The next BHS Winter Talk takes place at 7.30pm in the Assembly Hall at the Breadalbane Community Campus on Friday 20th October, when Donald Riddell will be talking about “The Mysteries, Folklore and History of Glen Lyon”.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the meeting on Friday, 20th October, for what should be a very interesting talk.
The following talks from our 2022-23 winter season were recorded and can be viewed following the links below:
Friday, 16th September, 2022: ‘The Wolf of Badenoch’, presented by Professor Steve Boardman.
Click on this video link:
Professor Steve Boardman is the Professor of Medieval Scottish History at The University of Edinburgh with research interests in Late Medieval Scottish Kingship. His talk was based on his current research activities on the life and post-medieval mythologizing of the Wolf of Badenoch.
Friday, 21st October, 2022: ‘The Hillforts of the Tay’, presented by David Strachan
Click on this video link:
David Strachan is a Director of the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and his areas of interest include Iron Age forts and settlements c.700 BC to AD 700, and community archaeology. In this talk, he concentrated on the hill forts of Castle Law, Abernethy; Moncreiffe Hill, Bridge of Earn; and Kings Seat, Dunkeld.
Friday, 20th January, 2023: ‘Culloden’, Presented by Caitklin Greig
Click on this video link:
Caitlin is the Visitor Services Supervisor (Engagement) for the National Trust for Scotland at their Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre. Her talk covered how the battle came about with the Jacobite supporters seeking to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British thrones, and how the current survey work carried out by the National Trust for Scotland on the site of the battle is changing the understanding of how the battle progressed.
Friday, 17th February, 2023: ‘Mar Lodge Estate Regeneration’, presented by Andrew Painting
Click on this video link:
Andrew is the Conservation Officer for the National Trust for Scotland at their Mar Lodge Estate to the west of Braemar. He is an upland ecologist with specialisms in native woodland restoration, bird monitoring and botany. His talk covered the work of NTS during the last 25 years and, in particular, to the advances made in regeneration in the last 10.
Friday, 21st April, 2023: ‘Discovering Froglife’s Scottish Projects’ presented by James Stead
Click on this video link:
James Stead is Froglife’s ‘Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager’ and, in this talk, James aims to raise awareness of native reptiles and amphibians and will guide you to learn more about amphibians and reptiles in the area as well as the exciting work underway on the ‘Come Forth for Wildlife’ and ‘Fife Living Water’ projects.
As an addition to our normal series of six winter talks, on the 21st April James Stead, Froglife’s ‘Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager’, presented on Zoom a very interesting talk on the reptiles and amphibians that can be found in Scotland as well as two recent conservation projects (‘Come Forth for Wildlife’ and the ‘Fife Living Water’ projects) which Froglife have undertaken in Scotland.
You can view the recording of his talk here: https://vimeo.com/823712945?share=copy or by playing the video below.
Subsequent to the talk, James, in a response to some of the questions in the Q&A session, sent the following links which provide further information and fact sheets on different native and non-native amphibians and reptiles:
In addition, Froglife has produced a number of worksheets which illustrate conservation projects which people can undertake in and around their gardens to provide wildlife friendly features: the Bog Garden, Toad Abode, Hibernacula, Pond Creation and Mini-ponds. The links to these can be found below:
Much more about the work and activities of Froglife, along with more information and details of projects and their educational material can be found on their website: https://www.froglife.org/
The past, present and future of the Caledonian pinewoods of Mar Lodge Estate NNR
Few landscapes in Scotland are as evocative or as celebrated as the Caledonian pinewoods. In these places, pines have survived uninterrupted since the ice retreated just over 10,000 years ago. These are landscapes of great ecological value, but they are also storied, mythologised, and even misunderstood. They have also suffered at human hands with just a few precious fragments remaining across the Highlands.
The pinewoods of Mar Lodge Estate NNR are no exception. These woods have risen and fallen over the centuries, and now are rising again, thanks to decades of work from dedicated people from all walks of life. In this talk, Andrew Painting, Conservation Officer with National Trust for Scotland and author of ‘Regeneration: the Rescue of a Wild Land’, will delve into the past, present and future of Mar Lodge Estate’s pinewoods, and discuss what place they might have in a warming world.
On Friday, 18th March 2022, Annette Carruthers, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Art History at the University of St. Andrews, presented her talk to the Breadalbane Heritage Society and described how, despite the tragic shortness of his life, James Marjoribanks MacLaren (1853-1890) achieved much in his architectural career and is recognised as a pioneer of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Annette discussed how his work as an architect and designer impacted on his contemporaries in the context of this movement in Scotland and in Britain more widely.
On Friday, 18th February 2022, Dr. Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Resources Advisor with Historic Environment Scotland, presented her talk and described how although the survival of so many Pictish carvings highlights the long tradition of Christian worship across Angus, the tradition of monumental display continued in the medieval period, most famously at Arbroath Abbey. But while this royal foundation rightly draws much attention, sites such as Restenneth Priory and Maison Dieu show that it wasn’t just the elites whose lives were connected to the Church. Nicki provided some insight into the lives of these foundations and the people associated with them.
On Friday, 21st January 2022, John Borland presented his talk which provided an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, following its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual. He examined the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.
John worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, latterly recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.
On Friday, 19th November 2021, Dr. Liz Auty, John Muir Trust’s East Schiehallion Property Manager, discussed the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne’s 1774 expedition to Schiehallion, the people, the experiment to ‘weigh’ the world and the mountain, along with her work for the John Muir Trust.
On Friday, 17th September 2021, Dr. David Summers, the Fisheries Director of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board presented his talk which encompassed the life cycle of the salmon, the drastic reduction in salmon numbers and current scientific research studies. He provided an overview of the status of the River Tay’s salmon population and fisheries, with an emphasis on how things compare with the past and what the future might hold.
A talk presented on Zoom by John Borland to the Breadalbane Heritage Society on Friday, 21st January, 2022.
In this talk, John gave an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, following its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual. He examined the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.
John Borland worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, retiring as Measured Survey Manager in May 2020. In that time, John had the opportunity to survey almost every type of archaeological and architectural monument, from Neolithic chambered cairns to WWII coastal batteries and everything in between, including castles, churches, croft houses and country houses. However, the main focus of his work latterly was recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.
John has been a member of the Pictish Arts Society for more than 20 years and is the current PAS President.
You can view John’s talk here:
If you wish to view this video at a larger size, click on the ‘full screen’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the image above:
This talk was presented on Zoom, but unfortunately due to the vagaries of local internet connections, John’s speech was disrupted in a number of occasions. However, the general content of his talk is still discernible during these instances.
Breadalbane Heritage Society 
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