Our feature page spotlight on PERTH - home of MCLEANSCOTLAND

Perth's origins lay in the fort the Romans built at Bertha in about AD83 to act as a supply base for their occasional occupation of north eastern Scotland. This was located at the highest point on the River Tay their ships could reach, at its confluence with the River Almond two miles north of the current centre of the town. There are still many Roman things to see around Perth.

Perth is a nice place to stay and visit, why not come here with us and we can show you around? In addition to all these featured attractions, we have a castle at Huntingtower and another castle at Elcho, both within ten minutes. Many restaurants and pubs to select from, a superb theatre and conference centre, not to mention the riverside walks! See also Perth's 800 years  In the Wars of Independence the town was heavily fortified and held by the English. The Bruce captured it in January 1313 after swimming across the town moat and climbing the walls. Its later visitors included armies owing allegiance to the Covenanters, the Jacobites and the hated Oliver Cromwell. He sold captured Scots into slavery in the colonies, he robbed graveyards in Perth to build his citadel, thankfully now demolished. Much later, many people visited Perth for tourism, many brought here by MCLEANSCOTLAND! Perth Museum and Art Gallery is one of the oldest museums in the UK and has a collection of nearly 500,000 objects. It is housed in an imposing building near the north east corner of the central area of Perth - George Street - and admission is free.

Branklyn Garden is a two acre garden not far from the eastern bank of the River Tay and on the lower slopes of Kinnoull Hill. The garden is an intimate place, heavily planted with some 3,500 different kinds of plants. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

Where to eat in Perth; close to Perth; www.theroostrestaurant.co.uk superb food and wine from friends of ours, a very nice, quiet restaurant with excellent menus, please book. Pacos American style. New County Hotel 2 AA Rosettes. Superb and good value fine dining. Manzil The complete Indian experience. Kerachers Classic Scottish seafood cuisine. Dos Amigos Mexican, Cajun and Tex-Mex. lets eat 2 AA Rosettes, vibrant modern Scottish. Breizh traditional French restaurant. The Bothy, excellent. There are many others, Italian, Chinese, Thai etc, also pubs serve good food; for recommended pubs serving food - Foundry Bar near cinema - my local, Greyfriars on South St,  Witherspoons on the riverside, Cherrybank Inn, Sandeman, the old library, cheap food and drinks. Pubs with no food but still recommended; Christies, traditional Scottish pub, my local! there are several pubs worth note around St John's Kirk in city centre, Dickens has many whiskies.

St John's Kirk of Perth is the oldest building still standing in Perth The main structural elements of the church you see today were built in stages between 1440 and around 1500, but this was only a rebuilding of a much earlier church which had stood on this site for so long that the medieval street patterns of Perth developed around it. On the 11 May 1559 St John's played host to the architect of the Reformation, John Knox.  The sermon he preached was so inflammatory that it sparked riots in which Perth's monasteries were destroyed and St John's itself was stripped of all trappings of Catholicism. The Regimental Museum of the Black Watch is housed in Balhousie Castle, overlooking the North Inch. Within it is told the story of Scotland's oldest Highland Regiment and of the soldiers who have served in it. The Museum is well signposted and is within easy walking distance. Parking is available. Admission is free, donations are welcome.  Scone Palace stands in its extensive estates on the east bank of the River Tay a little under two miles north of the centre of the city. Scone is a name that has a deep resonance for anyone with any interest in Scottish history. With a story that dates back the better part of 2000 years, Scone has served as the capital of a Pictish Kingdom, a religious centre, and the site of the coronation of a series of Scottish monarchs. East to reach from the centre of the city, shown below.