I rise very early, and on Monday I went for a local walk along the Allan Water to Dunblane. It was a little drizzly and the river was in good flow. The wonderful blackbird chorus was louder than the sounds of the river. I met no other walker, just nature.
Arriving in Dunblane I took a closer look at the old High Street and found myself wondering what shop this doorway opened to? The pattern in the corroded mirror above the door reminded me of water. For that reason, and no other, I wondered if this had once been a Fishmonger’s shop?
Back home I looked through an old book that I had on Dunblane: 27 High Street was not a Fishmonger’s shop! For over half-a-century it was a Grocers shop:
It has been recalled that the Grocer, James A. Abernethy was “keenly interested in the welfare of the burgh” and a “generous supporter of any good cause”.
James A. Abernethy was also a keen fisherman, and in late October 1913, caught the “best fish of the season”:
