Auchterarder
Auchterarder, 12 miles south-west of Perth, is best known for the superlative Gleneagles hotel.
The town of Auchterarder hit the headlines in July 2005 when world leaders dropped in for the G8 summit at the famous five-star Gleneagles hotel. The hotel itself is world-renowned, as is its golf course.
Auchterarder is known as 'The Lang Toun' or Long Town, a name derived from its extended high street that runs for over a mile and eventually links with the neighbouring village of Aberuthven. This is the longest main street in Scotland!
In the Middle Ages, Auchterarder was known in Europe as 'the town of 100 drawbridges', a colourful description of the narrow bridges leading from the road level across wide gutters to the doorsteps of houses. Retreating Jacobites torched the town in 1716, but it quickly rose to prominence again thanks mainly to the handloom industry.
