31st December 1916 Sunday

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“I saw the New Year in at Perth Cross. A huge crowd mainly of young lads and girls collected towards midnight, and made a great din letting off crackers and bombs, and shouting and singing. When I got back to Hospital I joined the nurses at the New Year Feast which consisted mainly of trifles, fruit, cakes, tea and champagne!”

Douglas tells us he saw the New Year in at the Perth Cross. The scene today is one that having been altered in the most uninspiring way, was set to be lost entirely as the City Hall had been voted by the council to be demolished. Fortunately, further interventions have apparently seen the salvation of the building. Schemes, initially approved by Perth and Kinross Council in 2014 which would have seen it turned into a hotel seem to have come to nothing. The latest news as of September 2016 was that it was now approved to be reinvented as a Visual Arts Centre, forming part of the new Perth City Plan.

Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here