various species of lamprey. Alyth Den includes a number of abandoned quarries which provided much of the stone for buildings within the town in earlier times. The Den was gifted to the town by the Earl of Airlie in 1923. Today it is a popular destination for walkers, cyclists and naturalists. Demography According to the National Records of Scotland mid-2016 estimates, Alyth has a population of about 2,400. In 2011, the split was 48.5% male, 51.5% female. The age distribution of Alyth’s population differs somewhat from Scotland, with 15.7% aged 16 or under (Scotland 17.3%), 59.3% aged 16–64 (Scotland 65.9%), and 25% aged 65 or older (Scotland 16.8%). The median age of males and females living in Alyth was 46 and 48 respectively, compared with 40 and 42 for Scotland as a whole. Alyth is growing more slowly than comparable towns in Scotland, with population growth of only 4% and net migration of only 1% between 2001 and 2011. Just over 97% of Alyth’s population were white Scottish or other British in 2011, compared with just under 92% for Scotland overall. Economically active people made up 65.5% of the population (Scotland 69%), with 21.4% retired (Scotland 14.9%) and 3.7% unemployed (Scotland 4.8%). Economy Tourism accommodation, construction, retail, property, education and the motor trades are the main employment sectors, with smaller but still significant proportions in the arts, business admin and health. About 36% of the working population commute more than 5 km, with Dundee, Blairgowrie and Perth being the main destinations. Alyth has slightly fewer jobs per head of population than similar towns and saw a small decline (-4%) in the number of jobs between 2009 and 2014. Just over 50% of the adult population are employees, just under 10% self-employed, and a little over 20% are retired. Over 70% of jobs are full-time, and almost 30% part-time. Alyth has a more diverse retail sector and more people per shop than similar towns in Scotland, and also more tourist beds per head of population. Culture and community In 2021, Alyth Development Trust and other groups in the town carried out a major consultation on developing a Community Action Plan to identify and prioritise new initiatives that the people of the town wanted to see implemented. Several hundred responses were received and the results were collated into a five-year vision for the town, which was launched in March 2022 Culture Alyth