We have the roofless Blackford church with the snow dappled Ochil Hills to the south —
and just up the lane towards Gleneagles Hotel and golfcourses a pair of roe deer are quietly grazing —
Not much has changed since I lived here in my mid-teens over sixty years ago – unless we count in the water bottling plant down in the village of Blackford – just over the brow of the hill from the church. I remember when it started production all those years ago and thinking ‘bottled water’ – ‘it will never catch on.’
Highland Spring – drawn from the Ochil Hills – it was 1990 before the venture showed a profit but with oil money from the Emirates behind it there was no shortage of ‘start-up cash’ in hand.
I see in today’s press the owners of Highland Spring would like to expand again but are at loggerheads with the local Community Council who are not in favour of the plans which have been put forward. From where I sit I can see both sides of the coin and sympathise with both. Perhaps they should ask me to toss it for them – heads Water wins – tails they lose. It would save a lot of argument and nastiness all-round.
from-a-distance 