Pitlochry Scout troop founder's clock restored and on display in Moulin museum

A fascinating clock has been restored and come back to Highland Perthshire to be put on public display.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney, the MSP for Perthshire North, visited Moulin Heritage Centre last weekend to formally hand over a skeleton clock into the care of Moulin Kirk Trust for them to display in the Moulin and Pitlochry Heritage Centre in the former parish church of Moulin near Pitlochry.

The clock was originally presented to John Dixon, who is best known in the Pitlochry area as the first Scoutmaster of the 1st Perthshire Pitlochry Scout Group which was one of the first Scout troops founded in 1907, just after Baden-Powell’s famous Brownsea Island Camp.

The name ‘P Gould Pitlochry’ is on one of the cogs following possible servicing. Gould’s was a well-known jeweller and watchmaker who had a shop in the Arcade on Atholl Road in the mid-twentieth century.

The chimes work on the clock which has workings visible under a glass dome.

The unveiling of the restored John Dixon Clock in Moulin Kirk, Friday, August 12. Pictured (l-r): Jamie Maitland convenor Moulin Kirk Trust, Cub Scout Fergus Maitland, Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Baillie Mike Williamson, Marigold Massie treasurer Moulin Kirk Trust, Gordon Skinner Scout County Commissioner for Perthshire, Rev Liz Baker rector at Holy Trinity Church, Pitlochry (unknown)

John Henry Dixon was born in Yorkshire in 1838. After qualifying as a solicitor he was advised to seek “a country life” for his health. In 1902 he moved into Dundarrach in Pitlochry and joined Holy Trinity Church where he served as church warden for 21 years.

He also founded a Young Men’s Association and then a Rifle Company in the run up to the Great War.

After WWI he continued to run Dundarrach as a hotel, run the Scout troop, be the church warden at Holy Trinity and still find time to write a history of Pitlochry and the surrounding area for the use of visitors and for Scouts studying for their Pathfinder badge.

Copies of his book are in the heritage centre and his portrait hangs in the Moulin and Pitlochry Heritage Centre in Moulin opposite the Moulin Inn.

The current Scout Troop visited recently as part of their preparation for the current version of the Pathfinder badge.

Perthshire Pitlochry Scouts and Cubs meet weekly in the Scout Hall, East Moulin Road, Pitlochry and offer opportunities for boys and girls across the Highland and Strathtay area to have fun and fulfil their potential.

The heritage centre is open 2pm to 4pm every afternoon from Easter to end of October. See more at https://www.pitlochryandmoulinheritagecentre.co.uk/