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The History of Gartmore - 20th Century
 Electricity and street
lighting came to the village in the mid 1930’s. The present drainage
system with the new sewage works was installed in 1972 by Perth and
Kinross County Council. Before this, the drainage system was served by
three septic tanks.
During the early years of the 20th
century the new Laird of Gartmore, Sir Charles Cayzer, made considerable
improvements to his estate. Local tradesmen were employed to rebuild
several properties in the village which was a thriving community with a
post office and telegraph service (two
daily dispatches and two letter deliveries), two hotels (the Black Bull
and the Vulcan), two grocers, a bakery, a dairy, a blacksmith, a tailor, a
joiner and a shoemaker. As well as these businesses there were daily
visits by butcher’s, fish and fruit vans. The Bank of Scotland also had a
branch office in Gartmore.
The Forestry Commission acquired land
around Aberfoyle in 1929 and employees were recruited from Gartmore and
other local communities. There was also employment with the Water Board,
which is responsible for maintaining the aqueducts to the west of the
village which supply water to Glasgow from Loch Katrine.
 During
the Second World War the village hall was used as a cinema and concert
hall. The first soldiers arrived in 1940 and there were army personnel
billeted in Gartmore for the next ten years. At one time over 800 soldiers
were accommodated in the village, in Gartmore House and in Nissan huts and
tents. Large army trucks were parked in the Main street and on the roads
leading to Gartmore House, where access was strictly controlled.
Ammunition was brought in by rail to Gartmore station and large ammunition
dumps were established on the estate. When the army eventually left the
area the railway closed, with the last train to run on the line in
September 1951.
The post-war years have brought some
new housing to the village, although most of the houses in the main street
were built as estate property. In 1948 Sir Nicolas Cayzer allowed his
tenants to buy their own homes. The local authority have built property on
the south east side of the village in Jellicoe Avenue, named after Captain
John Rushworth Jellicoe R.N. who married Sir Charles Cayzer’s daughter.
The name "Cayzer Court" has been given to a small development of Modern
Houses opposite the football pitch. |
