The Polmonty - The Remains of The Gray
Gray Buchanan Park is the largest of Polmont's several greenspaces. Lying as a buffer between the Braes villages of Polmont, Redding and Lauriston, it's a popular long strip of well maintained grassland, plants and mature trees, many of which date back to when it was the convergence of two adjacent mansion estates - Millfield and Parkhill. Ornamental bridges once connected the two neighbouring estates separated by Polmont Burn and its steep banks. A wander around Gray Buchanan Park will reveal numerous vestiges of the ornamental gardens and decorative stonework that must have made it an impressive residence in its day.
The mansion estate was for several generations in the possession of the Buchanan family (later the Gray Buchanans) and the park it became, now bears their name, as it was a bequest to the people of Polmont from the enduringly community-spirited family. The Gray Buchanan family crypt lies in the graveyard of the ruined Old Polmont Parish church on Boness Road, and community records indicate the family were very much bastions of the community with a prominent interest in the church, the masonic brotherhood, and the education of local people. The Gray Buchanans wealth came from the famous Black and White Whisky Company, a blend not sold domestically now but still very popular abroad, and with strong associations as the whisky of choice for numerous A-list celebrities in the 50s and 60s - notably Dean Martin - a man who knew his way around a bottle of booze. And before James Bond settled on the Vodka Martini as his trademark drink, he can be heard ordering a glass of Black & White whisky in his first cinema appearance in Dr No. The Polmont Burn that runs through the park is ironically now to be used to fashion a new malt whisky half a mile down its course, north of here on Cadgers Brae where a new distillery is being built (also the site of one my caches - GC8CG8A).
Gray Buchanan Park was the scene of a bizarre episode one afternoon, a couple of years ago. A local dad was out walking through the park when he spotted several men creating a graveyard near one of the paths here. For some reason, the men were erecting antiquated gravestones at intervals on a grassy stretch of the park. On enquiring what in the name of all that is holy they were doing, it was revealed to him that these men were not in fact secreting human remains here in a public park, they were in fact technicians for the hugely successful Outlander TV series. Apparently shooting for an episode of Series 4 that was taking place there later that evening, when one of the main characters ('Jamie Fraser') was to be filmed doing a secret evening burial. A picture from the Outlander scene is shown below.
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Some of the above information was sourced from the writings of I.Scott & G.B.Bailey for the Falkirk Local History Society
SAFETY INFO
The cache is located near the western edge of the park and there is a small set of steps and gate nearby leading out onto Salmon Inn Road. Please do not take this route out of the park as it is on a blind corner, with no pavement, and cars travel quickly along there. There are several other exits out of the park and the nearest one is north of the cache exiting past the old gatehouse onto Polmont Road near the entrance to New Grandsable Cemetery.