Fearnan Village Association

There was a nice Spring-like feeling in the village on Tuesday morning, and those who were able to attend the Coffee Morning were able to enjoy a delicious spread of sweet and savoury treats, and a friendly chin-wag with friends and neighbours.

 

Fly Past for the Russian Airmen

Recently we featured an article on The Fearnan Air Crash which told the story of the Russian pilots who were based at Errol Airfield for training during WW2, and of the crash that killed three of their number just outside Fearnan.

The airfield at Errol now has an area known as ‘The Russian Corner’ where the men of the Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup, including those who died at Fearnan, are commemorated with a monument.

The 9th May was V Day in Russia (similar to our V-E Day on the 8th May) marking the end of the WW2, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. To mark the occasion, a simple ceremony and informal fly past over the Russian Corner took place  at Errol.  At exactly the same time in Russia, the airmen were being remembered in a parallel ceremony at Vnukovo, their base after they returned to Russia from Scotland. What’s more, the poet Alexandra Provatorskaya has told the story of the Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup in a poem that includes mention of Fearnan!

At Errol, a wreath was laid at the monument in the Russian Corner. Those attending included the Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh, Andrey Pritsepov, and the Provost of Perth and Kinross, Liz Grant. This was followed by the fly past of over the airfield with some dare devil aerobatics from the civilian aviators.

The pictures below show the wreath laying (picture courtesy of The Courier), the fly past, and the aviators with their aircraft.

  Those laying the wreaths are (from the left) Bradley Borland (Errol Aerodrome Historian), Provost Liz Grant, and Andrey Pritsepov, Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh

In Russia the 9th May is a public holiday, and in recent years, millions of ordinary Russian people have chosen to celebrated it by joining local celebrations and simply walking through the streets of their town with photographs of their family members who fought in the War. It is a very personal form of commemoration, as these photos from Vnukovo show:

A picture of Aleksander Guzdin, the pilot who died in the crash at Fearnan, is being held aloft on the right hand side of the large picture.

And the poem! Could this be the first time Fearnan has been commemorated in verse? The poem tells the story of the Russian Airmen and their time in Scotland.  It describes the crash and how the people of Fearnan rushed to the site in the vain hope that they might  be able to help. We shall work on a translation for a future post on the blog.

Broadband News!

If you’re fed up with SuperSlow Broadband, and bored watching that little circle buffering round in the middle of your screen when you’d rather be browsing the internet or downloading something interesting, then help may be nearer than you think!

AB Internet have announced that the date for the Loch Tay Superfast Broadband launch is to be 1st June 2016.  If you want to find out more, there is an opportunity to do so on the 24th May at the Kenmore Hotel between 2 and 9pm. You can also find out more and register your interest at abinternet.co.uk The poster for the event is below:

And finally………….. don’t forget the Coffee Morning in the village hall on Tuesday 14th June at 10.30am.  See you there!

The first Coffee Morning of the year kicked off last week with some excellent home baking, hot cross buns, warm pancakes fresh off the griddle and a selection of small savouries. With the sun shining outside, it began to feel like Spring was on its way.

Earlier in the month, the inaugural Fearnan Quiz Night took place in the village hall, and tested our brains to the limit. We started with the easy bit – eating! And many thanks to all the cooks who provided a delicious supper.

After that, Quiz Master Elaine (who had devised the Quiz) got into her stride.  Everybody divided up into teams of 4, and there were 10 rounds of questions covering General Knowledge (2 rounds); Sport; Media & Entertainment; Geography; Animal Magic; Music; The Royal Family; Food & Drink, and Local Knowledge & History.

This being Fearnan, there was no need to ban the use of smart phones to try to find the answers, as they don’t work on the slow signal we get! However, the photo display boards in the hall did provide help with at least one of the local knowledge questions. Sometimes the old methods are the best.

So how did we all get on? Well, with a Dundee lass in our team, Question 1 was easy-peasy: “Which Scottish city was recognized by the UN as the UK’s first UNESCO City of Design in 2014? “ After that? Some rounds good, some not so good.  If you weren’t there, here’s a chance to see how you would have got on with a small sample of the questions.  If you were there, try them again and see how many more you can get this time! (Answers at the end of the blog – no cheating now!)

Sport: What women’s athletics event takes place over 2 days?

Media & Entertainment : According to the Cole Porter song, who regrets she’s unable to lunch today?

Geography: Maputo is the capital of which country?

Animal Magic: Camelopard is an archaic name for which creature?

Royal Family: What are the Scottish titles of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge?

Food & Drink:  The French recipe Hachis Parmentier is similar to what common, traditional English dish?

Local Knowledge & History: What was the name of the craft that replaced the ‘Lady of Lake on Loch Tay?

Congratulations to Nick, Ros, Karen and Steven’s team who won first prize with a score of over 60%. The wooden spoon prize was very hotly contested, with a play-off for last place.  (We shall spare their blushes and not name them.)

The evening closed with a Raffle of goodies that had been generously donated and, in all, the Quiz Night raised a fantastic £421.60, to be divided between the Hall Funds and Macmillan Cancer Care.

 

Other news: There is to be a road closure in the village during the w/c 11th April, while Scottish Water carry out repairs to the water main. It will affect the stretch of road in front of the village hall, and because of this, the date for the next Coffee Morning has been changed to Tuesday 19th April at 10.30am.

 

Answers to the Quiz Questions:

Sport:Heptathlon: Media & Entertainment: Miss Otis; Geography:Mozambique; Animal Magic:Giraffe; Royal Family:Earl and Countess of Strathearn; Food & Drink: Shepherd’s Pie; Local Knowledge & History:The Queen of the Lake.

 

 

 

 

Welcome

The Chair welcomed members to the Fearnan Village Association to the AGM.

Apologies: Peter McKenzie, Ros Grant

Adoption of Minutes of 2015 AGM and Business Meetings

The Minutes were published on the Blog after the last meeting. There were no comments and the Minutes were proposed by Julia Lane, and seconded by Elaine Melrose.

Chair’s Report

The Chair paid tribute to Laurie Lane who passed away on November 2^nd last year. Laurie was a member and enthusiastic and generous supporter of the FVA, and Treasurer as well.

This year, social events have continued to fulfil their aim of bringing people together. A Saturday “Soup ‘n Roll” was introduced, alongside regular events.

The Blog continues to increase in popularity and both Fearnan’s history and its Archive have attracted interest.

Work has continued towards: obtaining a better broadband signal; safety at the Fearnan Brae junction; improvements to the War Memorial; and monitoring the latest Main Issues Report for the next Local Development Plan, 2018-23.

The Chair expressed her thanks to Neil & Fiona Ballantyne, Julia Lane and Peter McKenzie for their commitment and hard work throughout the year. She also thanked Julia, who represents us on the Hall Committee and through whom we now have a very good working relationship with the new Hall Committee; Jim Fair for scrutinising the accounts; those members who stepped into the breach with help during Laurie’s illness; and all our members for their continued involvement and support.

Treasurer’s Report

Finances: A copy of the FVA’s Income and Expenditure Statement was circulated.

Membership currently stands at 74 individuals. The subscription year for everyone now runs from 1^st Feb and this, along with the fact that most people take a 3-year subscription, means the administration involved is significantly reduced.

Events: Ten events were held this year. Costs and income are consistent with the previous year.

Donations: The Remembrance Day event generated a donation of £41 for Help For Heroes, and we also gave a donation of £100 to the McLean Hall.

Amendment to Constitution

February is a busy month for the FVA and to reduce the work in that particular month, the Chair tabled the following amendment to the Constitution:

Change: “An Annual General Meeting shall be held in February ………”

To: “An Annual General Meeting shall be held within 60 days of the end of the FVA’s Financial Year…….”

(The FVA financial year ends on the 31^st January every year.)

The change was proposed by Fran Donovan and seconded by Nick Grant.

Committee Membership

The FVA Committee was reduced following the death of Laurie Lane. The Chair tabled the appointment of Fran Donovan to the FVA Committee. This was proposed by Joan Millar and seconded by Nick Grant.

AOCB

Nick Grant proposed a Vote of Thanks to the Chair and the Committee. Joan Millar thanked Fiona Ballantyne for her work on the Blog.

The Chair closed this part of the meeting.

Business Meeting

Local Development Plan (LDP): The 5 Year Local Development Plan is now under review. Developers had proposed some sites for Fearnan, but the Council accepted none of the proposals for inclusion in the Plan. The reason given was that a previous LDP Inquiry had determined that Fearnan is a fairly remote rural settlement with few employment opportunities and the developments would not be consistent with the Plan’s vision for sustainable economic growth.

This means that the village boundary will remain unchanged. This plan will run from 2018 to 2023.

Broadband: It hasn’t arrived yet! There are 2 plans that might deliver it. The Highland Perthshire Community Project plan, which would spread from the east, has got some pilots up and running but seems to have stalled. The other plan is a community one from the West (Ardeonaig) and they have planning permission for 3 additional masts, which could mean the service is capable of reaching Fearnan. Mast construction has been held up by the bad weather but the Chair is in contact with the manager of the initiative and will keep us informed.

Fearnan Brae Junction: A vehicle activated sign has been put up on the lochside road (A827) that alerts west-bound traffic if there is a vehicle approaching from Fearnan Brae and issues a ‘slow down’ warning.

War Memorial: There are two issues – getting the Memorial tidied up, and a safer arrangement for the steps. As far as the first is concerned, the Council has a schedule for tidying war memorials, and we are on the schedule.

PKC had agreed that they would inset some steps into the wall. However, they are now querying ownership, and say the Memorial does not belong to them. It is understood that a previous owner of the Tigh an Loan Hotel gifted the war memorial to the community. We need to follow this through and clarify where responsibility lies.

Blog Report

The Blog continues to attract regular readers, both in the village and beyond, with regular readers in America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and, this year, Russia. People who are thinking of moving to the village also visit the site for information .

The Blog has prompted a number of contacts from people with family links to the village – links that often go back several generations.

Fearnan History

The Fearnan Archive has been used by researchers a couple of times in the last year, and copies of relevant articles from the Blog have been added to the Archive, including the Hall’s 60^th Anniversary, Fearnan Literary Society 1886, and the Fearnan Air Crash 1943.

Ian McGregor’s Book, Fearnan, The Story of a Highland Village has just been reprinted.

Social Events and Dates – FVA Events 2016-17

Coffee Mornings:

Tuesday 15^th March

Tuesday 12^th April

Tuesday 17^th May

Tuesday 14^th June

Tuesday 6^th September

Strawberry Teas: Saturday 23^rd July

Soup n’ Roll: Saturday 15^th October

Remembrance Sunday: Sunday 13^th November, followed by coffee or tea, and a tot.

Mulled Wine & Mince Pies: Saturday 3^rd December

Pudding Night: Saturday 18^th February 2017 (Provisional)

 

AOCB

Flooding: Flooding has been a significant problem for properties on the edge of the village on the Fortingall Road. Linda Milne reported on her dealings with the PKC Roads Department (RD), her last conversation having been only the previous day.

RD have discovered there is a collapsed drain close to the field drain that is adjacent to Arcady, therefore it is not working efficiently. They are proposing putting in a new system  which will drain the water that sits in the corner of the field, plus add 4 additional drains in front of the 4 cottages from Arcady to the Fearnan Gallery. They also have put in a drain beside the existing one at Rowan Cottage. The kerb will be extended from outside Arcady to the Gallery.

The new pipe that takes water from the road across the Hall car park to the burn, which was put in this year, will be redone in the new financial year as the bore of the pipe used by the contractors is too small. There will be a road closure.

Whilst the PKC Roads Department staff have been both responsive and helpful, the work done only alleviates an existing problem, and a successful solution will depend on the Council being able to co-ordinate different departments (Roads, Flood Team, etc).

Fraser MacLean also outlined the problems he had experienced due to flooding and problems with the drainage system.

Concern has been expressed about the next stage of tree felling as this has exacerbated the flooding problem. We have been advised that before next phase of felling, the landowners will be asked to produce a water management plan to show there is sufficient drainage to manage excess water.

 

Following the meeting, Fiona Ballantyne wrote to the Community Council on behalf of the FVA asking the Community Council to raise Fearnan’s flooding problems with the Roads Department and local Councillors, and to ask how we get this issue appropriately prioritised and resolved. The project also needs leadership so that we have a single contact within the council.

I am constantly amazed and delighted by the contacts that this little blog generates from all over the world. Recently, an email containing a fascinating link to Fearnan’s past landed in my inbox. It was from Anna Belorusova, writing to us from Russia.

Three years ago, Anna set out on a quest to unravel the mystery of her grandfather’s service during the Second World War. Her research uncovered the almost forgotten story of the Moscow Special Assignment Air Group, who were based at Errol near Dundee, and their reasons for being in Scotland as part of the war effort.

This investigation was to bring her to Scotland for a special ceremony in 2015 (more of which later), as well as inspiring her to research and write about one of her grandfather’s fellow officers, a Hero of the Soviet Union, who was also the pilot of the Russian plane that crashed in the Fearnan Cow Park on 29th May 1943.

As with many other Second World War incidents, very few people (other than the locals) knew anything about this tragic accident; and in this case, the involvement and speculation surrounding the Russian aircrew resulted in a ring of secrecy around the village, with only a very few knowing the actual details.

Anna has kindly provided information and photographs from her own research. She was also able to provide, all the way from Russia, a copy of a monograph about the air crash written by Phillip Hapka from Crieff, and which is based upon the eyewitness accounts of his mother Christine Hapka (nee McEwen) and his uncle John McEwen, both of whom lived in Lawers View at the time of the crash.

Phillip has given permission for extracts from his monograph to be reproduced on the blog, but we start with Anna’s story:

“At home, together with my pilot grandfather’s WWII awards, there was an old bunch of papers: a fragment of Britain’s coastal map, a 1943 Christmas dinner menu adorned with a thistle, and an Everyday English Course with the inscription on the front page: “Good luck and may you visit again under better conditions. Russia & (Britain) – V!”

My grandfather died soon after the end of the war aged 42, when my mother was still a child. All that was left were scraps of her childhood memories, and something vague about his trip to England for the airplanes presented by the King of England himself.

 The puzzle had been bothering me for a long time, and then a couple of years ago, at the National Archives in London, in the Operations Record Book of Errol RAF air station I saw the name of my grandfather Pyotr Kolesnikov:

 “1.01.43. No 305 Special Ferry Training Unit formed to convert and ferry train Russian crews on Albemarle Special Transport Aircraft for ferrying 100 aircraft to Russia“.

“24.04.43 Russian pilots have been practicing circuits, landings and single engine flying. Flying times: St.Lt. Kolesnikov: dual – 3.45 hrs., solo – 3.35 hrs.”

This was how, from the reports and orders of Errol RAF air station in Scotland, the reconstruction of the history of the Moscow Special Assignment Air Group began.”

In brief, ‘305 Ferry Training Unit’ was established at RAF Errol, 10 miles west of Dundee, on 1^st January 1943, following the decision of the British Government to supply 200 Albermarle planes to the Soviet Union. The planes were to assist in the transport of troops on the vast Russian Eastern Front, where they were engaged in fierce warfare against invading German forces. The role of the unit at Errol was to convert Russian aircrew (the Moscow Special Assignment Air Group) to the then new twin-engine Albermarle special transport and glider tug. The ‘Ferry Training’ designation was a convenient cover for this top-secret exercise and a means of allaying local suspicion of the foreign aircrew. The first intake of 10 (three pilots, three flight engineers, three radio operators and one navigator) arrived on 11^th January 1943.

Training began on 25^th January, and consisted of 2 day and 2 night flights with an instructor, followed by a minimum of four flights without an instructor.

 

Just a few months later, the village of Fearnan came close to a catastrophic disaster when one of the Albermarles crashed just inside the Cow Park, close to Cromrar Cottage.

It was the skill and courage of the crew that saved the village, at the expense of their own lives.

 

We will return to Anna’s story later, but thanks to Phillip Hapka’s monograph “Fall of a Red Star”, we are able to relate an account of the crash, from the perspective of the Fearnan villagers in 1943.

Extract from Fall of a Red Star by Phillip Hapka (© 2006)

 “The small crofting village of Fearnan, on the northern shore of Loch Tay in Perthshire, was a relatively peaceful place during the early years of the Second World War.

 Nonetheless, the community had seen 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, when waves of over 200 enemy bombers over-flew western Perthshire, from 21.00 hours on 13^th March 1941 to around 04.00 hours on 14^th March 1941, to evade detection by personnel of the Observer Corps and interception by RAF fighters.

 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, crashed just north of the village.

During the forenoon, Albermarle ST1, P1503 had taken off from RAF Errol in good weather, on what was ostensibly a training flight. At the controls was thirty nine year old flight operator Major Aleksander Gruzdin who held the highest honorary title Hero of the Soviet Union,  having flown over 200 missions behind enemy lines and with 4,800 hours in his log book. He was accompanied by Russian colleagues: thirty four year old flight engineer Aleksandr Aleksejev and thirty year old flight navigator Vasily Drjamin, who wished to do a little aerial sight seeing before returning to Russia. Also on board was S/Sgt Frantisek Drahovzal, a Czechoslovakian cook and interpreter for the Russians.

 The aircraft’s route initially took it in a westerly direction from its base, later turning northwards and climbing above the southern Grampian Mountains to reach the southern shore of Loch Tay near the village of Ardeonaig. Having cleared the higher ground, the aircraft was put into a gentle decent over the loch but a sizeable nose-down attitude developed, from which level flight could not be regained.

 From the garden of Lawer’s View in Fearnan, 18-year-old John McEwen and his friend Ian Anderson spotted the aircraft flying over the loch towards them. Not being able to identify the twin-finned type, they thought it might be a Luftwaffe aircraft about to bomb or strafe the village. Therefore, after instinctively shouting a warning, they took cover under a nearby hedge.

The aircraft flew very low over the village, still in a nose-down attitude, before impacting the ground just inside the Cow Park, to the east of Clach an Tuirc, where it exploded.

 The shock waves from the explosion cracked windows and blew open a number of house doors in the village.

 McEwen and Anderson jumped the garden wall and ran across the crofts towards the crash site, pursued by John’s 20-year-old sister, Christine, who was still wearing a silk flower in her hair, having returned from a local dance in the early hours of the morning.

 The sudden explosion unnerved horses and cattle in the intervening fields, causing them to stampede. Although the men were able to pass the animals, albeit with some difficulty, Christine was forced onto the public road adjacent to a row of cottages at Dalchiaran. Here she joined up with a number of bewildered inhabitants, including Mrs McLaren carrying her infant daughter Isobel, making their way towards the column of black smoke rising high above the village. The scene that greeted the would-be rescuers was one of utter devastation, with debris scattered over a wide area to the north of the crash site. The aircraft was a raging inferno.

 Burning debris had fallen on and around Cromrar Cottage and the traumatised occupants, Archie and Kate Robertson, emerged from their home to find it, and the outbuildings, covered in pieces of smouldering wreckage. The main wheels were alight to the south and west of the cottage, and the nose wheel lay near the access gate to the Cow Park, immediately to the north of Clach an Tuirc.

 The aircraft had come down in the hanging valley to the west of Drummond Hill, on sloping grassland which may have looked suitable for a forced landing from the air, but which in reality had only an extremely thin covering of soil over solid rocks. Major Gruzdin and his crew were killed instantly in the impact and in their heroic and successful endeavour to clear the village.

Shortly after the crash, Special Constable Duncan McGregor and District Nurse Kennedy arrived from Fortingall. Others, who could see the column of smoke, came from Fortingall and Lawers, to see if they could render assistance. One man, who had been employed on casual labour in the garden of Balnearn 2.5 miles away, ran the whole way to the site. The nearest Fire Brigade unit stationed in Aberfeldy turned out, but when they arrived on the scene there was nothing they could do.

 A police guard was mounted on the crash site by Special Constables Duncan McGregor and Alexander McEwen, to prevent the wreckage from being disturbed further by inquisitive villagers, until a military presence arrived many hours later.

 A number of pairs of tattered overalls were found, one containing a wage packet, and it was feared that the owners might also have been aboard the Albemarle. However it was later discovered that, having been given weekend leave while servicing the Albemarle, mechanics had rolled up their overalls and left them in the aircraft the previous evening to await their return to complete the task.

 Over the following week, a salvage team arrived in Fearnan. They conducted a painstaking search of the site and then cleared the ground of aircraft debris to make it suitable for cattle to graze off once again.

Another recovered item, which local residents quickly capitalised upon was a parachute pack, which had been blown clear of the wreckage on impact, with some young women becoming the fortuitous recipients of underskirts fashioned from parachute silk.

A Board of Inquiry was later convened at RAF Errol and to which John McEwen was invited as chief civilian witness.

 Albermarles had been designed to utilise non—strategic materials and their Bristol Hercules engines were known to occasionally overheat. It was, therefore, initially suspected that either of these features may have been a contributory factor to the crash.

 However, the findings of the Board of Inquiry revealed that the accident had been caused by insecure ballast weights.

 The aircraft was fitted with the then unconventional tricycle undercarriage and lead ballast weights were installed aboard the airframe which could be slid forward on a shaft in order to maintain the centre of gravity when the aircraft was loaded with paratroops or freight. The investigation found that the aircraft had been undergoing servicing on the Friday prior to the crash and that the weights had not been locked in place. Therefore, when the aircraft began to descend over Loch Tay, the weights slid forward and could not be repositioned to regain the correct trim, thus making the aircraft virtually un-flyable.”

 (End of the monograph)

The men who died in the crash were:

The fourth man on board who died was Francis Drahovzal, a Czechoslovakian national. He is buried in Murie Cemetry, Errol.

Following his cremation in the UK, Major Gruzdin’s ashes were buried with in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow with full military honours. He is buried with his wife, who was also a pilot.

 

 Over time, back in Fearnan, the crash site healed and the details surrounding the accident, in as much as they were known by residents of the time, faded within the village’s collective memory.

An excavation of the site was carried out by the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum in 2006, and some wreckage and engine parts were recovered which are now on display at the museum.

 More than 70 years after the Russian airmen came to Errol, Anna started to piece together the story of the Moscow Special Assignment Air Group and the background to their top secret mission in the UK began to re-emerge.

On 15 May 2015, through her efforts and with support from the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Edinburgh, an exhibition opened at Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre. The Russians In Scotland Exhibition is now part of the permanent display at the Centre, and is dedicated to those Soviet pilots who came to Scotland in 1943.

On 16 May 2015, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the Errol airfield and is dedicated to the Soviet pilots of the Moscow Special Assignment Air Group. (Later, in November 1944, the Group was awarded the honorary name ‘10th Guards Air Transport Division’ for its deeds during the war – ‘Guards’ being the highest honorary title.)

These two events were attended by a delegation from Vnukovo, near Moscow – where the Air Group was based from the early days of the war. The delegation included the Head of Vnukovo Air Museum and pilots of the post-war generation, who had followed in their father or grandfather’s footsteps.

Anna herself commented at the time:“The RAF airman E Fielding who, in 1943, left an inscription on the front page of my grandfather’s English phrasebook: ‘ Good luck and may you visit again under better conditions. Russia and Britain–V!’ has proved to be right. The Russian pilots were indeed back under better circumstances. Their memory will be in good hands here.”

 We hope to welcome Anna to Fearnan for the first time later this year, when she makes a return visit to Scotland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the sweet-toothed among us, February brings the annual treat of the Pudding Night – a feast of calorific wonderfulness for one night only.  This year did not disappoint with an excellent spread of traditional baked puddings, mousses, tarts, gateaux, cheesecakes, flans and much, much more.

Live music always helps to create a great atmosphere and, as ever, Doug, Hilary, Audrey and Joe did us proud.

A great evening, but all good things come to an end and when it’s over, it’s over:

Many thanks to all the pudding makers, to our wonderful musicians, to those who helped set up and clear up, and special thanks to all the enthusiastic pudding eaters!

Some Dates for Your Diary:

The FVA Annual General Meeting will be on Saturday 5th March at 11.30am in the village hall.

Also on the 5th March, there’s a Quiz and Fork Supper in the  Hall. It starts at 7.30pm, with supper.  The proceeds from the evening will be divided between MacMillan Cancer and the Village Hall Fund.

Music and Movement is taking a break for March, but will be back every Friday at 10.00am from 1st April.

The next Book Club Meeting is on Tuesday 16th March at 7pm in the hall.

If you enjoy yoga, there are some workshops coming up at the Big Shed.  All workshops include lunch. There are more details on the Big Shed’s website  and also on Facebook.

One day workshops – Sat 23rd April and Sat 24th Sept 2016
Weekend workshops – Sat 28th/Sun 29th May  and  Sat 6th/Sun 7th Aug 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like an ordinary jotter – the type of exercise book used by generations of school children. But this is no ordinary school jotter. It is, in fact, the Minutes Book of the Fernan Literary Society and records their meetings from October 1886 to March 1890. (The name is not a typo – the old spelling, Fernan, is used throughout the book.)

It must have lain in the schoolhouse from 1890 until the school closed in 1968, during which time many generations of mice nibbled its edges and probably made nests from the odd page or two. The book was then transferred, with other papers and the school records, to Kenmore School and it came to light during the search for the Fearnan School Records.

The Minutes of the Fernan Literary Society reveal that every Tuesday evening throughout the winter months, between 20 and 30 men from the village would meet in the schoolhouse at 8pm for an evening of literary enjoyment (only men, this being Victorian times). It is remarkable to think of them making their way in the dark and cold from local crofts and houses along the lochside, sheltering their lanterns from the wind, rain or snow, to reach the school and spend the evening in discussion and debate by lamplight.

The Society had a set of Rules that were found tucked inside the Minute Book. Written in beautiful copperplate writing on foolscap paper, they set out the purpose of the Society:

 “The object of the Society shall be the moral and intellectual improvement of its members, to be furthered by means of Essays, Debates and other exercises agreeable to the Society.”

 The Rules also set out the arrangements for the management committee, the means by which members are elected and subscription levels (one shilling for ordinary members and two shillings for ‘honorary ‘ members – i.e. the committee members).

The Rules also specify that: “Subjects exclusively religious shall not be discussed.” There is, however, no mention of that other potential cause of serious argument among friends – politics!

 The first meeting sees the members commit 8 shillings to cover the purchase of a Minute Book, coal, candles and the services of a fireman (to ensure warmth and comfort in the school room). Later purchases include a ballot box for voting on their lively debates, 3 lamps and the services of a cleaner. Income and expenditure are meticulously recorded in the back of the Minute Book, with a surplus being carried forward every year. Mindful of others in the community, they specify in the Minutes that the lamps furnished by the Society are to be used for other purposes, such as Prayer Meetings and Sunday School.

The group would agree the programmes and topics in advance. Half hour of each meeting “will be allowed to the Essayist to read his paper, which shall be subjected to criticism, no single criticism to exceed five minutes in length.” This would be followed by a Recitation and then the Debate, for which half and hour was allowed.

An extract from the Minute for 25^th January 1887 gives a flavour of the meetings. Chaired by Mr P McMartin “who opened the evenings entertainment with a Recitation of ‘The Ruins of Breadalbane’ and which was unusually well received. The President then gave a most interesting essay on the Social Condition of Breadalbane during the latter part of the last century and beginning of the present. The Essayist treated his subject in a most profound, instructive and masterly manner, captivating the attention and admiration of all the members throughout. Mr John Fraser recited the “Spirit of Contradiction” in a most creditable manner.”

 Later in the meeting, it is agreed that a Social Meeting will be held in July, and a Committee appointed to organise it. It being Burns Night: “On the motion of the President, Mr A Anderson was asked to sing the well-known song of Burns ‘There was a Lad was born in Kyle’ in commemoration of the great Bards’ anniversary.”

Although the Minutes are specifically about the Society, from time to time snippets of events in Fearnan are referred to, and on the 23^rd March 1886, the Minute records their ”deep sense of regret at the loss of two of the members, Messers McLean and Ferguson, who were leaving this country for Australia”.

 A joint meeting with the Kenmore Literary Society is discussed and a letter of invitation despatched. Unfortunately, no reply is received to the letter!

The Debates seem to have been lively and often on topical subjects. In December 1887, Steam v. Electricity was discussed with “excellent papers read on both sides, and on the question being put to the ballot, it was found that Steam had a majority of 3.”

 A debate on “which is the greater cause of crime and misery – ignorance or intemperance?” split the members 50:50, as did “Is wealth productive of happiness?”

Moral dilemmas were also considered viz. “In the event of being shipwrecked, which would you save, your intended wife or your mother.”

 The Minutes tell us “both these gentlemen gave ample justice to their respective sides and on the question being put to the ballot, it was found that the mother had a majority of one.”

(H’mmm, I hope the good wives of Fearnan had a sense of humour!)

At that time, books were expensive to buy for personal use and given the values that Victorians placed on self-improvement, it is perhaps not surprising that the Society remained popular over the winter months for some 4 years. Towards the end of the 1889 – 1890 sessions, attendance starts to drop away. The Minutes do not speculate on why this might be – the records show that it was not a particularly bad winter, but there was a ‘flu pandemic that year and maybe people felt less inclined to meet in large social groups. Or perhaps the Society had run it’s course.

The last recorded meeting took place on 3^rd March 1890. It was to be the final meeting of the session and the plan was to discuss the forthcoming Dance that had become the Society’s annual social meeting. However, the meeting quickly departs from the planned agenda when a letter is read giving news of the sinking of the ship The Quetta in the Torres Straits reaches the school house. A former secretary of the Literary Society was on board (unfortunately, this former secretary is not named) but there is no news of his fate. It is decided that they will reconvene on the Friday of that week, by which time they hope there will be more news.

Research into the fate of the RMS Quetta reveals that she was a British-India Steam Navigation Company liner, specifically built for the Australia run, with refrigeration capacity for the frozen meat trade. The ship was launched in March 1881 and made her first voyage to Brisbane in 1883.

The Quetta disaster was recorded by Albert Maclaren, a Missionary in New Guinea who was waiting to get away from Thursday Island, when news arrived of the disaster.

“The British India royal mail steamer Quetta, bound from Brisbane to England with 292 souls on board, struck on an uncharted rock near Adolphus Island (Albany Pass) on the night of 28th February, 1890, and sank in less than three minutes. It was a beautiful and calm night, and many of the ladies were singing in the music saloon, practising for a concert, others were writing letters in the saloon. Some of the survivors said that the noise caused by the vessel in striking sounded like a tank going overboard, then there was a grating sound, and then a swell of water from the engine-room. The ship did not seem to sink, the water merely seemed to rise round her. Then the stern rose high out of the water, and the propeller and a large part of the keel became visible. She hung in that position for about half a minute, then listed to port and suddenly disappeared. The captain had ordered the boats to be lowered directly she struck, and called out, “All who want to be saved, come aft”. Some of the ship wrecked passengers and crew reached Mount Adolphus Island clinging to the boats, and next morning one of the boats went to Somerset to wire to Thursday Island for assistance. “

Of the 292 people aboard, 26 were saloon passengers (of whom only 19% survived), and 75 steerage passengers (of whom 86% survived).

The Quetta now lies on her port side in 18 metres (59 ft) of water and is a protected historic shipwreck under Australia’s Historic Shipwrecks Act of 1976. Relics raised during salvage attempts months after the disaster, and later, can be found in the Quetta Memorial Church on Thursday Island, which was consecrated in 1893.

Back in Fearnan, the former Secretary’s friends and colleagues met again later in the week but there was no further news of his fate. “It was proposed as a tribute of respect to his memory by his sorrowing Associates to close the session in silence and by abandoning the Social evening this year. The Treasurer then submitted his accounts which were approved and signed by office bearers and committee.”

The records show a balance of £2 6s 4½ in the account.

Unlike previous years, no date was set for resuming meetings in October 1890, and if the Society continued into 1890-91, we have no record of this. However, the Minute Book still has plenty of unused pages, so we must assume they did not. Could those villagers of long ago have imagined that literary debate and criticism would revive in Fearnan 125 years later  – also on a Tuesday night – in the form of the Fearnan Book Club?

 

Diary Dates:

Defibrillator Training – Molteno Hall, Fortingall at 7pm Wed 20th January.

Pudding Night – Sat 20th February at 6pm in the village hall. Live music and as much as you can eat from the fabulous spread of puddings for £7 per person, school age children half price.  BYOB.

Fearnan Village Association AGM – Saturday 5th March at 11.30am in the village hall.

March Coffee Morning – Tuesday 15th March at 10.30am in the hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StateLibQld_1_45887_Drawing_of_%27Quetta%27_going_down.jpg#/media/File:StateLibQld_1_45887_Drawing_of_%27Quetta%27_going_down.jpg

 

New Year’s Eve saw another successful Hogmanay Hoolie, with villagers gathering in the Hall to welcome in 2016. In years past, it was the custom to gather at the Pottery with Andy Burt after The Bells, and the news that Andy had left a bequest to provide a New Year dram for local residents was much appreciated. Cheers, Andy!

And Cheers, Julia, for the bottle of Jura!

Other dates for your 2016 diary are:

The world-famous (well, almost!) Fearnan Pudding Night will be on Sat 20^th February this year. The best and most extensive spread of home-made puddings, sweets and desserts anywhere, ever!

The first Coffee Morning of 2016 will be on Tuesday 15th March at 10.30am in the Hall.

February sees another Concert at the Big Shed: The wonderful Edinburgh Quartet, one of Britain’s foremost chamber ensembles, returns to the Big Shed on Saturday 13th February at 7.30 with a concert entitled Storm & Stress.

Storm & Stress derives from a loose translation of the German ‘Sturm und Drang’ movement of the eighteenth century, where passionate expression was given free rein in literature, but also in music with works by Haydn and Mozart at the forefront.  The Quartet will perform a typical Sturm und Drang work by Haydn alongside masterworks inspired by extremes of expression by Bartók and Grieg. The program is:

HAYDN String Quartet Op 76 No 2

BARTÓK String Quartet No 3

GRIEG String Quartet

The Edinburgh Quartet are returning because they like the venue AND they like the audience…. so do come along for an enjoyable evening of mutual appreciation!

The ticket price is £10 pp and the easiest way to reserve your ticket is to email websitecontact@bigshed.org.uk with the number of tickets you would like.   You can also text the number of tickets, plus your name to the Big Shed on 0750 864 5453.

 

 

It was beginning to feel a bit like Christmas, with the smell of mulled wine and taste of mince pies in the village hall at the beginning of the month.

Despite the bad weather, there was a good turnout for our seasonal celebration and a very convivial atmosphere.

 

In a recent article celebrating the McLean Hall’s 60th anniversary, there was mention of Fort Fearnan which was built as a memorial to John McLean, the first chair of the Hall Committee, and one of the main campaigners for the establishment of a village hall in Fearnan.

Some pictures of the Fort have resurfaced, taken on the day in 1989 when the official opening of the Fort was celebrated by locals, and by the cadets who constructed it.

This photo shows what a substantial construction the Fort was and we believe that the front row includes David Kelloe (third from the left) chair of the hall committee at the time; Councillor Murray (centre) from PKC , the Reverend Kenneth McVicar (on the right) one of the hall’s first trustees, and we believe that the lady between Councillor Murray and the Rev McVicar is Chrissie McLean.  Perhaps some one can confirm or correct this?

Also in the picture (circled in red) is Rose Miller who was one of the members of the University of London Officer Training Corps who built the Fort over a 2 week period.  We were delighted when Rose got in touch with the website to ask if we had any photos of Fort Fearnan as she wanted to show them to her son, who was working on a similar project.

 

This photo of the Tigh an Loan Hotel bus in a recent article on the blog triggered memories for a few people; memories about the bus, about the hotel and Mr and Mrs Stewart.

 

Alastair Barnett remembers ‘Jock’ Stewart as a quiet man but on occasion he had some fun with Alastair  and his best friend while at school, Alistair McDougall.

“Alistair was the gamekeepers’ son and we did get up to some mischief.  On summer days if we passed the hotel on our bicycles Jock Stewart — who enjoyed his pipe whilst leaning against the wall of the shop — would offer a half-crown to the winner if Alistair and I raced to the school and back to the hotel. We always completed the race with the hope of that  half-crown but by the time we got back, he had mysteriously disappeared!  The twinkle in Jock’s eyes told us he too had a mischievous streak and he enjoyed the joke more than once!”

Alastair recalls Mrs. Stewart with great fondness.  She dressed in black from her neck to her shoes and had pure white hair pulled back into a bun and — to his young eyes — a skin like white marble.

In the summer, she worked to the point of exhaustion to keep the hotel in perfect running order for her distinguished guests. Mr and Mrs. McDonald of McDonald P&O Shipping lines were regular summer visitors to the hotel. Sometimes Alastair would help her prepare the vegetables for dinner – not realising at the time that this was setting a course for his future career in the hospitality industry.

 

Moving back to the present, there will be a Hogmanay Party in the hall on the night of the 31st December, from 9.30pm to 1.00am. It’s a BYOB event, with a Stovies Supper, and also a dram served at the Bells. There is a suggested donation of £5.00.

And don’t forget the 2016 Pudding Night on Sat 20th February! Will we manage to beat last year’s record menu of 35 home-made puddings? Watch this space!

With Christmas just around the corner, it just remains to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful 2016!