Fearnan Village Association

This is the first of a series of articles based on our Fearnan Oral History Project.  Over the next few months, Pat Menzies and Fiona Ballantyne will interview a number of local residents in order to capture their recollections and memories of Fearnan, and to record them for our archive.

Our first interviewees, and willing guinea pigs, are Joyce and Alistair Halden of Burnside, seen here with Pat.

During the conversation, both Pat and Fiona were struck by how often Joyce and Alistair referred to the friendliness of people in the village, and how easy they had found it to settle here.

They retired to Fearnan after 18 years teaching at Croftinloan School in Pitlochry. Their original plan was to retire to their house overlooking the sea in St Monans and to become Fifers.  However, as retirement approached, Alistair realised that his heart was in the Highlands and he really wanted to stay in Perthshire.  Joyce wasn’t so sure about this change of plan, but a house-hunting trip to Fearnan convinced her to swap her sea view for a loch view (“The views were captivating. I fell in love with it.”).

This picture was taken when Joyce and Alistair retired. The pupils from the school gave them the wooden garden seat inscribed with the words ‘The Rest Of The Day Is Free’, taken from a poem about retirement that Alistair had written. The pupils and staff of the school thought the sentiments expressed were a fitting dedication to the couple for all their hard work over the years.

Moving to Fearnan in 1994, they set about redesigning the acre of garden surrounding their new house.  Joyce was determined that nothing would distract her from concentrating on the garden for the first few years, but a night out to hear the Fearnan Ladies Choir in their Christmas Concert at the village hall somewhat changed that plan.  Whilst sitting in the audience waiting for the concert to begin, Joyce was approached and asked if she would stand in and play accompaniment to the choir for the first part of the concert, as the usual accompanist had been delayed.  Whilst most of us would find this a rather extreme form of audience participation (unrehearsed after all!), the former music teacher not only rose to the occasion but did it so well that she was later invited to lead the choir.

So, for 14 years from 1997 to 2011,  the choir gathered every Monday morning in Joyce’s house to rehearse. Regular concerts were held not just in the village hall, but in venues across Perthshire. Another Fearnan resident, Bob Woolley, would join them at their various engagements and entertain the audience by playing saxophone, clarinet and flute.

The choir originated in Fortingall in the 1950’s, under the leadership of Mrs Molteno of Glen Lyon House and was known as the Fortingall Ladies Choir. Some years later, when Ted Lewis was the conductor, it was re-named the Bruachan Singers after Ted’s house, where the ladies rehearsed. It became the Fearnan Ladies Choir when Joyce took over, attracting members from Fearnan, Fortingall, Acharn, Aberfeldy, Killin, Pitlochry and Kinloch Rannoch. And here they are:

Back Row: Alison Skinner, Jen McGartland, Jean Woolley, Molly Baird, Georgie McGregor, Anne Brennan, Janet Harding. Middle Row: Lorna Cassells, Maisie Steven, Mary Masterson, Lynn Ferguson. Front Row: Joyce Halden, Jessie Coghill, Maureen McDonnell, Mairi Taylor, Rosie Hooper, Thea Fagerson. Other Choir Members not in the picture: Jenny Kininmonth, Kate Mackay, Kate Conway, Margaret Ellis, Margaret Pree, Marijke Goodwin, May Scott, Gina Angus, and Sheila Watford.

It has to be said that Joyce’s garden can’t have suffered too much from the distraction of  the choir, as it was featured on the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden programme in 2001.  Click here  to read the Beechgrove Garden Factsheet from the programme which includes a description of the Halden’s garden on page 11 – “Through the Garden Gate”.

Joyce and Alistair refer frequently to the warmth and friendliness of people in the village.  They remember the village shop, and what a treat it was to have a shop and Post Office where everyone was so chatty when they called by for their messages.  They particularly remember a special send-off for the local postie who was going to go to live in Spain.  Everybody gathered at the Post Office to say goodbye, and Liz Menzies brought a donkey along – adding a Spanish touch to the proceedings.

Joyce and Alistair also recall how many events and societies there were, and how there seemed to be something on at the village hall almost every night of the week.

The extremes of the weather, not surprisingly, feature in their memories – paddling through floods in wellingtons to get food at the shop before the breakwater wall was built; arriving home from a winter break in the warm sunshine of Gran Canaria to find their gates (very) firmly frozen shut. Neighbour Garth Menzies came to the rescue and helped them to get in. However, the next morning they had the opposite problem – they were now frozen in and couldn’t get out!

More than anything, they talk about the kindness and helpfulness of friends and neighbours, particularly now that they are getting on a bit. The church at Fortingall has been a big part of their lives here, helping them to meet people and find friends when they first moved here, and keeping them connected thereafter. Indeed, over the years they have discovered many shared connections with other villagers, be it to do with music, horticulture, places, professional connections, mutual friends or a host of other subjects.

They certainly don’t have any regrets about that change of plan and the decision to swap St Monans for Fearnan.  On the day we visited, Joyce had been busy planting and pricking out seedlings for the new season in the garden and they were both very much looking forward to a forthcoming visit by one of their sons, his wife and their grandchild from Brisbane, Australia.

If you would like to contribute to this Oral History project, either by suggesting someone to interview or by sharing your own memories, please get in touch with Pat (patmenzies2004@yahoo.co.uk) or Fiona (fionaballantyne320@gmail.com)

The FVA held 2 events in the village hall last week.  The first was the AGM which was well attended and the draft Minutes appear below.  The second event was the March Coffee Morning which coincided with Pancake Day, so we had pancakes aplenty –  our regular drop scones from the griddle along with traditional pancakes served with lemon or maple syrup.

Fearnan Village Association, Minutes of the AGM and Business Meeting

Held at 4.00 pm on the 1st March 2014

 Welcome

The Chair, Sue Gardener, opened the meeting by welcoming members.  The meeting would be in 2 parts – the FVA Annual General Meeting, followed by the Business Meeting.

Annual General Meeting

Apologies

Apologies were received from Pat Menzies, Peter McKenzie, Tim Wheeldon, Dan Clutterbuck, and Ian and Anne McGregor.

Minutes of the AGM 2013

The minutes of the AGM in 2013, along with the minutes of the 2013 Business Meeting were adopted and signed by the Chair.

Chair’s Report on the Year’s Activity

Membership – our present membership is 63, up from 57 last year.

Matters concerning or affecting the village:

Perth & Kinross Development Plan –The campaign of lobbying and letter writing proved to be well worth the effort, and was wholly successful. The original draft plan issued by the Council proposed 2 development sites and 40 new houses for Fearnan but, following our campaign, both sites were removed from the final version that was approved by the Council.  The Chair thanked all those who had written letters objecting to the Council’s proposals.

Fearnan Brae/Main Road Junction – This issue was raised at the 2013 FVA meeting and, as requested, it was brought to the attention of the Community Council.  As a result, the Chair had attended a meeting with representatives of PKC Roads Dept. to seek a solution.

Broadband – we continue to attend meetings and lobby for an improved service.

Fearnan History – Ian McGregor has done a considerable amount of work archiving material and researching the men commemorated on the War Memorial. Initial work has started on the possibility of an Interpretation Board for the Registered Monuments in or near the village (the Baptismal Font, the Boar Stone, the Measles Stone, and the Market Cross) and a walk to connect them.

Social Events: These continue to help to bring people together. The 2013 Winter Pudding Night was a great success and Coffee Mornings continue to be enjoyed. The Strawberry TeaZ held in the summer was a new venture, which proved to be successful and fun. Mulled Wine and Mince Pies provided a warming start to the Christmas Season, raised some money for the Aberfeldy Hospital, and proved a useful introduction for new comers to the village.

Thanks: We have had to say a sad farewell to Ian and Anne McGregor who have moved house and thank them for their loyal support and hard work on behalf of the Association since it started.

Special thanks also to our committee Julia Lane, Laurie Lane, Fiona Ballantyne, Neil Ballantyne and Peter McKenzie for their commitment and hard work during the year. Thanks to Julia for representing us on the Village Hall Committee and to Laurie for attending Loch Tay Association meetings on our behalf, and sincere thanks to all our members for their support.

Key points from the Treasurer’s Report: A table setting out Income and Expenditure for the last year was presented to the meeting.

• Funds carried forward at the end of the year amounted to £3693.60.
• Donations to good causes during the year amounted to £137.05, and the use of funds had included a Hot Plate Griddle and a Photo Mounting Board.

Key Points from the Blog Report: There has been a 25% increase over the year in people viewing the FVA Blog.  Apart from the UK, we have regular readers in the US, Iceland, Canada, Germany and Australia.  A Gallery Page has been added, using the photos from the Fearnan Archive, and this is now one of our most popular items. The blog articles about the project to identify the men commemorated on the Fearnan War Memorial has produced a number of new contacts and readers along with some interesting photographs for the Archive.

There were no further questions and the Chair declared the AGM closed and moved on to the Business Meeting.

FVA Business Meeting

Local Development Plan

 Our objections to the proposed developments in the village were successful and the final Plan has now been adopted by PKC for the next 5 years. A copy of the Plan is available in Aberfeldy Library. The only building permitted within the village boundary will be in-fill, that is to say utilising any existing but undeveloped sites between houses in the village.  Any development outside the boundary will be classed as ‘housing in the countryside’, that has a different set of planning policies and which should give us greater protection from development.

Broadband

 The latest information is that Perth and Kinross Council, Scottish Government, the UK Government, the EU and BT are to fund a project that will deliver 2MB broadband for rural areas by 2017. At the same time, Highland Perthshire Community Partnership has an initiative that is designed to ensure that peripheral areas that are not commercially attractive to the internet service providers are able to benefit from the government initiative.

A question was asked about the impact of a ‘Yes’ vote in September on the main project to deliver 2MB broadband. This is not clear at this stage but it could mean changes in the funding partners.

FVA Blog

We have now purchased the domain name fearnanvillageassociation.com, which gives the blog an easier name to remember– http://fearnanvillageassociation.com.  It can also be found by searching for http://fearnan.com.   Many visitors to the site find us through searching for Fearnan on the Internet, and we know that people who are considering moving to the village have accessed the site for information about Fearnan.

There are 2 new developments planned for the Blog.  The first is a Walking Map for the village (discussed below under Interpretation) and an Oral History project that will involve a series of interviews with people who have lived in the area for a long time and who have memories of the village in the past. These will be recorded, with the permission of the interviewees, and the recordings will be added to the Fearnan Archive.

Fearnan Brae Road Junction

This has been a bone of contention for many years, with local people arguing that visibility is very poor and the Roads Department maintaining that visibility is adequate. Following a meeting between the Community Council Chair and the Roads Department, the Council is proposing to mount a sensor on the Brae, which will transmit a warning to traffic on the main road about vehicles approaching the junction from the Brae.  Mirrors were discussed but, not only do they get frequently stolen, we understand there would also be an insurance liability if there was an accident and it could be proved that the mirror was e.g. slightly misaligned, dirty or in some way inadequate. The Council’s solution means that responsibility remains with them. The positive outcome is that the Council are now engaged with the problem and we need to work with them.

Members at the meeting asked if the Council would consider reversing the sensors, so that traffic on the Brae received the warning about approaching traffic on the main road. The Chair will raise it with Councillors at the Community Council meeting at the end of March. She will also ask them to provide information about the timescale for this work.

Action Chair

Pancakes

 As requested at the last meeting, a pancake griddle has been purchased and fresh pancakes are now available at the Coffee Mornings.

Fearnan History

 Ian McGregor has passed the Fearnan Archive to the FVA and we need to decide who is going to look after it.  There is now a cabinet in the village hall for Fearnan memorabilia. There is enough material for another photo board, and we need to check that this would be acceptable to the hall committee.  Julia Lane will check this.                 Action Julia Lane

 Having left the village, Ian McGregor has offered the FVA the rights to his book about Fearnan. We plan to accept this offer, but need to investigate how we go about doing this formally.

Social Events and Dates

 Our programme of events in 2014 will be as follows:

Coffee Mornings:        all at 10.30 am in the village hall

15th April, 13th May, 10th June, 16th September, 14th October.

Strawberry TeaZ:        Saturday 12th July, 3.00 pm.

Armistice Day, Centenary Event:       Sunday 9th November,

11.00 am at the War Memorial, followed by Soup and Rolls.

Mulled Wine and Mince Pies:   Saturday 6th December.

2015 Pudding Night:   Saturday 21st February.

The meeting agreed that this year the Mulled Wine and Mince Pies event should be a fund-raiser for the village hall but felt that we should specify how the funds should be used.

Interpretation Boards

The village has 4 registered monuments and in addition, there are other points of interest, such as the burial ground, the Gallery and the Pottery.  During the course of the last year, the committee had tried to attract funds to develop an interpretation board that could be set in a central place in the village, along with signs for the monuments and the walking routes that connect them.  So far we have not been successful in raising these funds but, in the meantime, we plan to put a walking map on the web site.  Paper copies of the map can be made available in local holiday homes and visitor information offices. We will report progress on this as the project develops.

A number of suggestions were made as to how maps might be distributed and how people might be encouraged to walk the routes, and we will incorporate these into our thinking.

Armistice 2014

 2014 marks 100 years since the start of the Great War and the FVA is proposing that, on Remembrance Day this year, we will serve Soup and Rolls in the hall after the service at the Memorial. It may also be the occasion to unveil the new photo board showing the material collected about the Great War and how it affected people in Fearnan.

PKC’s Green Space team have a budget to clean and repair local war memorials and the Fearnan Memorial is on their list.  The step is to be repaired and set back into the memorial, rather than protruding, and the lettering is to be cleaned.

Boreland Farm

 The farm is in the hands of the executors and we understand that it is to be put on the market.  There is no other information available on plans for the farm.

AOCB

 The dead poplar tree close to the children’s play park was raised.  The Chair has spoken to the owners who are aware of the concern.

The Chair thanked the members for attending and closed the meeting.

Diaries at the ready, folks.  Here are the dates for FVA social events in 2014:

Coffee Mornings: all at 10.30am in the village hall: 15th April, 13th May, 10th June, 16th September, 14th October.

Strawberry TeaZ: Saturday 12th July, 3.00 pm

Armistice Day, Centenary Event: Sunday 9th November, 11.00 am at the War Memorial, followed by Soup and Rolls.

Mulled Wine and Mince Pies: Saturday 6th December.

2015 Pudding Night: Saturday 21st February.

There were tarts and pies, dumplings and strudels, cakes and sponges, mousses and gateaux, hot puddings, cold puddings, ice cream and custard.

A very pleasing spread and, in all, a record-breaking 31 home-baked puddings were on offer in the village hall last Saturday night.

It was just as well we had so many desserts, as over 60 people arrived ready to tuck in! And tuck in they did! As you can see from this video

Live music was provided by Katy, Andrew, Doug, Hilary and Audrey. Click here to enjoy a little sample:

After a couple of hours, even the most stalwart of pudding eaters were beginning to flag – but not to worry, there was still enough left for some take-aways for anyone who hadn’t quite managed to sample all their favourites. And there’s always next year when we can do it all over again!

We love puddings!

Here are some diary dates for February and March.

We hope you’ve been in training for the FVA Pudding Night, which takes place on the 15th February at 6pm in the village hall.  Will we be able to beat last year’s offering of 26 home made puddings?  Come along and find out! Live music, lots of fun, and as much as you can eat for £7 – school age children are half price.

The FVA’s AGM will be held in the village hall at 4pm on Saturday 1st March.  Tea and biscuits will  be served.

The first Coffee Morning of the year will be on Tuesday 4th March, at 10.30 in the village hall.  The dates of Coffee Mornings for the rest of the year will be announced after the AGM.

A year ago, when we started the project to find out more about the men who are commemorated on Fearnan’s War Memorial, the only information that we had was their names and regiments.

Slowly, Ian McGregor has been able to uncover information about these men, and recently we were delighted to receive a letter from Marilyn Ward, the granddaughter of Duncan Matheson, pictured here in his HLI uniform.

Marilyn had read about our research on the FVA website.

We now know that Duncan, whose family home was Rock Cottage, was the son of William Matheson and his first wife Christina.  He was a tram driver and enlisted in the army, together with many of his fellow workers, in the 15th Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Tramways battalion). He is pictured here with colleagues at training camp in Ayrshire, still wearing their Glasgow Corporation Transport uniforms. Duncan is third from left in the back row:

Glasgow Tram Drivers Battalion

In November 1916, a letter from Duncan to his brother William was published in the local newspaper.  The letter is remarkably upbeat, given the circumstances and Duncan’s recent experiences – presumably to reassure the folks at home. It describes both the lead-up to a battle – waiting in the trenches “up to the arm pits in mud” – and then the attack, signalled by an exploding mine.

Duncan was wounded in the fierce battle that followed: “A piece of shell entered my left thigh, and passed clean through it without touching the bone. A regular beauty!”

Due to heavy shelling, it was several hours before he could crawl back to his own front line trench and from there make his way, along with other wounded men, back to the collecting station some two miles away, where his wounds were attended to and “the inner man fortified”.

As we now know, Corporal Duncan Matheson died the following year on the 14^th July 1917, of wounds received in further action.

Very sadly for the family, his brother Peter also died in the war in Mesopotamia (now Iraq).  In addition to being commemorated on the Fearnan War Memorial, Peter is remembered on the memorials in Basra and in Aberfeldy, where he lived with his wife and daughters.

Many thanks to Marilyn Ward for sharing her family photographs and memorabilia with us, copies of which will be put into the Fearnan Archive.

Here we are in 2014!  May it be a good year for you.

Looking back over last year, this little blog was viewed 6,000 times by people not just from Fearnan but also from all over the world.  About a third of our regular readers come from overseas, mainly Canada, the US, Europe and, interestingly, Iceland. The gallery of photographs of Fearnan proved particularly popular last year, and continues to be viewed on a regular basis.

In 2012, one of the most popular postings on the blog was the article on Fearnan the Eagle.  You may remember that we reported how Keith and Hazel Brockie helped to ring and satellite-tag a golden eagle chick, and they named him ‘Fearnan’.

We are sad to report that the golden eagle found dead in the hills above Glen Lethnot in Angus in December was, in fact, Fearnan. It was reported in the media at the time that RSPB Scotland was alerted to the eagle’s death when its satellite tracking signal remained static for several days, and tests on the bird revealed it had been poisoned.

The RSPB said that, in the past five-and-a-half years, another four eagles, a red kite and seven buzzards have been shot, poisoned or trapped on sporting estates in the Angus glens. However, as Keith has pointed out, it is only the birds that have been tagged that can be readily found and identified, so the numbers quoted could be just the tip of the iceberg.

There is a lot more information about Fearnan the eagle and his untimely death on Keith Brockie’s Facebook page, where he also reports that the Scottish Parliament is taking note of the killing, and the following parliamentary motion has been lodged by James Dornan MSP for Glasgow Cathcart:

“That the Parliament notes the poisoning of the golden eagle named Fearnan and believes that the killing of birds of prey has no place in modern Scotland; believes that the golden eagle population is of national interest, as demonstrated by a recent poll in which the species was voted the country’s favourite animal; supports efforts by Police Scotland to bring wildlife criminals to justice, and commends the Scottish Government’s commitment to end raptor persecution.”

Fearnan flying in Glen Lyon Dec 2011.

Keith had seen Fearnan as recently as June 2013, when he was on the Dunmaglass Estate near Inverness, and Fearnan flew past only 50 meters away.

There is a copy of an interview that Keith did with the Daily Record, “Perthshire artist hits out at eagle’s poisoning” here.

Male Siskin

Anyone who feeds birds in their garden will notice Siskins visiting their feeders, especially in the early spring.  You might be surprised to learn how far some of these little birds have travelled.

Bird movements are tracked by ringing – placing a lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a bird’s leg, which provides a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals.

Ringing aims to understand what is happening to birds in the places they live and how this affects population increases and decreases.  This knowledge is vital for conservation. It also gives information on the movements individual birds make and for how long many live.

Keith and Hazel Brockie are trained ringers, and have provided this interesting insight into some of the information that can be gleaned from their work.

“Hazel and I ringed many Siskins in our garden during April 2013, and eight of them were controls – that is to say, birds which had been ringed already, somewhere else in the UK.

 Two of these control birds had travelled over 400 miles in a relatively short space of time, with one having been ringed in Sway, New Forest, Hampshire, on the 9^th March 2013, and the other in the Honiton Station Area, Devon, on the 26^th January 2013.  A third Siskin had come almost as far – from Alderton, Suffolk where it was ringed on the 24^th February 2013.

Three others had travelled between 200 and 300 miles, previously being ringed in Clairegate, West Midlands (284 miles), Great Warford, Cheshire(236 miles) and Marple, Greater Manchester (233 miles) just a few weeks before. Two relative locals had come from Peebles and Gauldry in Fife – the latter having flown 65 miles in 3 days!

Male Redpoll

Also, on the 18^th April 2013, we caught a male Lesser Redpoll (pictured) that had been ringed in Brandon, Suffolk on the 9^th March 2013, some 342 miles away

Waxwing

The winter of 2012/13 saw an invasion of Waxwings from Scandinavia and Russia. 

I caught twelve that were feeding on rowan berries on the tree by the village hall entrance. Since ringing them, three have been caught again – curiously all three were not just from the same batch which we ringed on the 17^th November 2012, but were also on consecutive ring numbers from that batch.”  Keith Brockie

And finally, as the countdown to Christmas continues apace, the FVA Committee would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas, and good health and happiness in 2014.

Last Saturday afternoon’s Mulled Wine and Mince Pies was a very convivial event, with some 35 villagers gathering in the village hall for some pre-Christmas cheer and chat.

There was also an chance to meet some new Fearnan residents  – Linda and Alistair in Taronga, Lesley and John in Brambles (formerly Am Fasgadh) and Rosalind and Nick in Tigh Na Clachan.

Welcome to you all – we wish you every happiness living in Fearnan and hope to see you at future events.

Many thanks to all those who helped organise the afternoon. The event raised £137.05 for Aberfeldy Community Hospital. (For the record, the 5p was found on the floor and added to the takings!) This sum will be added to funds raised by the Hall Committee which means that a very useful sum will be presented to the hospital.

Remembrance Day

November saw the annual Remembrance Service at the Fearnan Memorial. There was a good turnout this year, and two wreaths were laid.

Our picture is of Frank Hughes laying a wreath on behalf of Councillor Mike Williamson, as Mike was unable to attend all of the services that take place on his patch.

Flying Boats

Last week’s storm was unusually severe, but fortunately Fearnan escaped relatively unscathed.  Whilst the Douthwaites lost a tree, they gained a boat – found wedged between the rhododendrons and the fence by the wind!

Pudding Night!

The next FVA event to put into your diary is the world-famous Fearnan Pudding Night on the 15th February. Don’t miss it! More puds in one place than you’ll ever see anywhere else, ever!

Just a little reminder that everyone is welcome to join us for Mulled Wine, Mince Pies and a lot of Christmas spirit in the Village Hall from 3pm this Saturday.

The cost is £4.00 and it’s a joint event run by Fearnan Village Association and the Village Hall Committee. Proceeds will be donated to Aberfeldy Community Hospital.

We hope to see you there!