X marks the spot

This morning one of my fellow Community Councillors and I met Robert from the local authority land services team. We were discussing somewhere to plant a tree in November or December. Where Robert has marked the cross on the grass is the most likely spot. Robert is keen on trees and knows his stuff. He kindly agreed to be blipped.

The tree is to be planted to commemorate the centenary of building some of Scotland's first council houses. These 'Homes for Heroes' were built following changes in the law after WWI. Where Robert is standing was the edge of the farmland which was used to build the houses. They have both local and national significance and the vision which saw them built fully deserves recognition. The tree will be native Scots - an oak or a beech which we hope will live another 100 years and more. Most of the houses are now in private ownership.

We had planned something bigger for the centenary but that's not possible now. However, as well as the tree itself, we hope to be awarded a grant to commission a small interpretation board. A local resident who used to work for the local authority's archives is writing a pamphlet which we'll have printed so that people can read about the 100 year old development of top quality homes with big gardens. How we could do with that kind of vision these days.