Glenfarg isn’t one of those places you just pass through, as a rule. But it’s one that’s well worth seeking out.
This lively little village sits among farmland and forests in the Ochil hills between Perth and Kinross.
It’s bypassed by the M90 motorway, so you’ll have to turn off at Bridge of Earn – taking the notoriously twisty back road past the Famous Bein Inn –Â or Mawcarse, to the north of Milnathort, if you fancy popping in.
And maybe it’s this relative seclusion that makes it such a rewarding place to live, says Douglas Fraser.
Glenfarg people get things done. When the last hotel closed – there were four in Glenfarg’s heyday –Â they put on their own pub night. Now they organise a pop-up pub in the park twice a year.
The nearest cinema is in Perth, so they hold community cinema nights too. That’s when the community centre isn’t packed out with all the other activities.
And when their local bus service came under threat, they set up their own community transport company, making headlines right across the UK. But more of that later…
Douglas and his wife have lived in Glenfarg for 18 years. The retired engineer chairs the community council and has a hand in plenty more local groups, and there’s nowhere else he’d rather stay. Here’s why.
1. Glenfarg Community Centre
The community centre is more than just a building in Glenfarg. It’s the beating heart of the village.
We visit on a Thursday morning when the weekly coffee lounge is in full swing. Pensioners chat to mums with pushchairs while a seemingly endless supply of teas, coffees and delicious home baking pour out of the kitchen.
You’ll find it buzzing most days, says Douglas.
“We’ve got more than 20 groups using the community centre on a regular basis,” he says.
“There’s the coffee lounge, a soup kitchen, Zumba, yoga, wine club, community cinema, scouts, beavers… everything goes on here.
“It’s brilliant for social interaction. We have all these groups in Glenfarg being driven by lots of individuals, and everything comes together and connects here.”
And it’s about to get busier still.
The community has taken on the old schoolhouse next door, creating up new meeting rooms and much more space for activities indoors and out.
“It’s going to give us much more opportunities,” says Douglas.
“Watch this space.”
2. Glenfarg Green
Glenfarg Green used to be a coal yard. Now it’s a green oasis in the centre of the village.
It was given to the village by the Lascelles family, who lived in the house across the road until 2008.
Brian and Maggie Lascelles were both keen gardeners and they developed the land, planting trees and installing a bridge and a pond, before passing it on to the community.
“The Glenfarg and Duncrievie in Bloom group take care of it now,” says Douglas.
“And once a year the village has a tidy-up. We’ll maybe have 20 or 30 people here, draining the pond, clearing weeds and generally keeping the place looking nice.
“It has just blossomed over the last 30 years. We’ve got some quite rare species now, and the pond is a real haven for wildlife.
“People come and walk their dogs, or just for a quiet place. It was very well used during Covid. It’s just a lovely peaceful place to have right in the middle of the village.”
3. Glenfarg Community Bus
Glenfarg’s community bus is the envy of other towns and villages. Communities across the country are eyeing its success and it’s being viewed as a model for public transport in many other rural areas.
“It started with the demise of our 55 bus service to Kinross,” says Douglas.
“The community council came up with the idea of a community bus to fill the gap, and it’s all just taken off from there.
“We have five buses now, run by the Glenfarg Community Transport Group, with volunteers and paid drivers. There’s an hourly service to Kinross. We do school pickups for Arngask Primary and pupils in places like Strathmiglo and Gateside who are outwith the catchment area for Kinross High School. And we do excursions to things like the V&A Dundee and Ikea.
“In the run-up to Christmas, we were taking groups to the Kirklands Hotel in Kinross, the Bein Inn and the Kirkstyle at Dunning, so it’s good for local businesses too.”
The Glenfarg bus has been featured in national papers and TV after the Courier reported on its success last summer, and organisers are launching a brand new Perth route this year.
“We carried 400 passengers the other week, compared to 120 a year ago,” Douglas adds.
“For a lot of them it’s a social thing. We get people taking the bus just for the journey and the company on the way.
“It’s not a bus service, it’s a community service.”
4. Glenfarg Village Store
The sign outside says Glenfarg Village Store. But actually, says Douglas, it’s the nerve centre of village life.
It’s a boon for older residents and people who find it difficult to travel to the supermarkets in Kinross and Perth.
But its value to the community is far more than commercial.
“During Covid, these guys acted as the nerve centre for the community,” says Douglas,
“They were delivering food parcels all day, every day to people who couldn’t get out of their houses because they were isolating.
“And they’re still supporting all sorts of things in the village, like the monthly pub in the community centre and Christmas fairs.
“They should be really proud of what they did for Glenfarg then, and everything they do now. And we’re really luck to have them.
“It’s not just a shop, it’s a community asset.”
5. Glenfarg walking and cycling routes
“We’re really spoiled for choice in Glenfarg,” says Douglas.
“There are great cycling and walking paths everywhere you turn.
“You can go up Church Brae, across the bridge over the motorway… Any road you take out of the village will lead you into lovely countryside in a matter of minutes.”
Another of the aims of the community transport group is to extend cycling and walking opportunities around Glenfarg.
And Douglas says locals want to open up the village’s charms to a much wider population.
“The next thing we’re planning is an electric bike scheme,” he says.
“Ideally we’re hoping people will be able to catch the community bus to Glenfarg than borrow an electric bike and explore everything we have here.”
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