On the right trail

Mar 9 2007

A NEW trail to commemorate one of the Fair City’s most celebrated sons is being discussed.

Sir Patrick Geddes, one of the foremost thinkers in Victorian Britain, spent his early years being schooled in Perth before travelling the world and becoming the father of town planning.

A group of Geddes enthusiasts, supported by Perthshire Woodland Trust, want to create a walkway around some of his old haunts, including the Old Academy building and the Kinnoull Hill Woodland park where he studied to his former Mount Tabor Cottage home.

The trail will also feature the sculpture celebrating Geddes’ life in Rodney Gardens, St Mary’s Monastery and the bank on the High Street where he worked.

Documents in Perth Museum and the AK Bell Library could also be included in the walk.

Formerly a zoologist, Geddes’ career came to an abrupt end after a severe eye infection hampered his efforts using microscopes.

He then turned his energies towards sociology and town planning – a move which revolutionised city life. He was knighted shortly before his death in 1932.