YOUNG JOHN and Phoebe Anderson take a seat in a sledge which their great-great-grandfather used in winter for his medical rounds in the hills around Blair Atholl.

The children, who live in Pitlochry with their father John (pictured), the catering manager at Pitlochry Theatre, went with their family to visit the Atholl Country Life Museum in Blair Atholl.

There they were delighted to see the sledge which Dr Anderson used on his rounds in the winter.

Museum spokesman Mr John Cameron said, “Their great-great-grandfather Dr John Anderson came to the Pitlochry area from his native Shetland in 1894 and served the Atholl district as a doctor for over 40 years, apart from a two-year period when he served as a civil surgeon in the Boer War.”

Dr Anderson saw action with the British Army in South Africa in 1900-1, taking part in army campaigns in Cape Colony and the Orange River. After returning to Atholl he remained a gazetted lieutenant with the Scottish Horse (Imperial Yeomanry) until 1903.

At times even the horse-drawn sleigh was unable to cope. On one occasion he helped carry a patient by stretcher for four miles in snow down Glen Fender.

Dr Anderson died in 1936. His obituary commented, “As a medical man highly skilled in his profession nothing could exceed the wholeheartedness with which all his time and powers were at the disposal of his patients.”

The Country Life Museum also has on display an old kitchen and box bed, classroom and smiddy, a 1930s Post Office, gamekeeper’s corner and photos. It is open daily from 1.30-5 pm until the end of September. In July and August it opens at 10 am.