Fintry Past
Inns, Shops, Leisure, Population
The Clachan
There has been an inn at the Clachan site for perhaps 500 years. One was built in 1633 to likely replace one before. Then another replacement came in the 1800s. It would be a central feature in the original Fintry village. It became a well known final stopping point for many day-trippers from Glasgow. It finally closed in 2012 and is now a home.
The Fintry Inn
The Fintry Inn on Main Street has been there since around 1800. It was next door to the Toll House which existed earlier. The Inn was the centre of village life for many years and has had characterful innkeepers and drinkers alike!
Shops
In the early 1900s, William Edmond ran a general shop, followed by Peter Edmond his brother. This was taken over by Mr Craig. It later became a village café. McNaughton’s Tearooms at the east end was there from before the 1930s. It later became the village shop and post office run by the McMurtries, then Ken Kilgour. It is now a home. The Coffee Pot run by the Wilsons at the west end did picture framing and gifts.
Population
Fintry has shifted population over 300 years in an up and down cycle. In 1755, when Fintry was based at the Clachan end it was a very substantial 891 people. By 1793 it had shrunk to 543. In the next decades the new Fintry was built along with the mill. By 1830 over 1000 people live in Fintry. Then as the mill failed a steady decline reached its lowest point of 279 in 1931. Today the wider parish has around 700.
Golf Course
Fintry had a 9 hole golf course. This is the only known photo! We have to guess it was mainly sheep grazed. It opened in 1922. It was beside where the Youth Hostel was and likely folded just after the hostel was built. Certainly it was gone by 1939, when many golf courses were ploughed up for the war effort.
Youth Hostel
It was built in 1935 at the east end of the village, midway between the two Fintry villages. It had two large dormitories with double-tiered bunk beds and a common room. You did all your own cooking! Lots of people from across Europe stopped there along with many UK hikers. During the winter months it was made available as a meeting place for Fintry Scouts and Youth Clubs.
