IS Kirriemuir the most community-run town in Scotland? It might well be, with a varied portfolio of community-run assets including one historic monument gifted by Peter Pan creator JM Barrie, an AC/DC memorial, a park, a café and more – and it all started when a group of local women decided to stop the rot in their picturesque Angus town, which sits in the southern foothills of the Cairngorms.

The takeover story starts in 2015 when Angus Council were subsidising the National Trust to run the Camera Obscura – one of only four left in Scotland. When a Scottish Government grant ran out the Trust was set to close public access to the monument. This caused a lot of upset locally, because the building meant a lot to people there.

James Matthew Barrie was born in a cottage in Kirriemuir in 1860, the ninth child of a handloom weaver, and despite fame, fortune and an adult life based in London, he never forgot his birthplace, gifting a sports pavilion and Camera Obscura to the town in 1930.

Four local women set up the Kirriemuir Regeneration Group (KRG) to take over running the building (still owned by Angus Council) on June 7 2015 – the 85th anniversary of its original opening date. Barrie also gifted a geographic indicator, which sits behind the pavilion and gives names of nearby hills and distances.

Nearby too, in the cemetery on the hill, is Barrie’s grave, which simply gives his name as James Matthew Barrie. He would certainly have been buried in Westminster Abbey with all the ceremony that entailed, but for his instructions that he wanted to be buried instead in the family plot “with his ain folk”.

No wonder the Kirrie folk want to keep the Camera Obscura and that long-standing but under-publicised link with Barrie alive.

The team of KRG volunteers has managed to do just that, keeping the Obscura working and open to visitors for the past three years. They also set up and manage the “Cafe Obscura” to give visitors a place to sit and chat after climbing into the viewing turret and taking in the glorious Angus panorama via the Camera Obscura, which closes tomorrow for the winter.

Another of Kirrie’s sons was Bon Scott, of AC/DC, and the “Bonfest” weekend every May – organised by a community-run recording studio and youth project DD8 (Kirrie’s postcode) – has been attracting thousands of fans to the town for the past 14 years, focused on the statue of Bon which stands in a car park not far from another statue of Barrie’s most famous creation, Peter Pan.

But the Camera Obscura was just the start of Kirrie’s takeover habit.

As one of the original group, local community councillor Jenni Brown, puts it: “There was some negativity from the council at first because they weren’t sure we could do this. But the group thought, we can do this – why not? We were women with quite diverse backgrounds – a bank manager, government employee, nurse, chef and a pensioner. We never felt daunted by the commitment – folk were buzzing. We are a pretty excitable bunch.”

The success of the Camera Obscura project made the women realise they didn’t have to accept other bits of Kirriemuir being rundown or sub-standard, so they built up a community wish-list and have taken on more management projects ever since – often because people contact them with suggestions.

The Kirriemuir Regeneration Group has taken on the upkeep of several local public toilets – it’s not as high profile as the Camera Obscura but absolutely vital as council cuts close facilities for locals and visitors across Scotland.

The group also helps maintain the council-owned “Den”, the park that runs through the heart of town, restoring paths, refurbishing a well, and at this time of year – leaf-raking.

But there’s still more. The group supports other community projects, charities and council ventures, which might flag without the constant support of an energised community.

Take Kirrie Connections -- a local charity which grew from yet another community group, the Kirriemuir and Dean Area Partnership. It manages a support hub for people living with dementia, their families and carers and is about to run the first Scottish pilot of a Dutch programme called the Meeting Centre – a social club for people with dementia to get involved in regular recreational and creative activities along with therapy three days a week.

Project manager Graham Galloway hopes the new Dutch programme could be rolled out nationwide if it proves successful in Kirriemuir.

Meanwhile, the regeneration group is looking forward to new opportunities. As the group puts it, “community control is definitely habit-forming”.

Group tours of Barrie’s Camera Obscura can be arranged during the winter by special arrangement via the Facebook page – Kirriemuir Camera Obscura