This season, due to the government imposed Covid-19 lock-down and social distancing restrictions, our usual planned programme of six indoor meetings held in the Breadalbane Campus in Aberfeldy on the third Friday of the months from September to March, excluding December, were cancelled.
In their place, and in order to keep in contact with our membership during these difficult times, we provided a replacement programme of online Zoom talks; a venture into the unknown for us, but which proved to be very successful with ‘audience’ numbers similar, if not better in some cases, to those at our indoor meetings, peaking with over 130 people viewing Jim Walker’s talk on ‘The Roman Army in Perthshire’ in February.
Winter Season of Indoor Meetings
Friday 18th September 2020: ‘Pitlochry in Threes’ by Colin Liddell
Colin is a local solicitor and historian who in recent years has presented four talks to the Society on Pitlochry and General Wade’s roads. This current talk is an eclectic dip into the assortment box of Pitlochry’s local history, by looking at lots of groupings of three things to show how Pitlochry has been shaped over the years. Topics and artefacts included the Lude Harp (shown here), Black Spout toggle and the Clach na Brataich. As this was our first Zoom presentation, we were not ready to record this talk that evening. However, Colin subsequently kindly agreed to record his talk and you can watch it here.
Friday 16th October 2020: ‘Where have all the Churches gone?’ by Lesley Whitwood
Lesley looked at the history of many of the churches in the local area of Dull to Strathtay which have been ‘lost’ and those which have survived to discover what has happened to them and why.
You can watch the recording of Lesley’s talk here: Where have all the Churches gone? This will take you to the post which includes the video.
Friday, 20th November 2020: “Researching your Family History in Scotland“ presented by Helen Stewart
Helen showed you how to use ‘Ancestry’ and ‘ScotlandsPeople’ to search births, marriages, deaths, censuses and other records, indicating the range of information that is available and what to expect when you start to search. Her talk included some tips and advice, and suggestions for searching newspapers, gravestones and other useful websites.
You can watch the recording of Helen’s talk here: Researching your Family History in Scotland. This will take you to the post which includes the video.
Friday, 15th January 2021: Quiz Night presented by Lesley Whitwood
A fun and informative quiz evening to brighten up January blues, including questions on the natural history, folklore, archaeology, history, and songs relating to the Breadalbane area and beyond, providing opportunities to gain more knowledge of these topics.
You can watch the recording of the quiz here: Breadalbane Quiz. This will take you to the post which includes the video.
Friday, 19th February 2021: ‘The Roman Army in Perthshire’ presented by Jim Walker
Jim presented an excellent talk on the Antonine Wall to the Society last year and is now returning to tell us about camps, forts, fortlets and signal stations established and used by the Roman army in Perthshire during the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D.
You can watch the recording of Jim’s talk here: The Roman Army in Perthshire. This will take you to the post which includes the video.
Friday, 19th March 2021: ‘Aberfeldy Past and Present’, a talk by Tommy Pringle
Tommy Pringle, a life-long resident of Aberfeldy, gave an entertaining and informative talk on ‘Aberfeldy Past and Present’, presenting a series of photographs and postcards taken over the last 150 years showing changes to buildings in Aberfeldy starting in Kenmore Street and working eastwards along to the Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery.
By coupling archive images with current photographs, Tommy illustrated the range of shops and garages and other buildings that once graced the streets of Aberfeldy and have now been replaced or had a change of use.
You can watch the recording of Tommy’s talk here: Aberfeldy Past and Present. This will take you to the post which includes the video.
Summer 2021 Season of Excursions
It had been the hope and intention of the Society to run a programme of summer excursions but, due to the continued uncertainty regarding the timing of eventual relaxations of Covid-19 social restrictions, we were only able to hold two visits in June and July to the Menzies Mausoleum in the Old Kirk of Weem and to the Walled Gardens at Castle Menzies which includes the upper Archibald Menzies Garden.
Clare Thomas gave a splendid introduction to the Mausoleum which we then explored.
The party then went up to Walled Garden at Castle Menzies to learn from Fran Gillespie about its establishment and the way in which it has changed over the years.
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