Jings, crivvens, help ma Boab! It’s the home of Oor Wullie’s ‘dad’
A house owned by the creator of
cartoon rascal Oor Wullie is up for sale in Perthshire. And it’s a far cry from
the modest home portrayed in the famous Sunday
Post comic strip.
The five-bedroom, 3 public room Georgian
house in Blairgowrie was home to Oor Wullie creator Robert Low for more than 30
years. Low, formerly managing editor of children’s publications with Sunday Post publisher D.C. Thomson, was
inspired to create the cartoon after watching the antics of his son and his
friends. Artist Dudley Watkins then brought to life a set of characters still
popular eight decades on.
Oor Wullie’s 80th birthday celebrations this year
include Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, a huge public art celebration involving 55
sculptures of Oor Wullie. The Trail was launched in Dundee and has been touring
Scottish cities this summer, with sculptures appearing at various landmarks to
raise money for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Children’s Hospital Appeal. The
public is being asked to locate the sculptures, each of which is painted by an
artist and sponsored by a business.
Low’s spacious former home, known
then as Tulach House, is for sale for offers over £475,000. Now called Hillbank
House, it still retains the period features he and his wife Irene enjoyed while
living there in the 1950s to 1980s, with open fireplaces, fine cornicing,
working shutters and etched glass doors.
Included in the sale, marketed by
Clyde Property, is a set of outbuildings such as a former coach house turned
garage, and a log store.
Gary Robertson, area director with
Clyde Property, said:
“It’s a far cry from Wullie’s home
in the fictional Auchenshoogle, but you can’t help thinking Robert Low’s cartoon
‘son’ would have loved it. There are extensive gardens, outbuildings, a tree
house and a cellar – plenty for Wullie, Fat Boab, Soapy Souter and Wee Eck to
have enjoyed and got up to mischief in.”
In an added twist, Gary Robertson’s
wife Alison Robertson is one of Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail artists. She designed
Oor Wullie Noo, a sculpturein Broughty Ferry sponsored by
Balhousie Care Group which depicts the loveable rogue as an old man of 80.
For the full property listing visit www.clydeproperty.co.uk
To find out more about Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, visit www.oorwulliebuckettrail.com