Grieving relatives are being told not to place memorial plaques at the Enchanted Forest to make sure the woodland does not lose its “special appeal”.
Recently a small number of memorials – including one for a young child – have been placed by bereaved loved ones in tribute to deceased relatives in the woods around Loch Dunmore near Pitlochry.
As well as being a popular walking and fishing spot, Loch Dunmore is best known as the location for the Enchanted Forest, which attracts around 80,000 tourists to Highland Perthshire every year.
However these memorials are now being removed by Forestry and Land Scotland because they are not in keeping with the wild landscape.
Appeal to find owners of lochside memorials
An appeal has been put out to try and find the relatives who have memorials in the forest, and to encourage others not to place new ones down.
The memorials are being removed by Forestry and Land Scotland if the relatives cannot be traced.
A spokesman for Forestry and Land Scotland said: “We are fortunate enough to manage many special places and wild landscapes that mean a great deal to many people.
“Unfortunately, the fact that these places are so well-loved often leads families to leave memorials but if we did not manage this, many locations would soon lose their special appeal to other visitors.
“We therefore ask people not to leave memorials in the forest and will, when we find any, try to get in touch with the family and ask that they remove the memorial.
“Where we cannot or do not get any response from families we will remove the memorials and store them for a couple of years in case the family makes later contact.
“We would urge anyone reading this who has concerns about any memorial they might have placed on land that we manage to get in touch.”
Memorial headstones to be replaced with commemorative benches
Two of the memorial stones at the loch were to Colin and Margaret Pree from Tummel Bridge.
Melanie Elmer removed her father-in-law Colin’s stone from Loch Dunmore over the weekend after being told of the situation by a friend.
However, Forestry and Land Scotland have offered her family the option of having a bench in their loved ones’ memories instead.
She said: “My father-in-law Colin Pree was instrumental in starting up the fishing and angling club at Loch Dunmore.
“He also had polio when he was young and was in crutches so he made the fishing platforms there accessible.
“It was a special place for him, that is why we had the memorial.
“We used to live in nearby Tummel Bridge and someone who still lives there saw this on social media and let us know about it, and we immediately rang Forestry and Land Scotland and went up to go and take it.
“At first I couldn’t believe what was happening, but after speaking to the guy I thought ‘fair enough’.
“They want to keep it a wild place.
“But they were forthcoming with a solution – some Douglas firs have fallen down at The Hermitage near Dunkeld and they are going to use that wood to make benches at Loch Dunmore, and we are very happy with that.
“I am pleased there is this bench solution because people do want to remember.
“I do feel for the person who has a memorial there to a young child because that is a different situation – it is heartbreaking and very upsetting to see it there.
“It is a difficult one.”
The gravestone-style memorial has since been given to a family member to keep in their garden instead.
Removal of memorials should be handled with dignity, says local councillor
Councillor Mike Williamson, who represents Highland Perthshire at Perth and Kinross Council, says he hopes the removal of memorial stones and plaques is handled with dignity.
He said: “We live in a beautiful part of the country.
“I understand the reason why these memorials have to be removed as this type of memorial can become very difficult to manage if it gets out of hand.
“I do hope that Forestry and Land Scotland handle this removal as sensitively as possible and respect the memories that are hidden within these memorials.”
