For them the war really is over! WW2 prisoner-of-war camp is transformed into ... trends now

A former WWII prisoner-of-war camp which once had a reputation for holding some of the most senior Nazi soldiers has been transformed into a thriving community hub.

Cultybraggan Camp, located near Comrie in Scotland, held up to 4,000 prisoners after its construction in WWII.

When the war ended and prisoners were sent to face trial, Cultybraggan was briefly empty, but reopened as a training camp by the Ministry of Defence in 1948.

It was closed by the MoD in 2004 and sold to the Comrie Development Trust just three years later. 

The Trust, made up of over 600 volunteers from the village, set about turning the space into a unique community hub to benefit the local community.

Now, the camp houses a mixture of businesses, volunteer groups and boasts a gym, a shop and a museum telling the history of Cultybraggan.

Sam Walker, co-founder of catering business Beetroot and Chocolate, is a Comrie local who set up shop in the camp in 2017.

He said: 'Cultybraggan used to be an MoD camp when I was growing up.

'There were NATO exercises going on, and the sound of machine gun fire was quite a normal sound to hear in Comrie.

'But then the MoD decided they didn't need it any more, and it was bought by the village.'

Sam and co-owner Jamie Lang jumped at the chance to purchase a plot in Cultybraggan and say that the community is the perfect place to grow a small business.

'They have around 150 huts, and they're the perfect incubators for small businesses,' Sam added.

'We bought our unit here and set about building our kitchen. It's a beautiful setting and the buildings are, for the most part, in half-decent nick.

'Everyone gets to know each other, and we see each other going to and from the village all the time.

'Lots of people don't know about it in the slightest - it's hidden away on this little flat plain outside Comrie.

'It's a bit of a strange place - for us, it's become a kind of industrial estate made out of leftovers from the war.

'It's a bit like an open-air museum crossed with an industrial estate and whatever else is going on at any given time - reenactments, camping and caravan clubs, motorbike rallies and all sorts of stuff.'

Also running a business from inside the camp is Miles Key, who has been a CrossFit instructor for nearly 20 years.

Originally from Brighton, he moved to Comrie with his wife during lockdown to be closer to her family and says that Cultybraggan's history and scenery was an important part of his decision.

'I'm proud to live in Comrie - I married a local girl, and we've been coming up to visit her parents here for the last 18 years,' Miles said.

'I used to work in Brighton - and Brighton is lovely - but when you get to work here, and you can see the hills, it's just stunning.