An Inch of Black Watch Art

This afternoon in Perth, Scotland I visited the Perth Art Gallery, the Black Watch Castle and Museum, and South Inch Park. Clever title for the post, eh?

I leave Perth tomorrow morning, so I’ll also include a town summary at the end of this post.

Perth Art Gallery

The first stop in central Perth on the bus I took back from my visit to Scone Palace and Gardens this morning is close to the Perth Art Gallery. So I got off there and checked out the gallery. It’s free, so what did I have to lose?

The big letters solidly affixed to the wall of the building spell “Museum and Art Gallery,” The still professional, but less substantial sign applied to the glass in the entry door says just “Perth Art Gallery.”

I mentioned yesterday that the Perth Museum, which is in a different, nearby building and houses, among other objects, its newly installed permanent star attraction, the Stone of Destiny, opened only six months ago. I assume the other objects in the new museum used to be in the Perth Art Gallery and Museum, which is now just an art gallery. Maybe they’ll change the sign one day. Or maybe they’ll spare the expense and say they’re keeping it for heritage reasons.

The gallery is quite small. Paintings and sculptures occupy only a couple of not-particularly-large rooms on just the ground floor. One contains artworks from 16th and 17th century Europe. However, there was one 21st-century piece between two of the 16th and 17th-century pieces.

The other permanent collection room contains more varied pieces.

Another room contained a temporary exhibit titled “The Fleapit Theatre.” It was put together by a youth collective and intended to “take visitors on an immersive, tongue-in-cheek, and sometimes critical journey through the art of cinema over the past 100 years.”

(I took that quote from the gallery’s website. I won’t post a link directly to the relevant page because, being a temporary exhibit, the link probably won’t work when the exhibit is over. If you read this shortly after I wrote it you can easily find the page on the gallery’s website yourself.)

The exhibit included movie posters, projectors, and movie theatre paraphernalia. There were also two screens. One showed a time-lapse video of the putting together of The Fleapit Theatre exhibit. The other showed old cartoons. I took a comfy home-theatre-style seat to watch one of the original Superman cartoons.

The question I have is, with the gallery so small, where were the museum exhibits when it was the Perth Museum and Art Gallery? The answer may lie in the roped-off stairs leading to one or more upper levels. But I’m not sure.

Black Watch Castle and Museum

The “Castle” in “Black Watch Castle and Museum” might be a bit braggadocious on the part of the building. It’s a handsome old edifice, but I’m not sure I’d call it a castle.

The Black Watch was one of the more storied of the Scottish Highland Regiments. It was a fighting unit for 267 years, from its formation in 1739 to 2006, when all the Highland Regiments were amalgamated. During its time, the Regiment fought in certainly most, or maybe all, of the major battles Britain engaged in.

The museum tells the story of the Black Watch throughout its history. Exhibits are arranged chronologically, with each room representing a different period and the wars the Black Watch participated in during that period.

Artifacts on display include the Black Watch Regiment’s unique uniforms (both hung on their own and worn on mannequins), medals and awards won, weapons, and other items associated with the regiment, as well as maps and text panels to tell the story. There is also a brief introductory video in the first room that talks about the history of the regiment, its traditions, and its operation. In addition, there are a couple of interactive panels that can be used to call up some detailed information and stories related to the period of the room they were in.

One room contains a high-definition model of a uniformed Black Watch soldier constructed of what looks like Lego. Or if it’s not Lego it’s a similar building block of a different brand.

The Black Watch Museum in its castle makes for an interesting visit. And it’s compact enough to not overwhelm you.

South Inch Park

Yesterday, I told you about my stroll through the huge North Inch Park. There’s also a South Inch Park a few blocks away. I went there this afternoon. South Inch Park is a fraction of the size of North Inch Park, but unlike the northern park, the southern version doesn’t have a golf course. However, even then, South Inch Park is probably smaller than North Inch Park excluding the golf course.

Despite that, South Inch Park is still fairly large. It consists almost entirely of lawns and trees. Unfortunately, a relatively busy road crosses the park.

A portion of the park sits beside the River Tay, but you can’t get there from here, at least not when I was there. A dense row of trees runs along the river where it fronts the park. But at the moment, that’s not the worst of it. When I was there, there was some construction going on between those trees and the rest of the park so I couldn’t approach the trees to see if I could see the river through them.

I think the construction had something to do with a water or sewer pipe. I’m not sure, but the relevant point is that it cut a long line that thoroughly blocked off access to the trees. Having said that, it looked like there was a permanent, low stone wall in front of the trees. So, even if the construction wasn’t there, I don’t know if I could have gotten close enough to the river to get a good view of it.

Perth Summary

I booked two nights in Perth, Scotland—one full day and a half-day on my arrival. That was probably enough for Perth. It’s a pleasant town, but just pleasant, not spectacular, exciting, or abundantly peaceful. There are interesting things to do, such as visiting Scone Palace and Gardens, but not a lot. The River Tay is scenic, so there’s that too.

Between this and the town I visited immediately before Perth, Stirling, if you’re looking for somewhere to extend a visit beyond just seeing the sights noted in guidebooks, to my mind, Stirling makes for the more charming spot. Visiting both is worthwhile if you have the time. But, if you have time to visit only one of the two, I’d recommend Stirling.