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ARTS SOCIETY STIRLING AND FORTH VALLEY
Next lecture is on Thursday, March 18 pnline via Zoom and YouTube at 10.50am for 11am All members will be sent a link prior to the lecture. The lecture “The Punch and Judy Show” is a welcome return of popular speaker Bertie Pearce with an examination of the subversive Mr Punch, the most famous puppet character of all time. His anarchic vitality has inspired opera, ballet and punk rock. Appearing in the UK in 1662, Punch is descended from the Italian clown Pulcinella of the Commedia Del’Arte tradition. To this day his slapstick is used to dispense with oppressive authority with his refrain “That’s the way to do it”. Anyone is welcome to join the society contact membership secretary by e-mail : artssocsfvmembership@gmail.com or visit www.theartssocietystirling.org.uk.
HANDYPERSON SERVICE
Handyperson volunteers carry out small/minor maintenance jobs in older people’s homes in the Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Dunblane, Callander and Clackmannanshire areas. The service is co-ordinated by registered charity Volunteering Matters. There is no charge and donations are gratefully accepted. Volunteers welcome. For details during the current climate call 01259 928088.
COUNCIL ON DISABILITY STIRLING
The office in Cameronian Street regrets having to close its doors for an indeterminate period due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Staff do not know how long they will be unable to see clients on a face-to-face basis. However, there will be someone in regularly to check the phones, mail and emails. Please get in contact should you need assistance and CoD will do its best to help you.
ROCKTALK
Stirling’s talking newspaper for the blind is free to visually impaired members of the community. Contact Mike Milne at enquiries@rocktalk.org.uk or 01786 816673.
NEURO CENTRAL
Meetings on first Monday of the month at Stirling County Cricket Club have been cancelled until further notice. See www. neurocentral.co.uk for more details.
ALZHEIMER SCOTLAND
Contact dementia advisor Donna Paterson at dpaterson@alzscot.org, 01786 8311 or 07733 302772.
GOING FORWARD STROKE GROUP
Meetings of the group currently suspended.
TOWN BREAK
The charity group supports people with early to moderate stage dementia to live well. For more information in the current climate, contact 01786 641841 or email admin@townbreakstirling.org.
FRIENDS OF THE SMITH
Talks and events planned cancelled until further notice.
PARKINSON’S
All Stirling and Clackmannanshire branch meetings have been cancelled until further notice. More details from Jim 01259 762734, Muriel 01360 850357 or national helpline 0808 800 0303.
STIRLING CITY CHOIR
The choir has resumed rehearsals using Zoom on Tuesdays at 7.30pm. Current choir members who wish to participate should check their email for details. Any potential new members should contact the choir through the website www. stirlingcitychoir.org.uk. It is hoped that physical rehearsals will resume in St Columba’s Church Hall when guidelines permit.
FORTH VALLEY FRIENDS OF SCOTTISH OPERA
For the first time in a year a branch event will be held - but on Zoom! Stuart Stratford, Scottish Opera’s Music Director, will be in conversation on Zoom with Kirsten Howie, talking about his background and career and answering members’ questions on Friday, March 12 at 5pm. Members on the branch email list should know about this already but if you have not heard or are not on the list and would like to participate, please contact Elise Macrae at macraefernbank@ btinternet.com. This event is for members only. If you’d like to get updates by email from the Friends, whether you’re a member or not, please contact Elise.
ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION (STIRLING BRANCH)
Due to the current and continuing Covid restrictions, the branch will not be holding any monthly meetings but will let everyone know when these will resume. If you would like any further information about the branch please contact us by emailing the secretary on secretary. aashstirlingbranch@btinternet.com or by contacting the chairman by phone 07940 828434 or email: james21healy@ outlook.com.
DUNBLANE VERSUS ARTHRITIS
Monthly meetings cancelled due to the coronavirus. The website with helpline and forums are available to any person requiring information relating to their arthritis. They can be found at www. versusarthritis.org; helpine 0800 5200 520 and email helpline@versusarthritis.org. The local contact is dolly.g@talktalk.net.
BRIDGE OF ALLAN AND DUNBLANE ROTARY CLUB
The club’s talk last week was given by Tony Bell, previously a President of Glossop Rotary Club, who spoke enthusiastically about the success of the Hubble space telescope, now in its 31st year in space. It has, he said, ‘given us our window on the universe’.
Turning back the clock, Tony spoke of the extraordinary advances achieved by Galileo in the early 17th century, mainly by his development of the telescope. His
tracking of the movements of the planets had altered the concept of the relative relationship of Earth with the sun and other planets.
In the early 20th century, astronomer Edwin Hubble - after whom the Hubble telescope is named - used the largest telescope of the day at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California to expand Galileo’s theories. He discovered the presence of galaxies beyond the Milky Way, massively extending our concept of the universe.
Unfortunately, as Tony explained, the Earth’s atmosphere is contaminated by dust and light pollution so that there is a limit of what can be achieved by terrestrial observation. The next enormous step was, therefore, to place a telescope in space.
The North American Space Agency (NASA) initiated the process of developing just such a telescope in 1969, subsequently being joined by the European Space Agency (ESA). The extraordinarily complex design process was slow and painstaking. In the final stages of development, the launch was delayed for four years as a result of the tragic failure of the Challenger space shuttle.
However, finally, on April 24, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery was launched with the Hubble space telescope in its bay. The following day, Hubble, released into orbit, was expected to give an unobstructed view of the universe. However, unfortunately, the first photographs from the telescope showed that all was not well: the images were blurred.
Tony explained that a minute error in the grinding of the edge of the main mirror was causing the problem. For the next three years, scientists worked to resolve this. Ultimately, they succeeded by applying a correcting factor to the imaging software of new cameras. Astronauts then undertook hazardous space walks to install these cameras in Hubble.
It is, Tony said, nearly impossible to provide a comprehensive list of all the scientific contributions Hubble has made. The telescope’s observations have contributed to the understanding of the development and growth of galaxies, the presence of black holes in many galaxies, and the birth of stars. Hubble’s explorations have fundamentally changed our perception of the universe.
Tony illustrated this by reference to an extraordinary series of photographs from the Hubble telescope showing galaxies and nebulae at light year distances from Earth that are virtually impossible to comprehend.
President David Chisholm expressed the club’s thanks to Tony for a talk that was, he said, ‘out of this world.’ Members had obviously welcomed his description of the telescope and the remarkable images it has produced.
Information on the club’s programme and activities can be found on the club website: www.dunblanerotary.org.uk or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ dunblanerotary.
INNER WHEEL OF STIRLING
President Judy welcomed members to the meeting on March 5. Speaker Susan Trzebiatowski, Inner Wheel member and secretary of the Stirling club, introduced members to a little piece of local history. In recent years Susan lived in Brig o’Turk where she first became interested in a sketchbook entitled “Rainy Days at Brig ‘Turk”, the Highland Sketchbooks of John Everett Millais 1829-1896.
In 1840, Millais, aged only 11, became the youngest artist ever admitted to the Royal Academy Schools and won is first RA silver medal in 1843. He and a group of like-minded colleagues established the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Millais went on to be elected as an associate of The Royal Academy in 1853. By this time the great writer and art critic John Ruskin had begun championing Millais’ work and it was while staying with Ruskin at Brig o’Turk, sketching and painting the art critic in 1853 that Millais and Ruskin’s wife Effie Gray fell in love. Ruskin and Gray’s marriage was then annulled leaving her to marry Millais in 1855. Millais and Effie lived in Perth for six years, having eight children. They were married for 41 years. They returned to London in 1863. Millais succeeded Frederik Leighton as President of the Royal Academy, but seriously ill with cancer of the larynx, he died only six months after his election. Queen Victoria refused to allow Effie to be presented at court although she did grant here a private audience as Millais lay dying. Effie died the following year. The story has been told on screen both by Emma Thomson’s film Effie Gray (2014) and the BBC programme Desperate Romantics (2009), showing that even in the modern era where scandals usually contain more scurrilous aspects, Effie’s marriage is still able to captivate as much as it did her contemporary Victorians. Monthly Zoom meetings continue for the present. More details on www.innerwheel.co.uk or on Facebook.