Scottish ancestral home of Harley Davidson founder faces uncertain future

The Scottish ancestral home of the family who founded the world-famous Harley Davidson motorcycle faces an uncertain future.

Nestled in a peaceful and picturesque part of Angus, motorbike industry was made at a tiny cottage in the Angus village of Aberlemno.

But the group that has preserved Davidson Cottage now has three weeks to raise £70,000 or risk losing almost £300,000 in UK government funding to buy the historic home.

William C Davidson emigrated to America with his family in 1857 aged just 11. His three children went on to create the world’s most iconic motorcycle – Harley Davidson.

The historic cottage’s fate, however, now hangs in the balance.

Nyree Aitken from the Davidson Legacy Preservation Group said: “The community ownership fund is £250,000 capital and £59,000 revenue – that’s just shy of £300,000 – and if we don’t get the £70,000 match funding they then take that money back.

“We have had some applications into other funders. We’ve not been successful because trying to get money for assets is really difficult.”

Rundown, derelict and threatened with demolition, Netherton Cottage was lovingly restored by a group of local Harley Davidson enthusiasts.

It’s how it would have looked when the Davidsons and their eight children lived in the two bedroom but ‘n ben.

But time is ticking to save it from being sold or, even worse, seeing it return to rack and ruin.

As a last resort, a GoFundMe page has been set up to raise the £70,000 needed to buy the site.

Nyree said: “It’s September now and I would say we really need to have that money in place by October to allow us to get the conveyancing and everything done, to have that money spent by December. There’s not a lot of funding out there so I think that would be the end of the cottage. It would be heartbreaking to lose it.”

The Davidsons left Aberlemno in search of a better life. Almost 170 years on and it’s hoped this important piece of American heritage rooted in Angus can be rescued.