Full information about how to apply for or renew your Membership is included on the form which you can view and use by clicking this link and downloading and saving the form:

2026-2027 Membership Form

Although the Society has been well supported since it was founded in 1962, in the years preceding 2016 we saw declining membership, participation and involvement. It became clear that a new approach was required to reverse this trend. We needed to reach new and different audiences, to broaden our appeal and to innovate.

We introduced a programme of summer activities with short ‘explainer’ visits to local places and further afield full-day locations of interest, often related to topics presented in our winter talks. These visits are normally attended by between 12 and 20 individuals, with a 2026 guided walk in Fortingall village attracting 33 people!

In addition, we embarked on a plan for longer historical visits away from the locality and have subsequently organised very successful multi-day visits to Iona, Angus, Culloden to Elgin, Kilmartin, and Dumfries & Galloway.

In recent years BHS has been involved in the following projects:

• Support for the Loch Tay Young Archaeologists in their activities;
• Development of a close relationship with The Scottish Crannog Centre;
• Provision of prizes for Breadalbane Academy S2 local history project organised by Taymouth Castle (Discovery Land Co.);
• Successful campaign to protect a scheduled ancient monument (Old Lawers Village);
• Substantial donation to the Castle Menzies restoration fund;
• Installation of interpretation boards at Killiechassie Burial Ground, and related annual maintenance;
• Establishment of a Family History Research Group, offering expert guidance to locals and individuals from further afield who are interested in researching their family history.

Winter Lecture Programme

In 2017 we took a new approach to planning our speakers’ programme so that we could look further ahead and create more options. Our marketing developed significantly, and we introduced an electronic mailing list and moved our meeting venue into the Breadalbane Community Campus in Aberfeldy, investing in new PC equipment to improve AV presentation quality.   In 2026 we have invested in recording equipment so that we can more easily provide online recordings of our talks.

Pre-Covid, our average attendance at each indoor talk was around 55 people; post-Covid, our average dropped a little to the mid- to high-40s, probably because people were still reluctant to mix in larger groups.  Over the last couple of years attendance has fluctuated with between 45 and 60 people attending. Our meetings are held in the large assembly hall of the Community Campus building which has a seated capacity for around 200 people with plenty of space to separate from others if required.

During Covid we presented our lectures online and were delighted with the participation, peaking with the attendance at the February talk on “The Roman Army in Perthshire” reached over 110 individuals including some from the United States and Australia! Since Covid we have presented our January and February talks by Zoom, predominantly to overcome difficulties with winter weather affecting attendance and travel problems for speakers, but also to keep in contact with our wider Zoom audience.

Membership 2026 – 27

Membership fees provide the Society with valuable income and members are entitled to attend meetings, whether ‘live’ or ‘virtual’, and most local events, free of charge.

Membership has increased from 63 individuals in 2016/17 to a very healthy total of 125 individuals in May 2021, with a slight drop to 108 over the past two seasons.

Full information about how to apply for or renew your Membership is included on the form which you can view and use by clicking this link and downloading and saving the form:

 2026-2027 Membership Form

Membership rates remained unchanged at £12 for Individual and £20 for Joint Membership (two adults living at the same address).