It is with sincere thanks to Gordon Cook and with his permission via Alex Rochead, that I have been permitted to share this previously unseen photograph of Millheugh Bridge, at the bottom of the Pech Brae. Although there’s no date on it, I’m confident from features on old maps showing the nearby mill(s) that it dates between 1880 – and 1897.
The mill was demolished by the time of the 1897 map and yet here, in the river are old pieces of worked masonry, likely dumped from the collapsed mill itself. It is for that reason, and the little path shown leading down to the riverbank, that I can conclude a date earlier than 1897.
It looks likely to have become a postcard but the spelling is wrong. Milheugh only had one L in it’s name following a change of name by the Bannatynes around the 1830s. The scene is very similar today but this old bridge is now gone, replaced by the modern 1952 construction of similar appearance. The riverbank has eroded a fair bit and is closer to the roadway now. The bridge led up to the Lindsay Brae out the photo on the upper right hand side, leading up to Malcolmwood Farm. An amazing photo!