Paterson clock, Bridge of Allan

Coming back from Africa with a sore throat, the result of the heat and dust of Marrakech, I visited the local chemist and took this photo of the town's three sided clock, put up as a memorial to Dr Alexander Paterson, the towns first Medical Officer of Health.

According to local tourist information, Dr Paterson's interest in horticultural and botany may have influenced Robert Louis Stevenson, a regular visitor to this spa town, to write Treasure Island (1883).

Because of Stevenson poor health he had to frequently visit Dr Alexander Paterson who was also a distinguished botanist and horticulturist with an international reputation growing tropical plants, tree ferns and orchids in his garden.

He became the 'father-figure to the entire neighborhood' with the Paterson Clock standing as a memorial to him in the town.

Local historian Ken Gray, writing in the Bridge of Allan Times says:

"It was erected in gratitude for the services given to the community by the local doctor from the 1850s until his death in 1898. Throughout that period he looked after the health not only of the local inhabitants but also of the burgeoning numbers of visitors who were flocking to the Spa.
Born in Dundee in 1822 and a graduate of Edinburgh University's Medical School, he began his long career as a doctor in Edinburgh. However, his own health suffered in the city and he was advised to find a better climate. At the age of 22 he left the port of Leith - his destination was not the Continent, but Bridge of Allan. There being no railway at the time, he arrived by steamboat at Cambuskenneth and with bag in hand set off for "the Bridge". He spent his first days at the Royal Hotel and remarked to the proprietor: "This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Bring a railway here, and this will become a great place in a short time. I am going to come, and live, and die here".
A few years later he was to provide medical care for around 700 navvies during the construction of the local railway. Bridge of Allan won a great reputation as a health resort, in no small measure due to the efforts of the doctor. Perhaps his most famous patient was the young Robert Louis Stevenson who, during a visit in May 1858, fell ill. Dr Paterson was called to the Queen's Hotel and diagnosed bronchitis."



I was lucky taking this photo that a woman wearing a red coat walked past giving me the complimentary colours of red and green for my blip pic.