Wading in the footsteps of the Innerpeffray borrowers!

It's been almost a month since it last rained at Innerpeffray, and the usually forceful River Earn is calm and low. Inspired by the rare sight of the river's bed, intrepid Keeper, Lara Haggerty, took the opportunity to wade in the footsteps of historic Innerpeffray borrowers.

Though today Innerpeffray can sometimes feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, it is thought to have been a crossing point of the River Earn since Roman times. It was certainly in use in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a fact which the road layout echoes even in modern maps.

The Library's historic borrowers' register (1747-1968) suggests that borrowers regularly travelled across the water, from nearby Strageath (visible on the map above) and Muthill. While today Muthill is a 15 minute drive from Innerpeffray via Kinkell Bridge, we estimate that journey time could be slashed to 4 minutes if the river were passable by car.

A map of the Innerpeffray estate from 1889 shows not only a ford across the river, but also a ferry crossing, presumably for those who wished to keep their feet dry. Using this map as their guide, Lara (bravely accompanied by her daughter) waded her way across the Earn, reaching the other side in a matter of minutes, slowed only by the weight of water in their wellies.

Lara's review of the experience? "It was very fast-flowing in the middle, but not too chilly!"