Club News
Blairgowrie Bowling Club
Whist Drives will be starting on Tuesday, October 10 at 2pm and will continue on the second Tuesday of each month until April 2018. The whist drives take place in the clubhouse on Lochy Terrace. Everyone welcome, no experience necessary as there is always help at hand. Cost is £2 which includes tea and coffee and tasty bites. Anyone wishing to be picked up should contact Elspeth Campbell on 01250 876543.
Blairgowrie and District Hillwalking Club
Nineteen members of the club met in Skye at the weekend. Activities were based around Broadford with several groups tackling different walks on Saturday. One party completed a circuit of Belig and the Corbett Garbh Bheinn although misty, wet and windy weather on narrow and exposed ridges and greasy slabs or scree underfoot made it hard going. Another group decided to explore the Quiraing and the old man of Storr, a small team had an intricate walk discovering hidden gems on a peninsular walk and a further group decided to climb the Grahams near Kylerhea. On Saturday, they captured Sgurr na Coinich and Beinn na Caillich, completing the suite of these hills on Sunday in beautiful clear weather as they climbed Ben Aslak. Taking advantage of better weather on Sunday, more club members walked on ridges above Broadford. All groups enjoyed beautiful views and although there were limited conditions to spot wildlife a golden eagle soared above, a ring ouzel made an appearance and some wild plants were still in flower with glorious swathes of devil’s bit scabious and some juicy blaeberries and brambles. On Saturday evening, members met in the Broadford Hotel for a welcome meal and socialising after their walks and several folk extended their stay on Skye for more walking and outdoor activities. The next walk is on October 8 to Glen Lyon. Details are on the club’s website at www.bdhc. org.uk. The club is holding a slide night in Blairgowrie Golf Club on October 6 at 7.30pm. Visitors are very welcome to hear about members’ trips both in Scotland and further afield.
Blairgowrie Probus Club
President, Ian Conroy, welcomed 47 members to the first meeting of the current Probus session held in the Angus Hotel on Wednesday, September 13. The membership stood for a minute’s silence in respect of the deaths of members Walter Morgan and David Rhodes, and also for past member Ian Scott all of whom died recently. Following the usual club reports the president introduced the speaker, one of the club’s own members, Jim Gibb to give his presentation on ‘White Man’. There was some speculation among the members as to the content of the talk but the speaker soon clarified the position when he let the meeting know he would be speaking about Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator and author of the jungle hero Tarzan and also the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter. The author lived from 1875 and died in 1950, and during this time he wrote around 100 books, 27 of which related to the Tarzan series. His most well-known novel was ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ which has sold some 25 million copies worldwide, and has been produced in 56 languages. Despite the appeal of the Tarzan books the author never actually set foot in Africa. He was meticulous in his preparations and at the time of his earlier novels publishers paid a fee depending on the number of words contained in the text. Burroughs knew this information exactly! He first started driving in 1893, and was also an accomplished horse rider, as well as providing sketches for the books. He was in Honolulu when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour and in some ways this led him to become a war correspondent. His science fiction books led to other authors taking an interest in this subject. Apart from his novels and books he was a regular contributor of articles to newspapers and magazines. Bill Walker proposed the vote of thanks to the speaker following questions from members. The president closed the meeting by reminding members that the next meeting will be on September 27 when the speaker will be Dr Martin Hepworth who will give a presentation on ‘Preston Bank Fraud’ and ‘City of Glasgow Bank collapse 1879’.
Blairgowrie and Rattray Access Network (BRAN)
This week the weather has not been great again, but volunteers from BRAN did manage to complete some work on the local path network, including the Rosemount path from Welton Road to Parkhead bridge. On Saturday a small group of five volunteers tackled some work on the Loon Braes paths, armed with one mower, two strimmers, loppers, Shears and litter pickers. The group worked on the top and middle paths giving them a general tidy up, two of the group took loppers and cut back overgrowth from branches and side growth, and a large amount of litter was lifted. Sunday saw various paths in the area get what should be a last cut for the season, including West Grange to the field gate, Mill Horn to Kitty Swanson’s steps, the Stormont loch paths and and West Gormack path.