leonard’s-in-the-Fields from South Inch

We then walked uphill to areas Soutar would have played in as a child, passing Craigie Waterfall and climbing Craigie Knowes, a little patch of wilderness in suburbia. In Soutar’s day, the waterfall was surrounded by malt barns, a laundry and a flock mill. Now it’s all houses, though some of the windy roads probably had their origins as farm tracks. Higher still is Craigie Hill, where you can see John striding along below. This looks like the country, but to the left of the picture is a golf course and out of sight on the right traffic thunders along the motorway to Dundee.

Craigie Waterfall

On Craigie Knowes

On Craigie Hill

Descending again, we passed 27 Wilson Street where Soutar lived in the last years of his life. Here he spent 13 years bedridden with an incurable arthritis of the spine, all the time writing his poetry and receiving a constant stream of friends, neighbours and literary admirers. He died of tuberculosis aged just 45.

27 Wilson Street

Soutar memorial plaque

Finally, we returned to South Inch and amused ourselves watching the birds on the frozen pond.

Pond on South Inch

Birds on South Inch pond

Birds on South Inch pond

Linking to Jo’s Monday Walks where you’ll find her on a trail in the Algarve, and her friends? Well they’re cyber-walking all over the globe!