'Snowdrop village' set to bloom after bulbs rescued from diggers' path

When the diggers moved in to start work on Comrie's new flood defences in February, thousands of the village's beloved riverside snowdrops were destroyed.

But after being granted access to the site, resourceful local residents managed to rescue 5,000 of the plants and move them to safety.

Now they have plans to create Scotland's first snowdrop village, with an ambitious target of 300,000 snowdrops for paths and trails, taking in the route beside the new flood wall itself.

The newly-created Comrie Snowdrops has received £5,000 of lottery funding to help pay for the Perth and Kinross village's new arrivals.

Comrie's White Church is one of the village's sites for snowdrops

Andrew Ryalls from the charity said: "Comrie has got a fantastic community spirit and this was just another little idea that we put to the village and it's taken off very well."

Mr Ryalls said the early stages of the flood prevention work resulted in the loss of trees and crocuses, as well as thousands of snowdrops.

He told the BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It was a time when the snowdrops were in full bloom and it felt very raw to see them destroyed."

Volunteers rescued thousands of snowdrops from the riverbank in February

Following talks with Balfour Beatty, who are carrying out the construction, volunteers set to work.

Mr Ryalls said: "We went in with our spades and dug up the snowdrops from the riverbank where they were bringing in the diggers.

"We lifted about 5,000 of them and moved them over to the war memorial garden where they'll be kept safe forever now."

Many snowdrops were lost at the beginning of the village's flood defence work

The snowdrop season typically runs from January to March.

Mr Ryalls said: "If they're dug up just after the flowers have finished, they take very well when they're transplanted.

"You can actually divide snowdrops every few years, so you can dig up clumps, separate them and replant them in other areas."

Mr Ryalls said the volunteers have got planting "down to a knack", with each person able to plant about 200 to 300 snowdrops an hour.

Buoyed by the rescue mission, the group now want to turn the village into one of the prime spots for the annual Scottish Snowdrop Festival.

Mr Ryalls said: "Scotland has got a fantastic collection of snowdrop destinations. You've got Scone Palace, the Cambo Estate, they're fee-paying places and very much worth going to.

"But there's nothing that's free for everybody.

"Turning Comrie into a dedicated snowdrop village is going to allow it to be an accessible destination for everybody in Scotland and across the UK."

Some of the rescued snowdrops have been planted in the village's war memorial garden

The volunteers want the village to also have its own annual snowdrop festival and plan to plant 300,000 snowdrops over the coming years.

Mr Ryalls said: "Because the flood wall is going to be 3km long, that's one snowdrop for every centimetre of flood wall, so we thought that was a good target to set ourselves."

About 14,000 have already been planted around the village, with the funding paying for another 30,000 which will be planted in the spring.

Mr Ryalls said: "They'll be planted in drifts throughout the village along the public footpaths, so they'll all be on publicly-accessible land.

"It will create a series of winter walking trails for people to just naturally walk around in the village."