Community

While never in the mainstream of history, Brechin was not completely unaffected by the turbulence of Scotland’s past. The town has moved on from its origins as a place of worship, through its time as a market town and its recent past as a manufacturing centre, to what it is today - a small Scottish burgh, partly commercial, partly residential, and partly manufacturing.

Always proud that the ancient Cathedral gives Brechin the right to be called a city, the remarkable round tower also gives Brechiners the satisfaction of living close to an almost unique architectural feature. The tower, which dates back to the 11th century, is one of only two such Irish type towers in Scotland.

Not far from the Cathedral is the Victorian Gothic Mechanics Institute, which was gifted to the town by Lord Panmure at the time of Queen Victoria’s coronation. These three buildings are now floodlit to dramatic effect making the history of the town strikingly visible.

Brechin Castle stands on the outskirts of the town, just beyond the Cathedral. An earlier castle had attracted the unwanted attentions of Edward 1 during one of his attempts to subdue the Scots. In 1303 the castle was under siege for three weeks when tradition has it that the governor stood on the ramparts, dusting them down after each bombardment from the siege machine, War Wolf.

In 1322, King Robert 1 granted the Cathedral the privilege of holding a market within the city on Sundays. It is from that date that the markets continued to be a source of revenue to the town and even now there is an annual fair at Trinity on the outskirts of Brechin.

The ancient churchmen held the Virgin Mary in great veneration and a chapel was dedicated to her sometime about 1222. The remains of this chapel still stand and references to the chapel of ‘Messyndew’ can be found in the town’s oldest documents. Although the chapel was later named Maisondieu, many Brechiners still call it ‘Messyndew’.

The history of Brechin stretches back to the times of the Romans, the Picts, the Druids and the Danes who were unfriendly enough to torch the place. However, as the birthplace of Sir Robert Watson-Watt, the pioneer of radar, the city is justifiably proud of its role in the protection of the United Kingdom from enemy aircraft during the Second World War and its contribution to modern science.

View across top of Brechin City

Education and Healthcare

The town boasts four nurseries, two primary schools, ‘Andover’ and ‘Maisondieu’ as well as Brechin High School, which although now a flat-roofed modern building, is an ancient institution whose origins date back nearly eight hundred years to the ’sang school’ of the Cathedral. The High School roll has generally around six hundred pupils although the school was built for about a thousand.

There are numerous organisations for young folk in the town - dancing classes, drama groups, athletic organisations, swimming clubs, air and army cadet forces, martial arts classes, a street level drop-in centre called The Attic, as well as Guides, Scouts, Brownies, Cubs, Beavers, and Rainbows, all with experienced and dedicated leaders.

The town also has a new Leisure Centre down by the river, complete with fitness suite, indoor and outdoor courts and pitches for badminton, tennis and five a side soccer etc.

The Damacre Centre, adjacent to the Gardner Memorial Church, is the base for the local Community Learning and Development Service which provides support for community groups and projects in the form of focussed youth work, adult learning, study groups, recreational activities, Scottish country dancing, arts and craft groups, play and mother & toddler groups, holiday programmes and the local Talking Newspaper.

Residents of Brechin are fortunate in that most medical services are within easy reach. Brechin Health centre has five G.Ps with associated support staff and ancillary services whilst Brechin Infirmary is the town’s Community Hospital with a Minor Injuries Unit facility and an annexe providing full time care for elderly patients. Five miles north of Brechin is Stracathro Hospital, established during the Second World War and now the home to a first class Ambulatory Diagnostic and Treatment Centre saving more time-consuming journeys to city hospitals. The nearest acute services and teaching hospital are at Ninewells in Dundee some 25 miles away.

Brechin has four sheltered housing complexes; three care homes and a very happy day care centre for the elderly with a cheerful and welcoming staff.

View of Brechin over River South Esk

Daily Life

Appearances are known to be deceptive and, to the casual observer, it may appear that not a lot is going on in Brechin. However this is certainly not the case; it is just that Brechiners are so busy that they do not have time to advertise all that is happening!

Brechin City F.C. is currently near the top of the Scottish 2nd Division and has many loyal supporters every Saturday. There are also two bowling clubs, a cricket club, and two prime golf courses at Brechin and nearby Edzell, together with opportunities for fishing, riding, hill walking, swimming, hockey and squash. The Scottish Tai Chi Academy and Dorothy Dobson exercise classes also attract a considerable membership.

The fact that practically every Saturday of the year there are one or more Coffee Mornings taking place and that a lot of money is raised for good causes demonstrates that there is an active awareness of the needs of the community, and of the wider world, that urges Brechiners in to action.

Music, art and craftwork flourish in various forms. The Brechin Amateur Operatic Society puts on a show every spring and the Opus Theatre Group, put on performances throughout the year whilst the Pantomime Group fills the City Hall for several nights each December. Whist the town has both a brass band and a pipe band; the Brechin and District Choral Union, the Floral Art Group,
the Photographic Society, craft groups and painting classes provide an outlet for those with artistic talent.

Every autumn, for the past six years, these homegrown talents have combined with those of visiting artists and performers for the fortnight long Brechin Arts Festival. The Gardner Memorial Church offering its facilities as one of the Festival’s principle concert and exhibition venues.

Brechin has never let its links with its historic past fall into neglect. The Town House Museum provides a constant and fascinating series of displays, bringing the burgh’s yesterdays to today’s public.

The Railway Preservation Society kept the old Caledonian Railway Station from ruination with frequent visits from Thomas the Tank Engine and his Friends.
It is a fine sight to see the plume of smoke from a train steaming through the green and gold of the fields, making its way, on a summer day, to the station at Bridge of Dun.

Like other towns and cities, there are all the usual social organisations - Rotary, Round Table, Inner Wheel, Tangent, 41 Club, Probus, Acorn Club, Horticultural Society and many others for sporting and recreational purposes.

If anybody wants to know what is going on, a copy of the local weekly newspaper, the Brechin Advertiser, a.k.a. ‘The Brechiner’ will soon bring them up to date.