IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hermitage Drive, PERTH, PH1 2SY

Photographed from a second-floor council flat, no.39E, on the west side of the Newhouse Road roundabout on what was then the western edge of Perth. It is now housing estates with the A9 beyond it. Scanned from an Agfa CT18 slide, ref 79·01·17 (the 17th frame of the 1st film loaded in 1979); the camera was a Zenith SLR with three interchangeable lenses, 35, 55 and 135mm.

We spent about 18 months in one of these council flats, no.39E, somewhere in the block left of centre whose gable end faces the camera. These flats enjoyed a superb view (and sunsets) to the west. The southern half of Newhouse Road, right, climbing a steep hill is truly dramatic. The viewpoint is probably from the Old Gallows Road at its junction with the track down to Letham Farm. The farmland is now blanketed by housing and the A9 road. Beyond Perth, the declivity between wooded hills marks the valley of the River Tay. Note the snow-covered hills in the distance. Scanned from an Agfa CT18 colour slide, ref 79·01·23 (that's not the date taken); taken with a Zenith SLR.

Photographed from a second-floor council flat, no.39E, on the west side of the Newhouse Road roundabout on what was then the western edge of Perth. It is now housing estates with the A9 beyond it. My recollection is that it snowed heavily on the afternoon of New Year's Eve, adding to the fun of firstfooting, a term we learned later. The photo could well have been taken around noon on New Year's Day 1979. Catching the sun, right, are the hills above the River Almond. To the left of the farm cottage is a distant snow-covered peak. Scanned from a Kodak Ektachrome slide, ref 78·21·02 (the 2nd frame of the 21st film loaded in 1978); the camera was a Zenith SLR.

The southern leg of Newhouse Road is dramatically steep, the council flats crowstepping down to the roundabout and the junction with Rannoch Road. The view is across the valley of the River Almond to snow-covered hills on the southern edge of the highlands. Moulin Crescent is the turning on the right. There is farmland behind the flats on the left; now it is housing estates and the A9.

In 1979 this was the western edge of Perth; there was farmland, Letham Farm, behind the cliff of council flats on the left: Image Now, housing estates extend west to the A9 dual carriageway: Image gives a flavour. The roundabout ahead, in NO0824, is at the top of Rannoch Road. The view, from the junction with Burghmuir Road, right, continues across the valley of the River Almond and the wooded ridge to its north, to the slopes that mark the southern edge of the Highlands. Snow still covers the distant Perthshire hills. Scanned from a Kodak Ektachrome slide, reference 79·04·18 (year, film, frame).

Looking along the A9 road.