Events Calendar

Thursday 22 May at 7.30pm in the Hall:The McLean Hall Fearnan Annual General Meeting.

Saturday 12th July: Strawberry Tea 3 – 5 pm in the Hall.

A delicious afternoon tea, featuring Scottish Strawberries – and lots of them.

It’s strawberries every which way – from strawberry sandwiches to strawberry cakes and tray bakes, bowls of strawberries and cream, strawberry meringues, chocolate dipped strawberries and much more.

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of VE Day

To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the War Memorial at Fearnan was beautifully decorated with a combination of fresh greenery from local gardens and purple poppies, knitted by volunteers.

A big thank you to Cath and her team of helpers who designed and made the decorations, and to all the knitters of poppies, contributors of greenery, and to those who helped put the decorations up and to take them down. A real community effort.

The War Memorial was built in 1920, and a service of dedication was held in August of that year. The Reverend WA Gillies and the Reverend JB Atholl Gordon (both in the picture below) officiated, and the Marchioness of Breadalbane (also in picture) unveiled the memorial, saying in her speech that it would always remind us as we pass along this road of those who gave their lives for us in the Great War and may we, therefore, never forget them.

For a small community, Fearnan lost a disproportionate number of the young men and boys who signed up, and the names of these 8 young men are inscribed on the monument.

The stories of their lives and service were researched by this blog some years ago, and you can read about them here:

https://fearnanvillageassociation.com/2018/11/07/remembering-ww1/

Fearnan in WWII

The situation in Fearnan during the Second World War was somewhat different, as most of the men of service age were in reserved occupations such as farming, forestry, and other essential industries vital to the war effort, and were not called up.

Some of them may have served in the Home Guard, which was organised by Sandy Butters (Frances’ grandfather), a veteran of WWI, and woe betide anyone who broke the blackout rules!

Sandy is seen here (centre) with Gamekeeper Alex McDougall and Forester Jim Anderson.

Apart from the privations of war and shortages of many goods, Fearnan must have been a relatively peaceful place during WWII.  Nonetheless, the community saw the occasional Luftwaffe bomber drone up and down Loch Tay on moonlit sorties, attempting to locate the well-camouflaged hydroelectric dam and power station at Tummel Bridge, some 10 miles to the north, in a parallel valley.

Villagers had witnessed, albeit from afar, the night sky and loch surface illuminated by reflections of fiery explosions from the Luftwaffe’s bombing of Clydebank, over 50 miles away.  However, the cost of war was graphically bought home to the community, just before mid-day on Sat 29^th May 1943, when an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle, from 305 Ferry Training Unit in Errol, crashed just north of the village, killing the four members of the Allied Forces on board. The crash is commemorated by a stone in the Cow Park and the full story can be read here: The Fearnan Air Crash 1943

VE Day Tea 2025 – Celebrating the 80^th Anniversary.

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Fearnan Village Association hosted an afternoon tea in the village hall. It was also a fundraiser for the charity Help for Heroes. The event was very well attended, by both villagers and people from the surrounding area, and was a very convivial and enjoyable event.

As ever, our bakers didn’t let us down and there was a wonderful selection of savouries and cakes and biscuits to enjoy.

Doug provided live music for the occasion which contributed to the lovely atmosphere, and a small display of memorabilia, including gas masks and ration cards was set out. The list of rations for one adult for a week was a sharp contrast to today’s abundance, particularly when you see it weighed out on a plate.

Thank you to Mairi McAdam of Discovery Land for providing the posters of Taymouth Castle during WWII.

Recycling in Fearnan

The new Resource Hut at the Hall is now open and operational. It is open from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday, and from 10am – 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It is a central point at which residents can recycle items that can’t be put in the PKC grey bin. It extends the recycling collections that Jenny has been making at Clach an Tuirc and recycles goods via various manufacturers’ recycling schemes. By using it, we can make a positive dent in the amount going into landfill.

See below for details of the items that can be recycled in the Hut.  There are copies of this list available to take away from the Hut.

Current Resource Hut Recycling Collections

The Air, Home and Laundry Care Free Recycling Programme – ONLY for Lenor tumble drier sheets, but for ALL brands of trigger/spray heads.

The BIC Writing Instruments Free Recycling Programme – for ALL brands of writing implements including: felt tips, permanent & whiteboard markers, highlighters, corrections instruments (pens, tape & bottles) and pens, mechanical pencils & refills.

The Podback Scheme – for ALL brands of coffee and drinks pods.

The Recycling Factory – for certain makes and models of inkjet cartridges.

The Marigold® Gloves Free Recycling Programme – ONLY for Marigold brand gloves – but for all types of Marigold gloves (disposable and durable).

The Spontex Disposable Gloves Free Recycling Scheme – for ALL brands of disposable gloves (including: nitril, latex, vinyl, polyethylene).

The Flash® Wipes, Cloths and Pads Free Recycling Programme – ONLY Flash brand, but for ALL their soft wipe products.

The Aqua Optima® Water Filter Free Recycling Programme – ONLY Aqua Optima water filters.

The Specsavers® Contact Lens Recycling Programme – ALL brands of contact lenses, contact lens blister packs and blister pack foils, and hard plastic contact lenses cases.

The Burt’s Bees® Personal Care Free Recycling Programme – ALL brands of makeup containers including: eyeshadow compacts, flexible plastic and metal tubes for body and face creams, lip & cheek highlighter & bronzer sticks, mascara tubes & wands, lip glosses and lip balms, lipsticks – ALL personal care packaging not recycled locally.

Jenny Penfold is keen to recruit volunteers to help manage it. She envisages it being a very low time commitment possibly just checking the Resource Hut and the items being recycled a couple of times a month. She will provide additional information to the volunteers and hopes to build a knowledgeable recycling community. If you would like to volunteer, there are forms in the Resource Hut to complete and return to Jenny.

For this first year of operation, Jenny will be pairing up with all volunteers, so that she can see what’s needed and the best way to do it – a continuous learning process for all!

The list above details what is currently accepted for recycling, but please be aware that sponsorship for these recycling programmes changes from time to time, so this list is very fluid.

There is also a Comments Book in the Resource Hut, so any feedback or ideas for other items to recycle are very welcome.

The Resource Hut will not be taking medicine blister packs as these can be recycled at any Superdrug, or dropped off in the collection box in the entrance to the Aberfeldy Vet practice. However, if you have difficulty in accessing these facilities, Jenny is still collecting for friends and neighbours at Clach an Tuirc.