Fearnan Village Association

The next Coffee Morning will be on Tuesday 8th October at 10.30 am in the Village Hall.  As ever, there’ll be delicious home baking on offer, fresh filter coffee, a choice of teas and a friendly buzz about the place.

There isn’t a Coffee Morning in November, but don’t forget that the Service of Remembrance takes place on Sunday 10th November at the War Memorial. The short service of prayer, the two minute silence, and laying of the wreath starts at 11.00. Everyone is welcome and please gather at about 10.50 am.

The final event of the year will be Mince Pies and Mulled Wine on Saturday 7th December at 3.30pm in the Village Hall. A good warm-up for Christmas!

It’s a sure sign that Autumn is with us when the FVA Coffee Mornings resume after the summer break.

And a busy and lively affair it was, too, with a number of new faces and lots of regulars – all keen to catch up with everyone’s news.

It was good to welcome our latest new member, Pippa MacLeod, who came with her mother to meet some of her neighbours in the village. 

Sheila, a regular at Pudding Nights and BBQ’s, made it to her first day-time event while an (anonymous) male visitor, attending his first ever coffee-morning in all his 46 years, confessed to finding it a convivial and enjoyable event!

Freshly made warm pancakes were on offer, carefully hand-crafted by Sue, and courtesy of the new pancake-maker we acquired over the summer. Even the Hall was getting in on the act and looking good with its newly sanded and polished floor.

The next coffee morning is on Tuesday 8th October – don’t miss it!

Earlier in the year, there was a discussion at the Fearnan Village Association AGM about the possibility of getting some signs for the important registered monuments in the village, along with a centrally-placed orientation board showing visitors where to find them.

The monuments are:

• the Baptismal Font from the Celtic Church built by Ciaran around 500AD;

• the Market Cross in Boreland Wood, which appears on a map produced as far back as 1769;

• the Measles Stone, an example of a Healing Stone which were common until around the 17th century;

• the Boar Stone which features in one of the Lady of Lawers prophesies, and may have been associated with the Ring Stone on Lawers as a signpost for journeys east and west.

At the moment, only the Baptismal Font has a sign explaining its significance.

Our plan for signs received a boost recently, when the Community Council were advised of the availability of grants for signs and pathways from the Countryside Trust.  There has since been a meeting between the Community Council, the FVA and the person responsible for preparing the requests for grants, and we have agreed to provide information to support an application for a grant towards the cost of signs for Fearnan’s monuments. Nothing is certain and it may take some time, but we have our fingers crossed!

Coffee Mornings resume after the summer on Tuesday 10th September, and the one after that is Tuesday 8th October.

And finally, we have been asked by the Community Council to pass on a reminder to be vigilant about security on any outhouses, sheds or garages. There have been a number of thefts of equipment in recent days.

There was great excitement in the McGregor household recently, when Ian’s grandsons unearthed the remains of a traditional cast iron cooking pot at the Tominlyvoir  (Tommanlymore) croft to the west of present-day Fearnan.

Early records show that the original Barony of Fearnan was made up of a number of similar croft units situated along the loch-side and a copy of an old map showing the location of these crofts is included in the permanent exhibition in the village hall.

Ruins of Tominlyvoir

The pot was found in the ruins of what would have been the last occupied house in Tominlyvoir.  In 1755, there were 47 people living in seven dwellings in the croft unit, but the population of the whole area was declining and, by the 1841 census, there were only 3 people left in Tominlyvoir – Archibald and Elizabeth McLaren and their daughter, Jane .  No doubt, the pot would have been in use at that time.

A picture of the pot in its present state is shown here, and Ian is hopeful that the missing parts will also be found so that it can be reconstructed and conserved.

The pot may have been used on a traditional “hingin’ lum” such as the one in Moirlanich Longhouse in Killin. If you click this link, you can see a picture showing a similar pot in use in a hinging lum –

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=247928.0;attach=125491;image

Ian McGregor commented that although this is not of great archeological significance, it is part of Fearnan’s past and it underlines the importance of finding a secure place to keep this and the rest of Fearnan’s archive.

When the decision was taken (in the dark winter months) to run a Strawberry TeaZ event this summer, we never imagined that it would take place in the middle of a heat wave. The perfect weather proved to be the icing on the cake – or perhaps the strawberry on the pavlova – for a great afternoon.

The promise of a summer feast drew a large number of local, and not-so-local, visitors who tucked into a superb range of strawberry treats, from the more unusual strawberry and cream cheese sandwiches, to the more familiar scones and jam or strawberry cheesecakes and pavlovas.

In the heat, the most popular drink amongst the adults was ice cold strawberry and elderflower crush, whilst Laurie’s milkshakes went down very well with the younger contingent (and a few adults).

Sue’s freshly baked pancakes, just off the griddle and served with strawberries and cream were much in demand. We’re pleased to say that the pancake griddle will put in an appearance at future coffee mornings.

As for the rest, the photos tell the story.

All good things ……..

…….. come to an end!

When it was all over, and everything had been cleared up, washed up and put away until next year, the bakers, helpers and organisers enjoyed a little libation in the last of the day’s sunshine.

(Please note: there is no Coffee Morning in August. The next one is on Tuesday 10th September.)

What could be more appropriate in this fantastic summer weather than a Strawberry Tea? Fearnan Village Association will be serving Strawberry TeaZ in the village hall on:

     Saturday 13th July, from 3 – 5pm.

This is Afternoon Tea with a difference!  Lots of treats and everything’s home-baked, from scones with strawberry jam, to delicious strawberry-themed cakes and desserts, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Freshly-brewed tea, strawberry fruit teas and coffee.

£4.50 pp for a strawberry feast. Pay at the door.

War Memorial before …….

You may have noticed that the yew trees at the War Memorial have been trimmed recently.

……and after.

The work was done by Perth and Kinross Council, and they have undertaken to clean the Memorial’s plaque inscribed with the names of those who fell in the Great War and to re-lead its lettering.

Subject to funding being available, the steps up to the Memorial will be improved and cut into the wall, rather than protrude. Many thanks to the Community Council who arranged for the work to be done.

It is hoped that all the refurbishments will have been completed in time for the 100th anniversary of World War I next year.

In this picture of the Memorial taken in the 1920’s, just after it was erected, you can just see the (much smaller!) yew trees on either side of the monument.

In September last year, we did an article on the War Memorial and mentioned that some research was being carried out to see if information about the Fearnan men who fell in the Great War could be found for next year’s anniversary. Ian McGregor now has photographs of 6 of the 8 men whose names are on the monument.  He is still trying to trace James Dewar of the Scots Greys and Duncan McPhail of the Scots Guards.  If you think you can help, or suggest possible family connections, Ian would be delighted to hear from you at ison06@btinternet.com

This FVA site now has a Gallery page which contains most of the photographs and images from the permanent exhibition in the village hall. To view the pictures, click on the link Gallery – Glimpses of Fearnan Past and Present at the top of this page.

We had a fine morning for the Coffee Morning last Tuesday and a lot of regular attenders came along to enjoy this  month’s fresh baking.

We also had 2 visitors this month, members of the Perth & Kinross Council’s Roads Department, who dropped in ahead of a meeting with members of the Local Community Council about the junction at the bottom of Fearnan Brae.

A number of FVA members have raised concerns about the sight-lines at the junction, and the difficulty of making a right-hand turn towards Killin. We understand that the meeting was very positive and a number of options were discussed with the Roads Department representatives.  They have undertaken to put some ideas together and to give these to the Community Council for further discussion.

We’d like say a big thank you to Elaine and Fran for their kind gift to the FVA of a heated trolley.  It will make a huge difference to our capacity for keeping food hot, particularly for our big events like the Pudding Night.

Don’t forget that our next date in the calendar is the Strawberry Teaz event on the 13th July at 3.30pm – it’s going to be Afternoon Tea with a difference!

The beautiful sunny Spring weather attracted a very sociable group, including some new and lots of familiar faces, to the Coffee Morning on Tuesday. There seemed to be smiles all round in the sunshine.

We enjoyed a delicious spread of goodies.  This time there were savouries, sausage rolls, scones, chocolate fudge cake, apple and almond cake and more, along with a selection of coffees and teas. There was not much left by the end!

There was also an opportunity to have a look at the Fearnan Archive that Ian McGregor has been assembling on behalf of the village residents.

Seen on the left, here, it contains a wealth of material and information about Fearnan from its earliest days, including maps from 1590 onwards, old photographs, the School Logbook, census records, documents and old records relating to people and buildings in Fearnan,  and much more.

The Archive will eventually reside in the village hall, so that it can be accessed and consulted by all.

Further along the loch, Spring can also be detected in the fact that here’s been an explosion of primroses on the hill in the  area of Boreland Wood that was felled recently.

You can see them from the track that runs through the area, but the best views on a recent visit in the evening were on the way back, walking up the track towards the road.

Although it was a smaller group than usual, the April Coffee Morning had a nice buzz to it and people stayed on longer than usual to chat and exchange information.

As ever, there was a lovely spread of cakes, biscuits and savouries.

Here is a list of future FVA events for your diary:

Dates for Coffee Mornings are 7^th May, 4^th June, 10^th September, and 8^th October, all at 10.30am in the Village Hall.

We will run a ‘Strawberry Teaz’ event on the 13^th July at 3.30pm in the Village Hall and which, as the name suggests, will involve strawberries in all sorts of delicious dishes, desserts, cakes and concoctions. There could be some cream involved as well!

Towards the end of November, we will repeat the Mince Pies and Mulled Wine event, date to be advised later.

We all look forward to seeing you at as many of these get-togethers as possible.