Inside Dunalastair House, the abandoned castle

Hugh Tennent is a man intrinsically linked with Glasgow. He took over his family’s beer firm in 1884 and one year later, after a trip to Germany to see how they brewed their booze, launched Tennent’s Lager. The brand is still one of Scotland’s best known and best loved products and is recognisable the world over. It has always been produced at Wellpark Brewery, just east of the city centre, and brewing at the site dates back to Hugh’s great-great-grandfather (also Hugh) in 1740. But although he died in Glasgow’s west end and is buried in the necropolis facing Wellpark, Hugh didn’t only live in the city. As a teenager, he bought Dunalastair House in Perthshire. Part of a historic estate between Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, east of Pitlochry, the incredible castle is now abandoned but still cuts an imposing figure as it emerges from the surrounding forest like a ghost from the past. Closer inspection shows the former stately home is now merely a skeletal ruin and a haven for urban explorers. But despite its dilapidated state, the building maintains many of its original external features, including its conical roofs, chimneys and even a coat of arms above the main entrance. So what came to pass… CONTINUE READING…