Sadly not. In all respects, that was Simon’s last ever performance :(

Thanks very much for the kind comments, Graham. We do love our station! Best wishes. John.

Thank you very much! 😀

Thank you Markie 😀

Thanks Bob. Some video clips in that sequence had no sound or just wind-noise in the microphone and, without the naff music, it sounded very unprofessional. Devil vs Deep Blue Sea!

Thanks Dougie. Yes, the Highland Mainline is spectacular for its stations and, of course, the countryside through which it goes. We are, of course, friendly rivals of Pitlochry :)

Thanks! You should make a return visit. I will pass-on your comments to the Friends of Blair Atholl Station who keep it clean and tidy as well as providing and tending to the floral displays.

Thank you, Jeremy. The Friends of Blair Atholl Station do indeed take pride in looking after the station and the tubs of flowers. They will appreciate your comments very much.

Thank you David! I’m not an architect, but I wonder if you meant castellated rather than castrated?😂 The bridge was designed that way on the personal insistence of the Duke of Atholl, who felt that this gateway onto his estate should befit his aristocratic standing. I will attempt to make more of it in a future video. The only way to see it in all its glory will be to get my drone charged up! Best wishes. John.

Many thanks, John.

Thank you very much indeed Mervyn. I have passed your compliments on to the Friends volunteers who will be very encouraged by your comments. They take it in turns to inspect the station every day, either watering the flowers or removing rubbish - fortunately, there is never very much. Congratulations on your excellent collection of videos over the years too. We are only just starting out and have created a brand new channel for our videos: youtube.com/@FriendsofBlairAthollStation I see from the videos of Ely and Norfolk that you have visited my previous part of the world too. One thing that really struck me was how untidy the overhead cables look when you aren't used to seeing them. I don't know if our Highland Mainline will ever be electrified, but I fear that metal pylons and a spaghetti feast of cables will spoil the look of the station.

@@John_P_MartinThank you very much for your kind reply. I have actually lived in Norfolk for quite a while, but my video making is very much reduced as I am now disabled and I find it hard to reach some of my favourite locations. Perhaps I might get to visit Blair Atholl one day. I've only passed through it on a train (in the 1970s). Best wishes...Mervyn

Thank you Fraser. Glad you liked it. I have now set up a channel for videos of Blair Atholl Station. It is RU-vid.com/@FriendsofBlairAthollStation

John, thank you for your kind comments. I have just set up a new channel for Blair Atholl Station on RU-vid @FriendsOfBlairAthollStation Congratulations on your own extensive collection of railway videos too! Very best wishes, John.

Hi John. Yes, a great privilege to record Brian playing that piece. Shortly after the recording I moved away to Scotland, so was unaware of the rebuild and, sadly, unlikely to have the chance to record him or the OLEM organ again. Thanks for jogging my memory about the Anglia TV theme! It is elsewhere on RU-vid and pretty awful :) Best wishes.

Hello Paul. I am very pleased to have filled that gap. I lent my original copy to someone and, of course, never got it back so I searched eBay for many years until I found a copy overseas. If you check my profile page, you should find my email address. Drop me a message and I’ll see about sending you the WAV files which should be better quality than what you get from RU-vid.

@@John_P_Martin Very kind!

Thank you, Margaret. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

Private army.

Hi Ella. Sorry to have taken ages to reply but I have now spoken to Pete Clark and he has pointed me to the sleeve notes on his CD entitled "Niel Gow's Fiddle" where the following account is given: "How this particular fiddle came to be in the possession of Niel Gow is uncertain. It may well be an instrument given to him in exchange for his own by a gentleman in Edinburgh (possibly a Colonel McQuarrie). What happened to it following Niel Gow's death is better documented. In 1871, James Maxtone Grahame (who at that time lived just north of Perth at Battleby, Redgorton) acquired this instrument plus another violin and a 'cello (the 'cello which had belonged to Donald Gow). They were purchased on his behalf by a William Hepburn of Pitcairngreen from Thomas Scott of Inver, who had inherited the instruments from his uncle Peter Murray of Inver (born circa 1760). Murray had been bequeathed the instruments by Niel Gow, describing them as "the violins he (Gow) most prized and usually played on". (Peter Murray frequently accompanied Niel Gow on 'cello, following the death of Donald, Niel's brother.) From Perthshire, the fiddle somehow found its way to Edinburgh and to the Waddell School of Music, established in the 1870s. Was it bought from Maxtone Graham by the school's founder, William Waddell? Or perhaps it was his violinist daughter who acquired the fiddle. Maimie Waddell (1888-1967) and her younger sister Ruth (a 'cellist) took over the running of the school from their father, and it was Maimie who eventually gave the Gow fiddle to one of her pupils, the young Lindsay Thomson, probably in the 1950s. Lindsay must have shown considerable promise for her to bestow upon him such a generous gift, one which he would treasure for the rest of his life. The first time I spoke with Lindsay Thomson was in 2007. It was he who called me, the day after I had appeared on television expounding on the life and music of the great Perthshire fiddler Niel Gow. My enthusiasm had obviously made an impression, and Lindsay wanted me to know that he had in his possession an object which I might be interested in seeing. I was of course intrigued and we arranged to meet. A week or so later, I arrived at our prearranged meeting place - the restaurant of Dabbles Garden Centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Lindsay came across as a delightfully eccentric minister, which indeed he was. And it was over lunch that he revealed to me the nature of the object in his possession - a fiddle possibly made by Italian luthier Gasparo da Salo and once owned by Niel Gow. I can't recall if Lindsay brought the fiddle to that first meeting, but not long afterwards I drove south from Perthshire to Lindsay's home in the Borders town of Hawick. There was the fiddle, complete with various pieces of paper which corroborated the story that it had indeed belonged to Niel Gow. And within was a label which proclaimed the maker to be one "Caspar de Salo" (sic), Although the documentation linking the fiddle to Niel Gow is beyond dispute, the link with Gasparo Bertolotti has not been verified. However, the instruments he made were known for their powerful and mellow tone, characteristics which were amply manifest during the recording. It is indeed a very fine fiddle. I count myself very fortunate to have made Lindsay’s acquaintance. He was very likeable, hugely entertaining and great company. I could easily picture him enjoying a night of revelry in some 18th century ale house with Messrs Gow and Burns! The last time we met was in Birnam on the 22nd of March 2009, when he brought the treasured fiddle to the Niel Gow festival and I had the privilege of playing it at a recital in Little DunkeId kirk, within earshot of Niel Gow's final resting place. After his passing, I doubted whether I would see the fiddle again, so I was surprised and delighted when his son David called me some years later. When eventually we met, I suggested recording an album using the Gow fiddle as a tribute to his late father. And so it was that, in July 2017, Niel Gow's fiddle once again filled the kirk of Little Dunkeld with its glorious sound. "

Thank you very much Sean