The group behind plans to celebrate Angus’s link to the famous Harley-Davidson motorcycle marque is to embark on a trip to bridge a 160-year gap between Scotland and the US.
A trio of enthusiasts who set up a legacy to celebrate Angus’s link to the manufacturer will next month meet direct descendants of the company founders and tell them of plans to transform a run-down Angus cottage into a shrine for Harley-Davidson fans.
Sitting beside the old Forfar-Brechin road near Aberlemno, the dilapidated Netherton cottage offers no clue to its place in Harley-Davidson history, but it was home to blacksmith Sandy Davidson until the 1850s when he emigrated with his family to America.
Three of his grandchildren would play a key role in forging the Harley-Davidson name and back in Scotland the Davidson Legacy — established by Mike Sinclair and Maggie Sherrit from Kirriemuir and Keith Mackintosh of Dundee — has been founded to save the site of the family roots.
The trio have plans to restore the cottage and are using a tourism grant to help fund a trip to the US that will include a visit to the Harley-Davidson museum in Milwaukee, and the meeting with family descendants.
“That we have this connection in Angus is something very special and we wanted to make sure it survived, and we could make it something for the area to be proud of, ” Maggie told The Courier this week.
“We became aware of the cottage being for sale and set about buying it as we knew it would likely be demolished to make way for another house and it would have been lost forever.
“We put a lot of work into gathering the history of the cottage and Davidson family. I think we’ve made progress by plugging away and showing we are genuine about what we’re doing.
“In Milwaukee we’ll meet the Harley-Davidson museum directors with a view to developing links around the Angus connection.”
A highlight for the trio will be a planned meeting with Willie G. Davidson, grandson of one of the founders, and his son, Bill.
The group estimates it will need around £50,000 to restore the cottage and hopes to gain further grant support for the rebuild as the legacy’s aims become move widely known.
Despite its dilapidation, the cottage is already a must-see attraction for rising numbers of two-wheeled tourists from Europe and as far afield as South Africa.
For more on the plans, visit the Davidson Legacy website.Harley-Davidson logo image used under the Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user matthiasschack.