Kirriemuir – A Children's Morning in Peter Pan's Town
A few hours.
The route
Kirriemuir is where J.M.
Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, was born, and the town hasn't forgotten it. This is a morning for children: the Neverland play park on Kirrie Hill, a bag of rock from a sweet shop Barrie knew as a boy, and lunch at a farm café among the horses.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Nàdair, 5 miles away. Sleeps 6; next free Fri 4 Dec to Mon 7 Dec.
The day
Kirriemuir
A run round the pirate ship on the hill, a bag of sweets from the Roods, and lunch at a farm café on the edge of town.
A morning
Neverland Play Park
Neverland was built on Kirrie Hill in 2010 to mark 150 years since Barrie's birth, and it's Peter Pan's story turned into a playground. There's a wooden pirate ship with a long metal slide, Captain Hook and a crocodile, a Lost Boys' hideout, an aerial slide and a swing a wheelchair can go on. There is plenty of open grass on the hill for picnics, kites and ball games. Park for free by the Barrie Pavilion, the cricket pavilion Barrie gave the town in 1930; the play park is just across the hill from it.
The Star Rock Shop
A shop
The Star Rock Shop is on the Roods, in the middle of Kirriemuir. It has made its rock on the premises since 1833, when a mason who had lost his sight turned to sweet-making, and it's said to be the oldest sweet shop in Scotland. Barrie knew it as a boy, and the shop later sent Star Rock to him in London. The original rock tastes of lemon, and there's horehound, tablet and treacle toffee too. The Peter Pan statue in the town centre is the work of Alistair Smart, put up in 1994 to replace his first statue of 1968.
The Garden Café at Pathhead Farm
Lunch
Lunch is at the Garden Café at Pathhead Farm, on the Forfar Road just south of the town centre. It sits in a working equestrian centre, so there are horses to watch. It has its own market garden, and much of what is on the plate comes straight from it to the kitchen; there is home baking too. Children are welcome, and so are dogs on a lead, inside and out; mind a dog that reacts to horses. Parking and toilets are accessible. It opens daily, 9am to 4pm.
If it rains
On a wet day, the sweet shop and the café are under a roof.
Where to stay
Photographs by Evelyne Blanchet, Sam March and kiki ro via Google