Ballater & crathie Community magazine - Ballater Community

Ballater & crathieCommunitymagazineno. 69 Spring 2013£1 DonationA view of Spring just around the corner - photo by Cat Houston

BalmoralSCOTTISH HOME TO THE ROYAL FAMILYOpen 29th March until 31st July 2013Castle Ballroom and NEW Exhibitions for 2013,Gardens, Audio Tour, Coffee Shop,Balmoral Collection and Gift Shop.for further informationTel: 01339 742 534www.balmoralcastle.com

Are Your Dates Here?For inclusion in this FREE section of the Eagle, please contact Cat Houstonon 55243, 07968 941359 (texts welcome) or catrionahouston@yahoo.co.uk5MayWed 1 Ballater Business Assoc meeting, Glen Lui Hotel, 7.30pmSat 4 Halls Committee Silent Auction, Victoria Hall, 7.30-9pmMon 6 May Day holiday – Ballater School closedSat 11 Ballater Floral Art Group, Aberdeen County Floral Group Emerald AnniversaryAfternoon Tea, Aberdeen Beach BallroomMon 13 BRHS Open Night, Mike Sheridan Room, 7.30pmBallater and Crathie Community Council meeting, Crathie Hall, 7pmThu 16 Victoria Week meeting, Beaton Craigie Room, 7.30pmSat 18-Fri 24 Ballater Walking WeekSat 25 Table Sale for the Halls, Victoria Hall, 10.30am to 4pmJuneWed 5 Ballater Business Assoc meeting, Glen Lui Hotel, 7.30pmSat 8 BRHS Plant Sale on the GreenMon 10 Ballater School Parent Council meeting, 7pmBallater and Crathie Community Council meeting, Mike Sheridan Room, 7pmSun 16 Bike BalmoralThu 20 Ballater Floral Art Group meeting, demonstration by Maureen Manning:Following Mother’s Steps, Mike Sheridan Room, 7.30pmVictoria Week meeting, Beaton Craigie Room, 7.30pmNotes!Ballater LibraryOpening HoursSun, Mon & Wed: ClosedTuesday: 10am-1pm, 6.30-8pmThursday: 2-4pm, 6.30-8pmFriday: 2-5pmSaturday: 10am-12noon

6Contact the EagleHand in to the Library Post to Ballater Eagle, c/o BallaterLibrary, Ballater, AB35 5QB E-mail to:ballater.eagle@btopenworld.comContributions of any kind (ideally in Wordformat) always welcome.Keep in Touchwith an EagleSubscriptionA subscription can be a very welcome gift tofarflung friends and relatives. Simply provide thename and address to whom the issues should besent, with a cheque or postal order for ‘BallaterEagle’ for the relevant amount and drop off yourrequest to Ballater Library. Betty, our Subscriptionsperson, will do the rest. Easy!For the rates below, four issues will be posted.UK: £10.00EU: £12.00Overseas: £16.00Contact YourRepresentativesScottish ParliamentDennis Robertson MSPe-mail:dennis.robertson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk 0791 955 7152 (mobile)WestminsterSir Robert Smith MP 01330 820330, Fax: 01330 820338,e-mail: robert.smith.mp@parliament.ukAberdeenshire CouncilPeter Argyle: 013398 82973e-mail: cllr.p.argyle@aberdeenshire.gov.ukGeva Blackett: 013397 41541e-mail: cllr.g.blackett@aberdeenshire.gov.ukKatrina Farquhar: 07876 475403email: cllr.k.farquhar@aberdeenshire.gov.ukCairngorms National ParkKatrina Farquharemail: cllr.k.farquhar@aberdeenshire.gov.uk 07876 475403Eagle Who’s Who & WhereEditor: Ian Hay 55941Treasurer: Dr. Sheila Sedgwick 55292Secretary: Betty Wilson 55791Advertising Manager: Faye Swan 55345Distribution: Andy and Julie BloorDiary Secretary: Cat Houston 55243Design: Ollie Ross, Stella Potter, Cat Houston, Karen MajorEmail us at: ballater.eagle@btopenworld.comEagle Online: http://www.ballatercommunity.comIf you would like a large print version of the Eagle,please contact Ballater Library on 55628.

8Local Group NewsA round-up of news from our local groupsGot something to say about your group - Get in touchballater.eagle@btopenworld.comBallater Bowling Clubby Ernie MacIntoshBallater Bowling Club was founded in 1908and has long been a stalwart club in the Dee/DonBowling League. However, like other Deesideclubs, Ballater is critically short of members.Sadly if membership continues to fall as they havein recent years, then B.B.C. will probably passinto history. Last season we had to rely on thesame four Ladies to cover all League matches,and the Gents were also struggling for players.Hat Night (Club Night) attendances areat a critical low, with as few as six turning up.B.B.C. is fortunate to have support from somecaravan residents. Although they take no part inClub competitions or Hat Nights, their financialsupport is greatly appreciated, otherwise therewould be financial difficulties for the Club.Ballater Bowling Club sorely needs newmembers of all ages, - no experience is needed astuition will be given. Hat Nights are on Tuesdayand Saturday evenings. The season starts in midto late April and ends in late September, with aprize-giving function in early October.If Ballater Bowling Club is to survive the nexttwo or three years then please come and join us.Chiels Finish 2012with a Flourishby Andrew ThainThe Chiels had a very active spell during thelast quarter of 2012. It all started on Saturday15 th September when 5 members of the BallaterCharitable Chiels and an invited guest, JohnJolly, completed the Deeside Way Walk (Ballater- Aberdeen 39 miles) raising money for the RoyalAberdeen Children’s Hospital charity, TheARCHIE Foundation. The funds raised wereused by the charity to further enhance its specialistpain management service, with the purchase ofadditional equipment that can be used by localchildren suffering from chronic or long-term pain.The Chiels were approached by ARCHIEearlier in the year with a request to see if theywould consider purchasing equipment or makinga donation towards supporting the specialist painmanagement service. Children often have to travelto Glasgow to receive specialist pain managementcare and this purchase of additional equipment tobe used in Aberdeen will help many families byallowing the children to receive treatment locally.Founded in 2000 and currently having raisedwell over £300,000 for charities in the Northeast,the Chiels started out as a walking group with anaim to raise money for causes with children at thefore. So the above request from the ARCHIEFoundation allowed the Chiels to encapsulate thePhysiotherapyOsteopathySports & Remedial MassageAboyne Physiotherapy offers a widerange of treatments to help withback and neck pain, sports injuries,muscular and joint pain, strokerehabilitation.A GP referral is not a requirement forprivate physiotherapy. Patients arevery welcome to self refer.Charleston Buildings, Ballater RoadAboyne, AB34 5HN(013398) 86874www.aboynephysiotherapy.co.uk

two and return to their original roots – walkingand fundraising. They have undertaken mostof the major walking challenges in the UK andIreland and so decided to stay local and completethe Deeside Way.The walk was quite an enduring route andone of the most pleasing sights was arriving at ourfinal designation of Duthie Park where we weregreeted by our invited guest’s daughter. This wasrather poignant because Fern has spent a lot ofher younger life attending the Royal AberdeenChildren’s Hospital and it made the stiff legsand sore feet all worthwhile as she clapped andcheered us home!The Ballater Charitable Chiels also made£10,000 in donations towards local causes inDeeside and the Northeast in December. Ourlargest donation of £6000 went to “Jo’s Trust”which is the only UK based charity dedicatedto women and their families affected by cervicalcancer and cervical abnormalities. Their aim isto offer information, support and friendship toAboyneVan HireMobile07808 5684349women of all ages, to help themto understand the importance ofcervical screening, and to providetheir own personal brand of supportif their screening shows up abnormalities or if theyare diagnosed with cancer.We also donated £500 towards the BallaterWinter Festival which was held on 26 th and 27 thNovember. The Festival incorporated a large outdoorskating rink, Christmas themed stalls and ofcourse the annual Christmas light switch on. Aswell as a cash donation, the Chiels also donatednearly 100 man hours in the week prior to theFestival refurbishing the Christmas lights, whichare now a tremendous focal point of the village.On the back of the light switch on, we also agreedto give the Glenmiuck Parish Church a donation of£1000 to help cover the running costs of the festivelights which adorn the church spire.Lastly we handed over £500 to each ofthe following groups, Deeside Youth MusicalTheatre, The Braemar Chanter group, BallaterPrimary School to cover the cost of First Aidtraining for the pupils, Ballater Bowling Club forrepairs to their clubhouse floor, and to MichaelHolley who is undertaking a major sponsoredcycle in aid of the British Lung Foundation.Our next planned event will be our charity golfday at Ballater Golf Club on Friday 14 th June.Aboyne and UpperDeeside Rotaryby Mike PowellThe members of The Rotary Club of Aboyneand Upper Deeside look forward to working withthe communities in Upper Deeside in 2013.It’s difficult to think of this as the SpringEdition of the Eagle when, at the time of writing,many of us are struggling with the winter weather.This article is an update to let you know what’sbeen happening with your local Rotary Club sincethe last edition of the Eagle.Christmas Eve saw several club membersgathered on the pavement outside GlenmuickChurch “socialising” with passers-by and accepting

donations for the traditional “line of silver”. Peoplewere generous, as always, and a record £320 wasdonated to support local causes and other Rotarycharities. Thanks to everyone involved. Visitors tothe village who contributed included membersfrom the aptly named Rotary Club of HaveringWest in Essex.The other opportunity for members to meetpeople, and help out, was the bag packing in theCo-op in Aboyne, pre-Christmas and Hogmanay,when generous customers donated an amazing totalof £1,636. Our thanks to them and the staff of theCo-op for making us welcome.In keeping with the Club’s theme for this year ofemphasising support for young people, the followingare being organised during the early part of this year;The second annual photography competitionfor students of Aboyne Academy – to encouragecreativity and development of skills.A musical evening, organised in collaborationwith the Academy, on the 26 th March. This willshowcase the talent of young people and alsoraise funds for sponsoring students at the annualBill BarclayKiltmakerTraditionalHand Crafted KiltSThousands of tartans to choosefrom, all woven fromthe best there is.Alterations and all work carriedout to a very high standard.07769813233www.billskilts.co.ukbillthekiltmaker@aol.co.ukresidential Rotary Youth Leadership Awardcourses at Abernethy Outdoor CentreOur local heat of the annual Scottish Rotaryprimary schools quiz will take place on 19 th Marchin Torphins School. All ten schools in our areaare invited to take part.The Club will be celebrating its thirtiethbirthday this year and is continuing to flourish.We have recruited three new members since mylast report; Frank Ribbons and Lee Pascoe fromAboyne, and Ruth Powell from Coull. We arealso delighted to welcome back Ian Murray, aretired founder member of the Club, as a newhonorary member. Many Ballater residents willknow Ian from his previous professional roleas the local pharmacist or from his many othercontributions to the community.New members are always welcome. TheClub meets at the Glen Lui Hotel in Ballaterand the Boat Inn in Aboyne. We have a lightmeal followed by a speaker and/or discussion onhow the club activities are being planned and progressing.Guests are welcome, so if you would liketo come along please contact me; Mike Powell onMarie ChapmanSoft Furnishings, TarlandHand and machine workavailable for curtains,pelmets, tie backs, cushionsand Roman blinds.Also curtain alterations andhome visits available.Free estimates with a largecollection of fabric samples.Complete job catered for frommeasuring to fitting.Tel. 07833 175470marieandduncan@aol.com

013398 86369 or mike.powell@tiscali.co.ukAnd finally a reminder about the role andpurpose of Rotary. We support communitygroups and help them with their fundraising,help development of young people, and carry outfundraising for international aid and educationalcharities. The essence of this is our aim to serveour communities, locally and internationally,while having fun and making friends. Log ontothe Rotary in Britain and Ireland (RIBI) websitefor more information. http://www.ribi.orgBallater Golf ClubLadies’ Sectionby Fiona BannisterLady members and social members of BallaterGolf Club are invited to a coffee morning onSaturday 30 th March at 10am to mark the start ofthe 2013 golf season. Coffee and “pieces” willbe available for a small charge and afterwardsladies will have the opportunity to play golf in thesweeper. The Ladies committee look forward towelcoming you at the golf club.Ballater RoyalHorticultural Societyby Elizabeth WilsonSadly our December meeting was cancelleddue to bad weather conditions. It was a thoughtfor many to come out on such a night. HoweverMark Patterson has kindly agreed to present histalk on the Eden Project at our next AGM. I hopeAndy Scobie makes it over from Nethybridge forour February meeting to talk about his work asPlant Officer for the Cairngorms National Park,Rare Plants Project. As I write this, the snow isfalling endlessly, but the one consolation is that ourgardens all look quite stunning when covered by ablanket of snow! We can only hope for a decentseason ahead!The meeting on 4 th March is on DeesideForestry, Past, Present & Future, given by EmilyHomes. Hopefully there will be a good show ofbulbs at our meeting on April 1 st . Remember11leaflets about the Mini Bulb Showare available from the library. Thiswill be followed by an illustrated talkby Alan Beedie former Head Gardenerat Glamis, on Green Tourism at thecastle. This should whet our appetite for our visitto there in July.As usual the annual Quiz night takes place onMay 13 th . It is a fun, sociable evening, with wineand nibbles provided. Donations of Plants andHome Produce for the Plant Sale on Saturday8 th June would be most welcome. Last year weraised around £700.00.The schedule for the Annual Exhibitionand Flower Show in August is available at themeetings or can be picked up from the library orRowan Antiques. We hope for a decent springand summer and a good turnout of entries.Why not bring a friend along to our meetings?A warm welcome is always extended to our members,new and old, and refreshments are servedafter each meeting. We look forward to seeing you.Carnelian“Feel Good Factor”Lynne ParkMassage TherapistSwedish Remedial MassageThermo Auricular Therapy1 Netherley Place,BallaterTel: 013397 56215Mobile: 07793354249

Befriending – ASuccessful Projectby Sheena WattThe local charity “Kincardine and DeesideBefriending” is pleased to have successfullycompleted, with the help of government financefrom its Short Breaks Fund, a project aimed atenabling carers who look after vulnerable andisolated elderly relatives, to gain respite time awayfrom their caring roles and responsibilities.Befriending volunteers were carefullymatched to engage with elderly clients andduring their visits this provided some muchdeserved quality respite time for their carers.Feedback was extremely positive with all of thedesired outcomes from the project achieved.Such outcomes included improved emotionaland physical wellbeing for all clients and carerstogether with carers having ‘guilt free’ respitetime to participate in a variety of activities suchas taking up a new hobby or resuming an old one,meeting friends, undertaking further education;even just taking a long walk on their own was aluxury to some carers.ATHOLL COUNTRYWEARFor Quality Ladies’and Men’s ClothingAccessories & ShoesFine Gifts13 Bridge Street,Ballater AB35 5QPTel: 013397 53810Open:Monday-Saturday 10am-5.30pmKincardine and Deeside Befriending isdelighted to announce that further funding hasbeen awarded by the government’s Short BreaksFund for another year, in order for this initiativeto continue. One quote from a carer perhapssums up the worth of this charity “Simply havinga befriender for mum lets me spend time withthe grandchildren. Afterwards I feel tired butin a different way – a happy way. It helps me tore-balance my life”.We are looking for both men and womenwho have a couple of hours a week or fortnight tospare, to visit and give companionship to an olderperson in their own community. Please note thatour volunteers do not undertake personal care orhousework. Full support will be given and out ofpocket expenses will be met. If you would like tofind out more please phone our Banchory office on01330 823368 or 07816958839. Alternativelyyou can visit our website onwww.kdbefriending.org.ukBallater RHS FloralArt Groupby Maria FranklinNovember 2012 saw the return to Ballater offlower arranger John McDonald from GleneaglesHotel. His excellent Christmas demonstration wasa ‘sell-out’. Seven diverse creations, from small andmanageable to large and exceptional, displayed plantsand flowers in keeping with the event’s title, ‘TheChristmas Present’. The evening attracted manypeople from Deeside, Donside and even Aberdeen.The proceeds of £800 go towards plannedCindy AdamsPG Dip (Coun)Person Centred Counsellor1 Netherley PlaceTel: 07969 495399

improvements at Crathie Opportunity Holidays.The Floral Art Group, with Jenny Houstonas Chairwoman, has been busy developing the2013 programme. Edna Matthews, a well knownand popular local demonstrator, will present theApril event. At least two outings are planned forthe year as well as visits from other floral artistswho are sure to inspire us with new ideas andinspirations. See the Eagle diary for some details.As usual posters advertising forthcoming meetingswill be posted throughout the village.Ballater CommunityEnterprise Ltd byPaddy WrightBallater Caravan ParkAfter 5 years of negotiation with AberdeenshireCouncil, a lease has finally been signed.This allows BCE to operate the Park on behalf ofthe Community until 2052, although it has beenoperated by us since April last year.13Thanks must go to all who havecontributed to a very successfulseason, resulting in a healthy tradingsurplus. Plans are now underwayto replace the site offices and makethe arrival point more welcoming. It is hoped tofinance the operation by using the trading surplus,supplemented by grants from external funders.Some minor improvements and maintenance arepresently in progress.We are glad that the wardens have agreed toreturn before the opening on 29 th March this year.Let’s hope that the weather is kinder this season.Last year’s constant rain made grass cuttingvery difficult and probably reduced bookings bytouring caravans.As this is a Community project, we wouldwelcome any suggestions or offers of help, whichshould be made to the BRD office or any director.A reminder that our website is ballatercaravanpark.com, where an online booking system is available.AlexAndrAHotel• Lunch served 12 to 2pm• Evening meals 5pm to 9pm• En-suite accommodation• Children welcome• Local real ales• In the Good Beer Guide 201212 Bridge Square, Ballater013397 55376www.alexandrahotelballater.co.uk

The Victoria & Albert Halls’monthly Saturday film club has beenmoving from strength to strengthwith a terrific turnout for “Madagascar3” in January despite the snowyweather and a special Bond treat in February inthe form of an evening showing of “Skyfall”.The new year saw the Mike Sheridan Roombeing fitted with a huge new 150” widescreenformat screen, so this, and the inclusion of asurround sound system now means all films canbe enjoyed as they are meant to be seen and heard.It’s great to see that word is spreading andmore people are coming in to support BallaterFilms and enjoy a great movie. Attempts to seta regular slot in the month have been slightlyscuppered by the varying availability of films thatwe think people may want to see, but hopefullyover time this will iron itself out and some formof pattern can be established.Ballater Films by Ade ScrippsMarch’s film is yet to be announced as the Eaglegoes to print but look out for posters and on Facebookor online for details. Tickets priced £5 will be availablefrom Yule’s the Newsagent in the village or on thedoor from 2.30pm (film starts 3pm).We hope over the coming year to expand onthe genres available and welcome wider audiences.There are plans to run a Secret Film Club duringVictoria Week [Whisht], but we are sworn tosecrecy about what films we might show…! At thevery least it will be a wet-weather option to addto the feast of events running at that time. Keepan eye out for more clues in the coming months.Ballater Films is a voluntary venture, runwith the backing of the Victoria & Albert HallsDevelopment Association, Victoria Week andBallater School Parent Council. Any profits areploughed back in to ensure the project continueson its path to develop the halls as a communitycinema venue.J.LaniganEngineerC.S.M. Aerial SatelliteDeeside and Donside skyapproved installersCrannach CoffeeShop & Bakeryat Cambus O’MayOpen Thursday - Tuesday11am - 5pmStrathgirnoc FarmhouseSouth Deeside RoadBallaterTel. 013397 56227Mobile: 07506951506Email:C-S-M_Aerials@hotmail.co.ukWeb: csmaerials.co.ukBread Making Courseson WednesdaysGift Vouchers AvailableTel: 013397 55126 for details

Ballater SWRI by Aileen BarbourOn the 21st November, President AnneRichardson welcomed members to our meetingand introduced our speaker Davinia Bissett of“Rock Salt and Snails” who gave us a short resumeon her life’s experiences followed by an interestingtalk on the food, wine and all the different typesof coffee they serve. We had two competitions thatmonth:-First Competition “2 Savoury Muffins”1. Sheena Fraser,2. Frances Johnstone,3. Thelma Cooper,4. Doris Gill.Second Competition - Marjorie Gordon Cup” -“Small Baby Bonnet in 3 ply”1. Thelma Cooper,2. Sheena Kerr,3. Diane Wright,4. Deirdre Tait.The December meeting was our ChristmasLunch which was held at Ballater Golf Club. Thiswas a most enjoyable affair and we all received a15present from Santa (Scott Fraser).Our meeting in January was anOpen Evening with Sales Table. The Presidentthanked everyone for coming out on icy roads thenintroduced Mary Wright who demonstrated easyfloral arrangements which we could try at homeand also gave us plenty useful tips to get the bestfrom our flowers. Mrs Wright kindly donatedthe arrangements she had done to the raffle andwas asked to judge the competitions the results ofwhich were:-Competition 1 “Pencil Sketch - Flowers -A4 not mounted”:1. Jan Williams,2. Diana Wright,3. Frances Johnstone.Competition 2 “Evie Murray Rosebowl” -“Fresh Flowers in Frame”:1. Mary Munro,2. Margaret Cameron,3. Frances Johnstone,4. Diane Wright.H.P.S. (Aberdeen) LtdIntegrated Building / LandscapingServices and SuppliesChanaich LodgeProvost Craig RoadBallaterAberdeenshireAB35 5NNTel. 01339 756336Fax. 01339 755893Mobiles: 07710 46956307850 653160Managing DirectorPeter HendersonEmail: peter.hps@btconnect.com

Ballater Boules take theopportunity by John HolleyOur eighth successful season will come to anend in about a month’s time and what a seasonit has been for all concerned.The highlight of the season was the £800.00raised by our players for the ‘Crathie OpportunityHolidays’ Charity over the Christmas & NewYear period. Over two meetings whilst competingfor the ‘Golden Boules Trophy’ and the ‘NewYear Quaich’ the participants dug deep into theirwallets and purses and broke all previous records.After being ‘gift aided’ the final total added to thecharity coffers will be £1000.00. The winners ofthe trophies were as follows:-Golden Boules Trophy, Martin Young andAlastair Whitson and The New Year Quaich,Ernie McIntosh and Jim ClarkWe have experienced the usual high numbersof players despite some pretty awful weatheron some meeting days but our motto of ‘Fun,Friendship & Fresh Air Guaranteed’ has alwaysshone through. To date we have had just onecancellation due to heavy snow in late January.A real breath of fresh air has been the arrivalof new local players and some from a tad furtheraway like Banchory and Torphins. It was also nice17to see house guests of our playerstaking part and enjoying themselvesover the festive holidays.We have three more meetings remaining,Sunday 10 th March, Sunday 24 th Marchand our final gathering followed by the nowfamous Ballater Boules BBQ on the 7 th April(as Morecambe & Wise would say ‘Bring MeSunshine!). If you are interested in joining us,meet at the Pavilion, Monaltrie Park at 10.15amfor a 10.30am start. Absolutely no experience isnecessary (it’s so easy you won’t believe it), youdon’t need any equipment as this will be providedas will a partner if you don’t have one.Remember, ‘Fun, Friendship & Fresh Air’ isabsolutely guaranteed, what more do you need?To close, I would like to thank all those whohave helped with the running of the meetings (theyknow who they are) and for the players who turnout in all weathers to continue the huge successof the Ballater Boules Challenge.The presentation ceremony - snowyconditions didn’t hamper the fun

18BRD continues to be involved in anumber of projects from which thecommunity will benefit.Soon a feasibility study will be undertaken todetermine the advantages of an Adult LearningCentre and advise on the courses to be available.A project manager will also be appointed to assistin starting the Centre which will be located in theBeaton Craigie Room and in collaboration withAboyne and Braemar and, eventually, UpperDonside. This is an exciting prospect and derivedfrom public requests subsequent to the BallaterOne Voice One Future study.Similarly, tenders are sought for a feasibilitystudy for a proposed Heritage Centre for the villagewhere a more permanent display of memorabiliaand photographs could be developed. Severalpossible sites have been identified for considerationby the successful consultants.Arrangements are being finalised for theacquisition from The Forestry Commission of landat Dalmochie to enable the re-creation of two logcabins in memory of the lumberjacks who toiledthere during the War and as a tourist attraction.This will be with the co-operation of the descendantsof these woodworkers from Newfoundland.Planning approval has been obtained for the sitingof a Welcome granite stone at the west of the villagesimilar to that already in position on the A93 whichhas drawn favourable comments from the community.The Directors of BRD are always keen tolearn of ideas for projects which would be ofbenefit to Ballater.Ballater (Royal Deeside) Ltdby Jack Coullsuch as golf outings, the judo club, walking groupsand school groups, not forgetting Ballater’s TartanArmy (home games only)! Over the festive seasonthe ‘party people’ were out in force with a trip tothe pantomime in Aberdeen as well meals out bothin the village and further afield. Our most regularclients are the local Evergreen Club who meet eachThursday throughout the winter and spring.For this valuable service to the community wehave to thank our group of volunteer drivers. Weare always on the lookout for new drivers to thisgroup and if you can give a little of your time itwould be greatly appreciated by our clients. Forfurther information contact Gillian in the BRDoffice.If your organisation or group would like to bookthe use of the minibus, please also contact Gillian.Tel:- 013397 55467Email : ballaterdeeside@btinternet.comIS ITTIMEFOR ANEWThe Big Red Busby Ian RitchieMost of you will have seen BRD’s big red minibusin the village or further afield. This is availablefor hire, with a trained volunteer driver, by any localgroup or organisation. The bus can accommodateup to 16 passengers. It has gentle steps and a hoistwhich allows access for two wheel chairs.Recent hires have included sporting activitiesLOOK?dp opticians care how you look!45 BRIDGE STREET, BALLATER 013397 56222

BallaterPost Of f iceHours of Opening:Mon: 9am - 5.30pmTues: 9am - 5.30pmWeds: 9am - 5.30pmThurs: 9am - 12.30pmFri: 9am - 5.30pmSat: 9am - 12.30pmPlease note we are OPEN over lunchtimeForeign CurrencyWe stock Euros,US Dollars andTurkish Lirafor immediate purchase.Support your local Post Office,you know it makes sense!Tel: 013397 55505www.ballaterpo.netBallater WalkingFestivalby Sandy Mitchell19Planning for this year’s Ballater WalkingFestival, our 16 th , is well under way and we arehoping for a good number of walkers homing inon Ballater in May.The festival will run from 18-24 th May andfollows the time honoured format of three levelsof walk each day for six days, culminating in aceilidh on the Friday evening. The walks rangefrom a stroll round the Balmoral policies to a highlypopular transit of the Lairig Ghru, with lots inbetween. As always our biggest problem is comingup with 18 walks without too many repeats over theyears and without ruinous transport implications.We hope we have achieved a balancedprogramme and early bookings seem to supportthis. As at mid-January we have over 50 walkersbooked, more than 20 ahead of last year’s figureand we hope to attract something approaching100 participants by May.This provides a considerable boost to local shopsand services and is very important to the village.Of course none of this would be possiblewithout the unstinting assistance of a large numberof locals who provide walk leaders and helperswho almost walk themselves into the ground oversix days, together with all those who arrange theevening entertainment and the many other choreswhich an enterprise of this scale demands.A large proportion of our walkers return yearafter year, an indication of our popularity, and somany familiar faces will be spotted in our streetsin May.Anyone interested in joining the walks canobtain a brochure and booking form from theBRD office at 7 Bridge Street or from the TouristInformation Office in Station Square or see ourweb site at: walkballater.com Anyone wishingto offer assistance on the walks or in any otherway, please contact me through the BRD office.

20Deeside Donside DevelopmentDalmochieThe project has successfullyraised the funds to purchase the site from theForestry Commission. The legal formalities arenow being dealt with and we expect the sale tobe complete before the end of March. This willmean the site being owned by the community.A partnership between BRD and the HistoricForest Project Association will be preparing thenext phase of restoring the cabins which originallyexisted on the site.Community Website AssistanceOnce again a reminder about the smallfund available from the Cairngorms NationalPark Authority to help local groups establish orimprove their group or project websites. If anybodyis interested in applying for this fund please contactme on the details below as I have the guidance andapplication forms. Several groups in Ballater havealready taken up the offer and received funds upto nearly £1000 so don’t let the opportunity passfor your group to benefit!Ballater Learning CentreThe Learning Centre initiative has securedfunds to undertake business planning andpreparation work for the centre. By the time thiscomes to print we expect that the project will bein a position to begin at least preparatory workto equip the facility.BroadbandThe project continues to work on thisissue. Presently we have succeeded in gettingGlenbuchat and Corgarff onto a programme ofbroadband upgrade over the next year. This workis through a Government initiative which targetssmaller communities that will miss out on thenational upgrade that BT are committed to. It islikely that the work on Donside can be duplicatedin the harder to reach areas of upper Deeside.Project by Nick MardallBraemar Action planThe Braemar Action plan has reacheda draft stage which is to be endorsed bythe Community Council in mid February.Thereafter actions that have been identifiedby the community will be underway which willhelp improve the village according to its ownaspirations.Ballater Action PlanBallater undertook a similar exercise of actionplanning for the community in 2009. A lot ofgood work and projects emerged as a result.This project, in partnership with the CommunityCouncil, will lead a review of the plan and lookat refocusing the efforts where it is needed most.Housing PartnershipThe Prince’s Trust and the Highland SmallCommunities Housing Trust continue to look atoptions for a site on Balmoral for self build. Anopen day will have been held in February whichwill give full details of the project to the communityand asked for interested folk to submit expressionsof interest.Finally as always I would ask folk to contactme if they have any project or funding theywould like me to help them pursue. Nick.dddp@btconnect.com or telephone 013397 53775Forbes DuguidPainter&DecoratorTelel.55816

I Love Freegle by Carol Hutton21Ever wondered what to do with all that stuffyou don’t want anymore? Puzzle no more!There’s no need to throw away unwantedChristmas presents or household clutter. It’s easyto give away goods to locals who can make use ofthem. Freegle allows members to post pictures anddescriptions of anything (legal) they want to giveaway and puts them in touch with people locallywho may want it.It’s like online dating for stuff. Got an unlovedthingamajig? Find someone who will love thathoodgeykeplunk. Freegle has over 1.4millionmembers in over 360 UK locations doing just that.As Co-ordinator of AberdeenshireWestFreegle Group I would encourage you to make useof this free facility. If you can’t use something there’sbound to be someone in your area who can. Weprovide an easy to use platform to connect peoplewith things. Everything is free and all our groupsare looked after by local volunteers.People even want broken things. There areloads of community groups and other folks who arereally happy to get a broken toaster or worn out armchair because they like repairing things or want toteach others those skills. There’s a real groundswellof people in all communities who want to fix things.Goods that are beyond their original purposecan also be turned into something new. Thisis called upcycling. For example, old washingmachine drums make attractive lamps, tablebases and firepits. Old house windows makeROY MITCHELLJOINER76 Golf RoadBallaterTELEPHONE:(013397) 55378great greenhouses for the garden.Extending the life of goods is reallyimportant. Reuse is more environmentally friendlythan recycling which breaks material down intoelements and uses masses of energy and transportto do so. 83% of sofas discarded at UK “tips” arereusable. Freegle provides a way to avoid this kindof shocking waste and facilitates the free reuse ofabout 500 tonnes of goods every month.Western society has 12 per cent of the world’spopulation but consumes 60 per cent of its resources.Research by Yale says we’re going to run out ofraw materials within 50 to 60 years if we carry onat the current level of consumption. Reusing andsharing what we already have across communitiesalso enables the economically challenged to havegoods that would otherwise be unobtainable but areessential to maintaining a decent standard of living.Charities, families, students, businesses, schoolsand all types of activity and community groups areall welcome to join their local Freegle group andstart exchanging goods amongst themselvesIt’s a great time of year to start Freegling, Januaryis a time when people often have a clear out or areexperiencing financial hardship. Sharing stuff onFreegle - instead of putting it in a rubbish sack orlocal tip, or relegating it to the attic - is beneficialto people, pocket and planet.Don’t throw it away, Give it away!Visit www.ilovefreegle.org and enter yourpostcode to find a Freegle group in your area.Also: https://facebook.com/Freegle, www.facebook.com/pages/Aberdeenshire-West-Freegleand General enquiries: info@ilovefreegle.orgFreegle logos to download: http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/LogosLocal Freegle group: http://freegle.in/AberdeenshireWestFreegleor http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AberdeenshireWestFREEGLE/Local Volunteers: AberdeenshireWest-Freegle-owner@yahoogroups.comMOBILE: 07792 117963

22 Crathie School NewsCheeseI went to Braemar on Thursday.There was a lady at the school from The CairngormFood Project. We watched a film about cheesemaking. I learned that rennet is added to milk andthat summer is a good time to make cheese becausethe grass that the animals eat is juicy. I learned aboutmouldy cheese. We saw equipment and got to tastesome cheese. The cheese was from the Cambus O’May cheese factory.by Curtis P3Castle ProjectWe are learning about Castles and HarryPotter this term. We are researching local castlesto learn more about them. We are also readingHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Wehave enjoyed it so far, the book makes you wantto read on. When you start reading this book youjust don’t want to stop. Some of us have madeCastles out of recycled things. Mr Hughes comesin on a Friday and he is working on a specialproject with us.by Clint P7Happy HaggisOn Friday we hada Burns Lunch. Wepeeled and choppedturnip to eat with potatoes andhaggis. I also had some juice. We set the table andwore kilts and did some dancing. It was good fun.by Emilie P2The Little InsiderOn Monday I went toschool as usual and I openedthe door. Then I heard ascratching noise. I told myteacher that I thought there was a mouse in theanimal food bin.I lifted the bird seed box and laid it downoutside the door. Then I looked inside the bin.There were two eyes staring back at me!!! Itwasn’t a mouse ….. the eyes belonged to abushy-tailed red squirrel! I jumped. Somehowthe squirrel had managed to get into the food bin,where the nuts and seeds were stored. I movedthe bin and then the squirrel jumped out very fastand we all screamed. I think it was more scaredthan we were. It was a frightening start to the firstday of the week!by Lewis P4Jammin’ FitnessOn Friday we went to join Strathdon Schoolto do Jammin’Fitness. Jammin’fitness is puttingrock and roll into dancing and it was veryrelaxing. My teacher suggested I volunteer tohelp with the demonstration. It was embarrassing!First the girls went up, then the boys went up andthen we all went up to teach other children thedances. It was fun but tiring.by Morgan P5Snowy FunWe’ve had lots of fun in the snow. We playedwith diggers and sledged on plastic bags. Wemeasured the snow with a metre stick. It was40cm deep on the picnic table. It was very cold.by Euan P2

Crathie News by Marion MacIntyreCrathie Book GroupOur meetings over the winter have been few andfar between, with Christmas and then snow bothintervening to thwart us! We managed to discuss twobooks however, “The Cellist of Sarajevo” by StevenGalloway, an impressive if harrowing novel, set as itwas during the brutal siege of Sarajevo, and “TheGirls from Riyadh” by Rajaa Alsanea, an altogethermore lightweight read but interesting in giving someinsight into the lives of Saudi girls of the privileged“velvet” class. We have been reading “The CasualVacancy” by J K Rowling for some time now andhopefully will actually get to discuss it soon!Church NewsThe Parish of Braemar and Crathie will be holdinga joint service at Braemar Church on Sunday 3March at 9.45am during which there will be a shortCommunion. On Easter Sunday, there will be jointservices at 8am at Braemar Castle and at CrathieKirk at 11.30am. The Sacrament of CommunionSpencer’sof CrathieUpholstererBoatandCaravanCoversMade to OrderTelephone: 013397 42295Mobile: 07814 051388will be celebrated at both Braemarand Crathie on Sunday 5 May. Allwill be welcome at these services.23Coffee at the DistilleryThe annual Coffee Morning will be heldat Royal Lochnagar Distillery, Crathie, onSaturday 6 April from 10.30am to 12.30pm.As always there will be plentiful home baking, araffle, a sales table and a warm welcome!Crathie SeniorsCrathie Senior Citizens enjoyed a deliciousChristmas Lunch on 20 December 2012 in thecongenial surroundings of Ballater Golf Club.As usual it was a lively and sociable event, witha fun Christmas Quiz to sharpen the wits whilerelaxing after the meal. Thanks go to PatriciaFraser and her helpers for organising such anenjoyable get together. Patricia would bedelighted to hear from anyone who is eligible foran invite in 2013 (women 60 years or over andmen 65 years or over who live in the Crathie orBirkhall area.) Her telephone number is 42327and her email address is patricia@fraser3495.fsnet.co.ukCrathie Bowling ClubIf you would like to try your hand at IndoorBowling, Crathie Bowlers meet on Tuesday andFriday evenings from 7pm to 9pm in Crathie NewHall. New members are always welcome and formore information, call Jean Young, telephone no42415.Coffee at the KirkAfter a well deserved winter break, the CrathieKirk Coffee Ladies will be recommencing theirever popular Monday morning café in the ChurchHall from Monday 8 th April. They are lookingforward to seeing old friends and welcoming newones, so come along between 10am and 12.30pmeach Monday for good company and delicioushome baking!

24Folks, at time of writing we are now gettingback to some normality following a week of snowyweather. With the poor conditions, local officershave been kept busy closing roads and assistingmotorists whilst ‘oot and aboot’. However we havenot just been busy with weather issues.Unfortunately we have noted a small rise inmindless vandalism in the village with the mostnotable incident being to the toilet block at thecaravan park. It is very disappointing that thishas occurred to a facility which helps boost Ballater’stourist trade. We ask if anyone has anyinformation into this incident (or any incident)then they come along and speak to us at the PoliceOffice. The incidents that have occurred recentlywe strongly believe are carried out by youngerpersons who live locally.Other local issues that have come to ourattention are:-POLICE PAGEby P.C Donald MacleodPeople driving the wrong way down the newlyintroduced one -way system now in place alongViewfield Road from its junction with BridgeStreet to the junction with Queen’s Road.Yellow lines around the centre of the villagehave also been re-painted so please if parking inthe village centre, pay attention to them as wehave had a number of complaints already aboutvehicles parking on them.Speed is another issue that has arisen lately.Again please bear in mind that within Ballater itis a 30 mph zone.Unfortunately we see all too often aroundthe village persons not wearing their seatbelts ordriving whilst either speaking or texting on theirmobile phones. If you are caught using yourmobile phone while driving it is a £60 fine and 3points on your licence!!Dinner7pm - 9pmSunday Lunch12:30 - 2pmInspectors’ choicered Star awardVisit Scotland 3 gold Starsrecommended inthe good Food guideand Scotland the BestDarroch LeargRoyal Deeside’s Award Winning Highland RetreatDarroch Learg, Braemar road, Ballater aB35 5UXTelephone 013397-55443enquiries@darrochlearg.co.uk

HorseBack UKLeadership Coursesby Jock HutchisonOver the last four years the team at Horse-Back UK has developed a Charity that is gearedto ”Help our Heroes Help Themselves”. TheCharity provides time and space for injuredservice personnel to fully adapt to their life changinginjuries post clinical recovery. By assistingindividuals regain confidence and team skills thecharity aims to ensure that guests are fully readymentally and physically to successfully take onvocational training.The Charity has been helped considerablyfrom the support of Help for Heroes, not onlyfinancially, but because the relationship ensuresfull co-ordination with other military charities andorganizations. Like Horseback they are determinedto co-ordinate the recovery of our injuredservice personnel and therefore ensure maximumsuccess for those that deserve the best opportunitiesto find meaningful and happy futures.The ethos of the Horseback organisation hasalways focused on what individuals can do ratherthan any limitations that injuries can create, and tothat end we have strived to find ways of showing thewider world the enormous resource our woundedpersonnel should and can be to society.A major initiative for the 2012 season was tointroduce Leadership courses to the oil industry.This platform allowed injured service personnel tointeract with management of major oil companiesand demonstrate some of the skills acquiredduring a military career.The courses were a great success and Horsebackhas a full program for 2013 with new clientscoming on board.There follows a resume of one executive’sreaction to a leadership course at HorseBack UKat Ferrar, Dinnet.

26 A day at a HorseBack to the corporate sphere. I imagine that if you are abusiness person, and someone mentions the words‘leadership course’, or ‘team-building weekend’, yourheart might sink into your shiny boots. I know littleof this, but in my mind, for some obscure reason, italmost always involves paint-balling. At HorseBackthey have no paintballs; they have ex-militaryinstructors, and horses. It was this that I went to see.The soldiers are the most explicable part. Ifsomeone who has led a platoon through the perilousterrain of Afghanistan is talking to you of leadership,you are going to pay very close attention.(‘We called that the valley of death,’ one of themsaid, matter-of-factly, about one of his areas ofdeployment.) What I had not quite anticipatedis how philosophical some of the ideas were. It’snot just left right, left right, turn, quick march; it’snot about drilling and orders and hierarchy. Theythink of leadership as an art; at moments, there wasalmost poetry in the way they spoke of it. Theyuse words like humanity, humility, unselfishness.In their lists of attributes that make a great leaderLeadership course -Release the Beastby Tania KindersleyIf you told me that I should spend a Thursdayafternoon watching five determined executivesattempt to herd a fast, equally determined, blackShetland pony round an obstacle course in a widegreen field, I might have expressed some surprise.In the event, after a day immersed in the ethos ofHorseBack UK, it felt oddly natural. Oh, and inthis particular exercise, the pony was radioactive.You know how business people often speakof ‘thinking outside the box’? It’s an expressionworn thin with use, that now invites derision. Let’srun something up the flagpole at the same time,and see who salutes. At HorseBack, they rip upthe box, and fling its scattered pieces to the wind.As I watched them metaphorically flutter away, Ithought: yes, radioactive ponies, of course.HorseBack’s new venture is to take the principlesthey use with returning veterans, and apply themVegetables,Herbs & FruitFresh DailyWholefoods & SpicesPickles & ChutneysHomemade Jams& MarmaladeSaucesCakesSmoked SalmonTry our veg boxes - Free weekly deliveryHomemade in store:Quiches, Tarts, Salads,Soups, SandwichesMonday - Saturday47 Bridge Street, Ballater. 013397 55741FabulousFresh FlowersBunches to BouquetsHandcooked CrispsCheeses & BiscuitsOlivesAntipastoCharcuteriePicnic HampersBuffets catered for

there is, at number seven, in big black letters: senseof humour. Their own humour shines through. Atone point, one of them said, dryly: ‘Officers shouldnever run.’ Slight pause. ‘It scares the men.’There is no trace of bombast or gung-ho. Theytalk about character, and fairness, and judgment.They define two kinds of courage, - physical andmoral. ‘Moral courage is much harder than thephysical kind,’ one of them says. I find this revelatory.There is a great authenticity in everything they say.‘It is not weakness to ask advice from somebody;it is weakness to think you know everything andcarry on regardless.’ There is good empirical stuffhere too; a touch of the academic and the scientific.Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need is spoken of; Tuckman’sstages of group development. But then, just aseverything seems rational and obvious, they takeDr Tuckman’s notions of developing a team, andapply them to horses.The equine aspect is the unexpected part.What can a dear old Quarter Horse teach asuited and booted corporate whizz about leading a27company? I was a little bemused. Themilitary aspect makes perfect sense,but standing in a sand arena learninghow to turn an equine in slow circles?It took me a while to get it. It’s about all the good,honest nouns: trust and patience and perseveranceand consistency. It’s about concrete things, likebody language, and knowledge. It’s about small,ordinary things, like paying attention. It’s aboutwide human things, like self-belief. But finally whatI saw is that it’s much more nuanced than that.A horse does not care about the size of youroffice, or what car you drive, or the vast salary youpull in. You cannot impress it with your MBA, orany amount of letters after your name. You cannotpull rank with a horse, or blind it with a blizzardof jargon. Most of all, you can’t fool a horse.Equines are fabulously telepathic andinstinctive. If you feel tentative or uncertain ornervous, it will sense that at fifty paces. If you aregoing to get a horse to trust you, to feel safe enoughto do what you ask it to do, you can’t just bluster

28and blag. You have to be strong andsure and calm and kind, to your verybones. Also, you cannot impose yourwill on a creature that weighs half aton. You have to invite a partnership;you have to be polite.So there, in the easy atmosphere of the blueScottish hills, among Western horses and men incowboy hats, more learning was crammed into oneday than I could have imagined, and all with nowhiff of school about it.Just as my head was about to explode with all thesenew, interesting things, there was one last exercise.‘We are going to release the beast,’ said the boss.The beast, it turned out, was about 28 incheshigh. Another sharp life lesson: never, everunderestimate something just because it is smalland furry. The Shetland has more strength andorneriness and determination in its front hoovesthan most people have in their entire bodies.The exercise, harking back to the military theme,involved a fantasy scenario where the pony hadDeeside Tiler& UnderfloorHeating“One Job at a time”Mobile: .07786 936 037Email:thehotstepper@btinternet.comAll mobile and email messageswill be answered the same daygone radioactive and had to be isolated in a particularcorner without being touched or led. Theteam had an array of tools available, including,to everyone’s hilarity, a chainsaw.‘That’s a red herring,’ the boss said to me,out of the corner of his mouth. Although I swearI saw one woman looking at it with a speculativegleam in her eye.And off they all went, intent on their task, asthe tiny Shetland remembered his wild ancestry,and charged about the three acres at top speed,as if he were Derby winner, instead of a very,very short pony.The team succeeded in their challenge, to theirflushed triumph. The pony cantered into his requiredfinishing spot, and stood, looking fabulously pleasedwith himself. I laughed my head off.Afterwards, I asked one of the executives aboutthe course. He thought for a moment. ‘Most ofthese things, ‘he said, ‘are death by PowerPoint.But this...’He paused. He smiled. He said: ‘This is real.’The Hair LoftBallater HairstylingSarah,Sarah jane,Corrina&Sylviaall stylistshave had trainingatvidal sassoon,Londonand Cheynesof EdinburghOpen Tues - SatPlease call for an appointmentNetherley PlaceTel: 013397 56317

Professional Tree SurgeonN.P.T.C. QualifiedFully Insured Free EstimatesDomestic & CommercialCrown Thinning& ReductionDismantling & FellingHedge Pruning& MaintenanceDangerous Tree ControlStump Grinding& RemovalFirewood for salecall: 013398 80823 m: 07786 756078e: deesidetreecare@gmx.co.uk w: www.deesidetreecare.co.ukEstablished 1998Friendly,Reliable ServiceWide Range ofQuality Materialsin StockPaintings, Photographs & MirrorsNeedlework, Sports Shirts &Objects FramingCanvas Stretching and More...t: 013398 80448m: 07766 176 186e: jay@speedwellframing.co.ukInchmarnoch Dinnet Aboyne AB34 5NXBill YulePGA Golf ProfessionalTuition available£20 per 1/2 hour - 5 Lessons for £80Non Members Welcome!*Gift Vouchers Available*Stockist of:Ping / Titliest / Nike / Glenmuir / SrixonBallater Golf Shop*Open 7 Days a Week*Ballater Golf ClubVictoria Road, Ballater AB35 5QXTel. 013397 55658Email: shnyule@aol.com

Cairngorms National Park AuthorityWell, 2013 has certainly started with aweather variation! I played golf on the 2 nd Jan andon the 22 nd we had 2 feet of snow! Anyway, whatbetter way to begin the Year of Natural Scotlandthan with something to remember. To add tothat, it is the tenth anniversary of the CairngormsNational Park. During the year there will manydifferent events which tourists and residents areall encouraged to attend.As my contribution to celebrate the tenthanniversary and Natural Scotland I have decidedthat it would be fitting to visit somewhere newonce a month for a walk, cycle, shop, eat anddrink but not all at the same time!My first venture was actually relatively local andone of that places you pass by pretty regularly andalways say I must have a walk up there some day.It was a cold day but the sun was shining I visited afriend in Corgarff then drove over the Glas-choilletowards Gairnshiel. Just before I reached the topof the Shenval I drew into the side of the road andparked. On the left there is a relatively small hill andit has a track going up, as there is a telephone maston the top. The hill is called Mammie (The roundedhill). It is a pleasant walk although I must admiton a couple of bits I was peching! But it is worth itwhen you get to the top - the view is fantastic. In onedirection you look up Gairnside towards Braenaloin,another goes down Gairnside towards Ballater, thenif you look north you look towards Glenfenzie whichis very well known but there is also Glen Beg andGlen More. This was the best bit for me. I wasintrigued as to where these two glens that I had justfound went, were they ever inhabited, does anyoneknow any history of these glens? I would appreciateany information from readers.Once you get to the telephone mast the landrover track carries on for a short bit and there is an oldfence that you can continue walking along. If you havetime you could carry on down the hill to Inverenzie.As I was parked at the top of the Shenval, I cameround the side of the hill behind Clashanruich, alarge house at the top of Gairnside. I was back at thecar quickly and rather pleased with my achievement,by Katrina Farquharwhich may seem small to some but it gave me a warmglow and appreciation of the landscape that I havegrown up in and not always valued.I then drove down the Shenval over the GairnshielBridge and turned right along past Rinloan,Braenaloin and over the hill to Crathie for my fly cup.As it is going to be a special year especially for thoseof us who live and work in The Cairngorms NationalPark, we should all be encouraged to record stories,photographs and film for our future generations.A Generous Gestureby CNPA StaffGroups and organisations looking to runactivities for elderly people in the CairngormsNational Park this year were recently invited toapply for Grants of up to £200 with the aim ofhelping the elderly enjoy the National Park.£2000 in total is available following fundraisingactivities by staff and board members of theCairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) intheir own time. The Charitable and Social Groupwas set up by staff working at the Park Authorityto raise money for local good causes. Fundraisingactivities have included cake and plant sales, rafflesas well as a library where a donation is made toborrow books and DVDs and lunchtime talks bymembers of staff or invited guests.Chair of the Committee, Clare Muckart, said:“In the past we’ve awarded grants from this Fund tolocal youth groups for equipment or activities to helpthem enjoy and fully experience the National Parkand now we’d like to help elderly people in some way.“We hope this money might help groups go on anouting or take part in an activity in the National Parkbut we’re open to applications for anything that helpselderly people enjoy the Cairngorms National Park.”Grants of up to £200 are available and interestedgroups were encouraged to apply in writingby Friday 1 st March 2013. This is the expecteddate of distribution of the Eagle, but hopefullysome organisations in Ballater will already haveapplied for some of this funding.

10 th anniversarycelebrations forCairngorms NationalPark by Karen ArcherT h e C a i r n g o r m sNational Park hits animportant milestone thisyear, celebrating its 10 thanniversary.The UK’s largest nationalpark was established in 2003 to ensure that theunique aspects of the area – both the natural environmentand the local communities – are cared for andenhanced for current and future generations to enjoy.At 4,528sq km, the Cairngorms NationalPark is internationally important for natureconservation, is a mecca for outdoor enthusiastsand has a rich cultural past.In a decade, work by the Cairngorms NationalPark Authority (CNPA) and a wide range ofpartners, has reaped many benefits. Around 200land-based businesses and 4,800 land-basedworkers have benefited from various traininginitiatives. A £4 million programme of new andimproved paths has been delivered in and aroundcommunities and there are now 320 health walksin the Park, delivered by the Cairngorms OutdoorAccess Trust. There have also been severalconservation projects over the past decadeincluding rare plants, fresh water pearl mussels,raptors, wildcats and water voles.There have been improvements to visitorinformation centres and the establishment of theCairngorms Business Partnership and delivery ofthe Cairngorms brand – now a recognised symbolof the Park and everything that it stands for. In10 years there have been 14 million visitors tothe Cairngorms National Park contributing £11531million per year to the local economy.Duncan Bryden, Cairngorms National ParkConvener said: “Our vision is for an outstandingNational Park enjoyed and valued by everyonewhether they live here or visit the Park. Somewherethat nature and people can thrive together and weall look forward to the next decade as we continueto deliver on three themes – supporting thrivingcommunities, looking after this special place andensuring that people enjoy the Park.”While the focus for the next ten years willcontinue to be about improving landscapes andwildlife, empowering communities and helpingpeople to get involved in the Park, there will also bea great deal of emphasis placed on improved broadbandand mobile phone coverage and preparingfor how climate change will affect the way we live.The centrepiece of the 10 th birthday celebrationswill be ‘Celebrating Cairngorms Nature’ a free eventon18 May in Aviemore for families and visitorsshowcasing the Park’s rich environment and vastarray of wildlife. Other activities during the yearinclude the production of DVD ‘The Story of thePark’, a photography competition and a celebrationof the Park’s cultural heritage later in the year.2013 is also Year of Natural Scotland,a national initiative celebrating Scotland’soutstanding natural beauty. So whatever you’replanning for 2013, make sure you get out thereand enjoy the Cairngorms National Park andmake the most of Year of Natural Scotland.www.cairngorms.co.uk / www.visitscotland.com/about/nature-geography/year-ofnatural-scotland

The McEwan GalleryLion Feijen - Wooden Egg Bucket with Pears - Oil on boardPlease give us a call before planning a visit during the winter monthsBallater - Royal Deeside - AB35 5UBwww.mcewangallery.com Tel: 013397 55429

Rare Find Offered ToAA Box 472by John Holley on behalf of Team 472As most of you will be aware AA Box No472 located at the Cambus O’ May was ‘saved’from completely disappearing through neglect,by five Ballater residents in 2009. Come Julythis year it will be 4 years since this task wascompleted.The box was then transformed into a ‘minimuseum’ that offers historical pictures of the boxand local places of interest, as well as local mapsand tourist information for travellers to the area.Even the Ballater Eagle is made available topassing motorists. The two most popular items(apart from the Eagle!) are the original oil lamppulley system in the roof space and the ‘Visitor’sBook’ that has attracted literally hundreds ofsignatures from around the world.33turn off some 150 yards from the current site. Mr.Robertson, whose father worked for AberdeenshireCouncil, found the map in the loft, searchedthe internet, found our web site and made contact.The item was an AA prepared map ofthe mileages to other destinations in Scotlandemanating from Box 472 itself. In fact it is adedicated map that was tailored specifically forBox 472. It would probably be giving the mileagesto other AA boxes rather than the town or villageitself. Initially there were over 1000 boxes dottedaround the UK.It is very difficult to date the map but aftersome investigation it is thought that it is probablyaround 80 to 90 years old as the AA introducedthese boxes throughout the UK in the 1920s. Themap is in very good condition and in the very nearfuture will be added to the ‘mini museum’ in thecurrent Box 472.NPCMOLE & PESTCONTROLBPCA AccreditedRecently, we were contacted by email by Mr.Scott Robertson of Banchory who stated he wasin possession of an extremely rare item that wasoriginally housed in Box 472 when it was locatedat the junction of the A93 and the Burn O’ VatCrathie01339742001Mbl 07746556883

There are only around 12 to 14 boxesremaining in situ (as opposed to in museumsetc) throughout the UK and around 50% of thesewill disappear through neglect within the next fiveyears. Unfortunately unless individuals take itupon themselves to ‘save’ these important piecesof social history then they will be lost forever. Box472 is listed and protected but back in 2009 therewas little evidence of any protection going on andthe fact that it was listed wasn’t helping mucheither. If Team 472 hadn’t taken the initiative itis very doubtful that it would be standing today.Team 472 would like to thank the BallaterPolice Constables who regularly visit the box toensure all is well and who sign the visitor’s bookto record their visits.You are cordially invited to pay a visit to Box472 the next time you are passing. Please sign thevisitor’s book, look up at the original pulley systemand now you are able to view the original mileagemap. Do however remember to close the doorsecurely behind you when you leave (important!).For the full story of the saving of Box 472 visitwww.box472.weebly.comThe Auld KirkDinner served inthe award winning Spirit restaurantTuesday to Saturday from 6.30pmSunday lunch served from 12-2pmLocally sourced food, friendlyservice, stylish restaurant and barThe Visitors Book. Please leave your messagewhen you pass on your next journey along theA93Bookings advisableBraemar Road, Ballater013397 55762 www.theauldkirk.com

36Aberdeenshire Councilby Katrina FarquharIn this issue I would like to raiseawareness of funding opportunitiesfor everyone in our area and it is worth having alook to see if you can get assistance from varioussources. Visit the Council website for more detailsat www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk but I have provideda wee taster below. You can also use the Grant Netservice provided free of charge by the Council.For guidance on completing your applicationand for advice in dealing with the budgetary aspectsof your application, 2 free software programmeshave been produced. These are called “ApplyYourselves” and “Budget Yourselves” respectivelyand can be accessed from the Community Chainswebsite: www.communitychains.co.uk• Aberdeenshire Educational Trusts (awardsusually to schools and for arts projects)• Aberdeenshire Leader Fund for projectsthat benefit rural communities)• Aberdeenshire Sports Council (grants toteams and sportspeople)• Area Top-Up Funding (CommunityLearning and Development)• Community Partnership• Economic Development (support for newand established businesses)• Education, Learning and Leisuire: 1 -Early Years 2 - Assistance for school andcollege pupils including uniform grants• Energy Assistance Project (help with heatingand insultation)• Heritage• Local Area Committees (top-up funding,tourism grants, many others)• Social Work 1 - Start up grants for newchildminders 2 - Grants to voluntary organisationswith Social Work objectives• Transport and Infrastructure - Privatehouse improvement grants (adaptations forpeople with disabilities)C l i m a t e C h a l l e n g e F u n d -£10.3 million available per year untilMarch 2015: These CCF grants up to£150,000 per year from the Scottish Governmentcould provide funds and support for yourCommunity Group to reduce their community’scarbon footprint, save money and improve facilities.CCF grants have funded community ownedbuildings to install energy efficient measuresand community group projects to provide localenergy efficiency advice. They have also fundedcommunity growing spaces and local projects tohelp people move away from their cars towardslower carbon transport alternatives.Wee Jim LandscapesJames AndersonBridgefoot,Glenmuick, BallaterAberdeenshire AB35 5SNFirewood AvailableCall for detailsTel: 013397 55997Mobile: 07821 746756Email:weejim03@live.co.uk

There is also additional support for disadvantaged,black and minority ethnic communities and youngpeople in developing their CCF applicationthrough new £750 Development Grants.Innovative applications for funding areencouraged, but to be eligible for CCF grantscommunity groups must be community-led,operate on a not-for-profit basis, prove they canachieve measurable cuts in their carbon footprintwithin their neighbourhood and leave a sustainablelegacy in the community. From initial ideas toproject implementation, groups applying for CCFfunding can count on support from Keep ScotlandBeautiful, who manage the fund on behalf of theScottish Government.War Memorial Restoration GrantsFinally the Scottish Government has provided1 million pounds for the renovation of war memorialsthroughout Scotland. For more informationget in touch with Historic Scotland at hs.grants@scotland.gsi.gov.ukGraham StuartPlumbing & Heating EngineersBathroomsBoiler ReplacementsPressurised SystemsOil Fired, Solid Fuel orUnderfloor Central HeatingTel: 013397 55627 / Fax: 56342Mobile: 07836 562946Est. 197537Improving Broadband –Help Aberdeenshire Councilto Improve Your Service:Aberdeenshire Council isissuing broadband survey postcards to alladdresses within Aberdeenshire as part of a bidfor Government funding to improve broadbandin the area. The Scottish Government has beguna procurement programme to deliver upgradedinfrastructure capable of delivering broadbandspeeds of at least 24 Mbps to 75% of premisesin each Local Authority area by the end of 2015,and a basic service of 2Mbps to the remaining25%. Aberdeenshire Council has already agreedto contribute up to £18 million to improve broadbandservices in the council area but it mustprovide evidence of demand from residents andbusinesses in order to qualify for additional fundingfrom the Scottish Government. The postcardsurvey was sent out from Monday, January 28.Residents are urged to complete and return thepostcards to demonstrate that this demand exists.TheI N V E RH O T E LCrathie, By BallaterLog fires and a warm welcomeat The InverOpen to non residentsGood food & fine winesLunches & Dinners -Reservations RequiredTelephone 013397 42345www.inverhotel.com

38 Chest Heart & Stroke ScotlandLocal residents and visitors toBallater will have noticed a new facein town in the shape of the Chest Heart & StrokeScotland Boutique in Bridge Street. The store, whichopened in November, joining those in Banchory andCults, is offering a very different and exciting conceptin charity retailing which is proving hugely successful.As Shop Manager Alexandra Innes explained:“Our Boutique gives our customers a bettershopping experience and also attracts higher qualitydonations - which in turn realise higher sale pricesand generate more income for the charity. Since allprofits help fund the vital services CHSS providesacross Scotland for people affected by chest, heart andstroke illness, this is obviously good news for everyone.“We’ve had great feedback from our customerswho have picked up labels such as Jaeger, Jobis,Basler and Michael Kors. Some customers don’teven realise at first that we are a charity store andhave been known to ask for items in other sizes!“We couldn’t run our store without the helpof our wonderful volunteer team and we’d beDavidsonsChemistsRetail PharmacyandVeterinary Chemist GroupDelivering Quality Healthcaresince 1897PRESCRIPTIONSCOSMETICSPHOTOGRAPHICOver-the-Counter MEDICINES& ADVICEMon - Fri 9am - 5.30pmSat 9am - 5pm10 Bridge Street, BallaterTel: 013397 55409by Liz Wickesdelighted to hear from anyone interested in givingsome of their time to help. Whatever yourinterest - merchandising, display, advising andserving customers or sorting donated stock -, there’ssure to be something to suit you. Full training isprovided as well as out of pocket expenses so whynot come and join us and have the satisfaction ofmaking a real difference to the lives of people inyour local community.“We’re also delighted to accept donations ofquality clothing, accessories, collectables –anythingexcept large items of furniture. If you chose to GiftAid your donation it can be worth an extra 25%in monetary terms to the charity.”For more information about volunteeringfor Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland or donatinggoods please contact Alexandra on 01339755953, pop into the store at 14 Bridge Street,Ballater or visit www.chss.org.uk.We are Scotland’s Health Charity. All moneyraised in Scotland stays in Scotland.Morven VeterinaryPracticeOpening Hours:Monday 2pm - 6pmTuesday 10am - 2pmWednesday 10am - 5pmThursday ClosedFriday 12 noon - 5pmTel. 013397 - 5513424 Golf RdBallaterAberdeenshireAB35 5RS

Webcam at A93 BraemarSnow gate by Geva BlackettMembers of the public and businesses can usetheir smart phones or home computers to see if thesnowgate on the A93in Braemar is shut andthus plan journeys moreeffectively. The webcam,the initiative of BraemarCommunity Council,has taken five years togrow from an idea to aworking tool.AberdeenshireC o u n c i l l o r G e v aBlackett said “I got fedup not knowing if thegate was open and oftengot caught. I realised thatmany businesses and tourists were also sufferingand - with technology advancing rapidly - decidedas a then member of the Braemar Community39Council, to do something about it. Awebcam was the obvious solution. We all dependon tourism and the webcamprovides a win-winsolution for residents,tourists and A93 roadusers alike.”Links to the webcamfor phones - http://www.braemarscotland.co.uk/cam/phone.htmand for PCs http://www.braemarscotland.co.uk/cam/cam.htmThe link can also befound on AberdeenshireCouncil website www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/webcams/braemar.aspGlen Lui HOTELRelaxation with a ViewLunches served 12 - 2pmDinners 6pm - 9pmGlen Lui HotelInvercauld Road, Ballater013397 55402www.glen-lui-hotel.co.ukBooking advisable toavoid disappointmentLicensed for WeddingsLarge Parties andOffice Outings welcome

40Saturday 13 th of April-Discover the Shielin of MarkA walk up to the secluded and atmosphericbothy called The Sheilin of Mark. Follow theAllt Darrarie burn up onto the moorlands aboveGlen Muick. A day of wide open and dramaticlandscapes. A mountain walk, off path on roughground. A good level of fitness is required. Bringa packed lunch.Distance: 10Kms (6miles), ascent 350m.Cost: Free.Time: 10am-3pm.Booking essential- 013397 55059.Sunday 21 st of April – John Muir Day.Take part in a practical conservation task withthe Rangers to help safeguard the wildlife ofthe Cairngorms National Park. Organised tocelebrate The Year of Natural Scotland.Meeting Point: Spittal of Glen Muick visitor centre.Philipp N. StellmachPlumbing & HeatingEngineerBalmoral Estate Walksby Glyn JonesTime: 10am-3pm.Cost: Free.Booking essential: 013397 55059Monday 6 th of May – Birds B4 Breakfast!An excellent opportunity to observe theintriguing courtship rituals of the black grousefrom the comfort of a Land Rover Discovery.Organised to celebrate the Year of NaturalScotland.Meeting point: Spittal of Glen Muick visitorcentre.Time: 6:00am-8:30am.Cost: £10 per person.Booking essential, limited places available.Monday 20 th of May – Red Deer Ramble.Accompany a ranger to discover the intriguinglifestyle and learn about the management of themajestic red deer of Glen Muick. This is alsoa good opportunity to observe the wildlife ofGlen Muick. Organised to celebrate The Yearof Natural Scotland and Biodiversity Week!Meeting point: Spittal of Glen Muick visitorcentre.Distance: 4.5Kms (3 miles), ascent 50m.Time: 6-8pm.Cost: Free.Booking essential- 013397 55059.6 Craigview Place, Ballater, AB35 5PJTelephone:013397 55565Mobile:07801 947528Email:philipp.stellmach@btconnect.comFirewoodTel: 013397 55997Mobile: 07821 746756email: weejim03@live.co.ukweb: www.weejim.webs.com

Dear EditorMy name is Alexandra Harper-Cameron and I’m researching myfamily history in the Ballater area.I was hoping some of your readersmight be able to help me with someanecdotal (or any other) informationregarding the Harper/Dunbar familiesof Cornellan.William Harper was my grandfatherand, his wife, Margaret Harper(nee Dunbar) my grandmother. Myfather, Harold, left Ballater in thelate 1920s and moved to Canada. Ibelieve my grandfather, William Harper, died in1944 and my grandmother, Margaret Harper (neeDunbar), in 1956. They had four boys and onegirl. My father, Harold, and my uncle, Leonard,lived most of their lives in Canada and both havepassed away. The rest of the children remained inthe UK to the best of my knowledge.I would very much appreciate any help anyonecould give me in this endeavour.Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.I may be contacted by email at chica676@gmail.com , Sincerely,Alexandra(For anyone not using email who might haveinformation for Alexandra, please pass this to theBallater Eagle, c/o Ballater Library, and it willbe forwarded to her. The Editor).Larks GalleryContemporary Scottish ArtPaintingsPrintsSculptureCeramicsGlassTextilesPhotographyJewellery10 Braemar Road Ballater (013397) 55888 www.larksgallery.com

42A Cautionary Tale by Betty WilsonAbout 50 years ago, I workedfor a year in Los Angeles. It was inthe early days of cosmetic surgery,and rich American ladies were having face lifts.You could easily recognise them because they allhad surprised expressions and fixed smiles on theirfaces. Of course, the technology has improved alot since then. The following is a poem on thesubject by Pam Ayres called:-Surgical EnhancementI stand before the mirror, and I feelmy spirits sink,I’m so bored with this old body, it’s sowrinkled, fat and pink.It hasn’t got the shingles, or a heavychesty cough,But it needs a few adjustments; a fewsections slicing off.So jab it, stab it, use it, bruise it,give it all a tweak,Insert the bags of saline, and hopethat they don’t leak.Inject the collagen, carve me amonumental pout!So I’ll have lips of blubber once thestitches have come out.I’m going to have my neck done,it’s so crepy, slack and loose.They haul it up and stretch, I thinkthey do it with a noose.I’ve been studying my bottom; it’s notlooking very well.It needs lifting up, and sculpting,and judicious bags of gel,So as I walk down the high street, andyou view me from the back,I’ll be mischievous and bouncy, liketwo ferrets in a sack!And if I’m wearing Lycra, you couldhave a heart attack,For I’m going to be surgically enhanced.S H O R T , B A R K & S I D E Sdog grooming

Now I’ve got another problem, thatI get the shakes at night,I think it’s the result of all the chequesI’ve had to write.I’m having liposuction on my abdomenand thighs,I’m hoping to reduce myself to a quarterof the size.They use a kind of vacuum-cleanerneedle, don’t you know,They stick it in your midriff and theydrive it to and fro.Then “Slurp”! and there’s your problemin the bucket down below,For I’m going to be surgically enhanced.I have felt decrepit lately, but I suddenlyfeel better,And I smell the sweet aroma of theoperating theatre.So come on Mr. Surgeon, celebrate andpop the cork,I’ll lie on the table and you get yourknife and fork.I’m signing the indemnity and coughingup the cash,Maybe I am profligate,extravagant and rash,I want a younger face!To obliterate the years, I think theylift it up and loop it round your ears.Considering my bosom, well it’slooking rather sad,But then I must remember thattwo children I have had,And in my fond maternity, produceda potent brew,So now the kids are fifteen stone andover six feet two.But returning to the bristols, I don’twant the past to wreck them,So I’m going to have them surgicallyenhanced, like Mrs. Beckham.I can’t afford the luxury and treatmentthat she can,So I’ve booked it on the cheap to haveit done in Pakistan.My husband will regard himself a verylucky man,When I have been surgically enhanced.STATIONPopular Informal Restaurant in the Old Royal StationOpen daily from 10amStation Square, Ballater AB35 5QB

44Ballater Historic ForestryProject Association by Ian CameronBallater Historic Forestr yProject Association was formed at the completionof the original feasibility study of our projectedidea to recreate two log cabins at Dalmochie.Since then time has moved on; criteria for fundingtightened as funding dried up, and to obtain grantfunding today the organisation requesting it hasto own the asset; in our case the ground wherethe original camp was built.The landowners, Forestry Commission(Scotland), have agreed to sell, the funding isnow in place and there is just the legal paperworkto sort out.The following article in “The Illustrated” ofFebruary 8 th 1941 by W.J. Passingham paintsa cameo picture of war-time Dalmochie camp.We visit a Scottish Lumber CampWhere dense forests of Scotch pines clothethe steep mountains on both sides of the RiverDee at Ballater, great snow-covered spaces aresteadily widening over the slopes to show wherethe Newfoundland lumberjacks are working.There are piles of snow flung high on either sideof the little bridge over the Dee where sledgewagons laden with timber are drawn by Caterpillartractors to the saw mills just outside the village.The Newfoundland lumberjacks have beencutting down 3,000 trees a week--- roughly10,000 cubic feet of timber --- for the British wareffort during the first year of their work in theScottish Highlands. They came from Newfoundlandat the invitation of the British Government,when timber supplies from the Baltic countrieswere cut off and shipping space was needed forother and more urgent commodities.From Newfoundland, experienced lumberjacksanswered the call --- French Canadians, Indians,English, Irish and Scots--- all came to Great Britainon the next ship that sailed from St. John’s.Mr. Edgar Baird, manager of theNewfoundland Overseas Forestr y Unit,Brian SmithFuneral Services LtdThe only family run and owned funeral directorin Aboyne, Banchory and PeterculterPre-Paid Funeral Plans Available317 North Deeside Road, PeterculterTel: 01224 732530Huntly Road, AboyneTel: 013398 8662585A High Street, BanchoryTel: 01330 825400Contact Brian or Angela Smith (24hrs)

was asked to establish his men in camps scatteredabout the Scottish Mountains where the greatpines grow. Ballater became his headquarters,and out in the surrounding pine forests ninety menprepared to make a road.Timber merchants from all parts of GreatBritain came to see whether there was enoughtimber in Scotland to make the lumber businessthere a commercial proposition. What they sawimpressed them, but the visitors were puzzledmost by the Newfoundland methods of making aroad up the mountainside to reach the tall timber.The lumberjacks began by cutting timber rightaway, and stacking it in piles along each side ofthe proposed road.“When it comes the snow will make the road,”the lumberjacks said confidently, and went onbuilding log huts and cutting trees in their ownexpert manner.Those piles of timber grew in number, and atfirst no attempt was made to move them.There was no road until the snow came, andthen fourteen Garron ponies --- especially suitedto work in mountainous country --- arrived at thecamp and were installed in the comfortable stablesthe lumbermen had already prepared from Scotchpine logs. They harnessed the ponies to strongsleds, and after a few days the rough groundbetween the piles of timber became a firm, smoothroad leading to where the Caterpillar tractorswaited to take over the hauling operations.And today, a traveller out of Ballater,rounding the wide curve of this road, will comesuddenly upon a scene he might well mistake fora typical Canadian lumber camp.There are log huts built by the Newfoundlanders,set in a forest clearing and exposed tothe bitter weather on mountain sides, which forwarmth and comfort surpass anything suburbanbuilders have produced. Moss gathered from theforest is used to stuff between the rough hewn logsand keep the huts draught proof, and spending afew minutes inside them from the bitter weather onerealizes that English and Scots alike have not yetlearned how to keep themselves warm.Food is of the best, and well cooked, butdifferent from what the lumberjacks are accustomedto at home. The pickled beef and pork they get athome are preferred to even fresh Scotch beef. InNewfoundland forests, too, the camp cooks makeall the bread, pies, cakes, and pastry needed, andthe lumberjacks are apt to suspect anything whichcomes from a baker’s shop. “The food’s good,” theysay “but we like it best when we cook it ourselves.”“You can’t have everything,” one lumberjackpointed out, “but we’re happy here because lookwhere we will around these forests we find sceneswhich remind us of home. It’s a bit warmish inthese parts, but as far as scenery is concerned theplace might be a little bit of Newfoundland itself.What we have really missed here in the last twelvemonths is our fishing season.”“Most of us are fishermen as well aslumbermen. Logging at home doesn’t beginuntil October, when we get the snow to makeroads, and it ends with the spring. We go out onthe Grand Banks fishing all through spring andsummer. Others among us are seal fishermenand trappers.”“But we are glad to be here and doingsomething to beat the enemy,” the manager, Mr.Edgar Baird, said earnestly.“The men are working well, but we getsoldiers, sailors and airmen on leave up here fromthe village --- and uniforms look good to the boys.Several of them have waited until their contractexpired, then joined the Forces.”“Every lumberjack here signs a six months’contract, after which he is free to go back home, orstay here and do what he likes. The basic rate ofpay for lumberjacks in Newfoundland is two dollarsa day with free board, and they get the same here--- which amounts to nine shillings a day. It is a greatmistake for an experienced lumberjack to think hecan do more for the Empire by joining the Forces.They are needed here on work of nationalimportance, and cannot be replaced. Moreover,it is not easy to train a man, however strong andfit he may be, to be a good lumberjack.”“The felling of trees is only a small part of thework in producing logs. Trimming a tree quickly, forexample, is a much more difficult operation. But thebiggest problem is the transportation of trees fromthe spot they are felled to where they are needed,

and this applies especially in steep are saved for telegraph poles along the trunk roads.46mountain districts.”At one Scottish camp alone they fell about five“How do you manage to make a hundred trees a year for poles.”tree fall exactly where you want it?” “And what about re-forestation?” I said.I asked. “That’s easy enough,” Mr. “Your men will eventually chop down every treeBaird said, and led the way to where a tall tree was in Scotland.” Mr. Baird grinned, shook his head.marked for felling. A grizzled lumberjack swung an “Replanting takes place about three to four yearsaxe in two quick strokes, and a deep notch appeared after felling,” he said. “Don’t worry about thenear the base of the tree. Then he used a bow-saw on future. In thirty years’ time there will be morethe opposite side of the trunk --- cutting swiftly towards timber in Scotland than there is now.”the notch. “The tree will begin to fall from the notch,” There are many other lumbermen fromMr. Baird explained. And where the notch was cut Northern Europe who also see a great futurethe tall pine bent sharply and fell. I looked about me in Scottish timber--- men who were in the vastthen, and saw that every fallen tree in the vicinity lay Baltic trade before the war stopped all exports toin the same direction ready for transport.Great Britain.“We try to be as good at felling trees as the Latvians, Finns and Russians who foresawScotsman,” Mr. Baird said wistfully, “but we the war and the ruin of their business, came tocan’t beat him for economy in timber.” England while there remained an opportunity to“What comes of all the timber?” I wondered. do so. Thus have lumbermen from Europe and“It all goes to the mines for pit props,” he answered, the New World met in Scotland.“but enough is kept to make obstruction poles in In fact the saw mills on the opposite bank offields and on beaches all over the country to prevent the River Dee, which deals with timber felledenemy airplanes landing. The big logs go to theby the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit atsaw mills. The best trees, tallest and straightest,Dalmuchie, Ballater, is managed and directed byLatvian lumbermen.ASBESTOS ROOF REPLACEMENTROOFING REPAIRSGARAGE ROOF CONVERSIONSASBESTOS REMOVAL AND DISPOSALSEPA REGISTERED11 Monaltrie CloseBallater, Aberdeenshire, AB35 5PTTelephone (0800) 7076223Mobile (07778) 776883Email bill.garageroof@btinternet.comFree competitive quotations at all timesCall Bill Stephen on 0800 707 6223 or 07778 776883or email bill.garageroof@btinternet.com

Glen Muick Scotland RuralPast Group by Glyn JonesScotland’s Rural Past was a five-year,nationwide project, which supported localcommunities across Scotland to investigate desertedrural settlements dating from the medieval andpost-medieval periods. The project, which waslaunched in October 2006, was hosted by theRoyal Commission on the Ancient and HistoricalMonuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), withsupport from the Heritage Lottery Fund, theNational Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland,and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Throughthe work of the Historic Rural Settlement Trustthese organisations recognised the need to improveour understanding of these rural sites and encouragetheir conservation by involving local people.In September 2008 the Scotland’s Rural Pastteam ran a training weekend for local people atThe Spittal of Glen Muick visitor centre. About47twenty folk attended the initial training course andfrom that a dedicated, hard core group of six ofus have continued to meet on a monthly basis toput the skills we learnt into action and record ourlocal archaeology. Another fifty groups similar tous existed throughout Scotland. The Scotland’sRural Past project came to an end in 2011.However, the Royal Commission let us keep allour surveying kit and were still very keen to acceptall our records.Sandy Mitchell in the ruins of a kiln at Glen MuickInvercauld LodgesSelf-Catering AccommodationPrices from:£55/night & £350/week12a Invercauld RoadBALLATERAB35 5RPTel: 013397 55015Our initial aim was to record all the archaeologyin Glen Muick to a standard which could beaccepted for inclusion by The Royal Commissionfor Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland ontheir Canmore database. The ground surveying isbacked up by archival research. After four yearsof work we have almost achieved that aim. Withonly the largest and most interesting site in GlenMuick left to survey – Blacharrage - and we hopeto complete this early this year.Our surveys, so far, have been along two mainstrands- surveys of settlements and townships onthe lower ground and surveys of individualstructures further up the hills, such as shielings,still houses and animal enclosures. The ultimateobjective is to produce a landscape scale mapof the whole of Glen Muick with all of these

48structures mapped so that we cancompare this with other parts ofScotland. This will give us an insightinto how people lived and howthey managed the land over two hundred yearsago. So far we have surveyed four settlements andmany shieling sites. We are working from the top ofGlen Muick down. Some of the sites that we haverecorded have already been noted by RCAHMS,mainly from aerial photos or old editions of maps.Other sites that we have surveyed were previouslyunrecorded. We record all of the settlements to1:200 scale using a surveying technique called“plane tabling”. We also have GIS capabilitiesto stitch together the maps we produce. Individualstructures further into the hills are recorded usinga GPS (global positioning system), photographedand various measurements taken.A quick look at the Canmore web-site willgive you an idea of the wealth of archaeologicalsites present right on our doorstep - http://canmoremapping.rcahms.gov.uk.This databaseholds over 300,000 records and 150,000photographs. All of the records generated byour group are uploaded onto this web-site so areaccessible to both researchers and the generalpublic. If you go for a stroll in any of the Glenssurrounding Ballater it is well worth having a lookat this web-site first, as your route may be goingvery close to an archaeological site.Some of the information that we have acquiredfrom this project has been used by the BalmoralRanger Service to improve the historicalinformation that we provide to the public. Forexample we have a way-marked walk around thetownship at The Spittal of Glen Muick and youcan pick up a leaflet that takes you around thiswalk at the visitor centre. In February we will beinstalling a new information board in The Spittalof Glen Muick visitor centre that interprets someof our findings. We are also organising a guidedwalk during Scottish Archaeology Month, inSeptember, around some of the settlements andstructures in Upper Glen Muick.To date the group has surveyed hundredsof previously unrecorded structures, includinghouses, barns, grain drying kilns, enclosures,shielings and still houses. Some of these structuresare sinking into the bogs on which they stand andto record them in detail preserves an importanthistorical record of the sheer scale of humanactivity that once existed in these Glens. Therecords will be kept in perpetuity on the RoyalCommission database. Once we have finishedsurvey work in Glen Muick we will start onanother Glen.We are very grateful to both Balmoral Estateand Glen Muick Estate for allowing us access tothese sites so that they can be recorded. If anyonewould like any further information about the GlenMuick SRP group then drop me a line at glyn.jones@balmoralcastle.com.

Victoria and Albert MemorialHalls by Bell Macaulay2013 is shaping up to be the year when wefinally achieve major progress in our refurbishmentplans. As you know, the Albert Hall and adjoiningareas will be upgraded first, and we hope to dothis work when some of the regular groups takea break, to minimise disruption. We are close tofinalising the details, and we will keep you all fullyinformed as things progress.We have been fortunate to get through thewinter without too much interruption to bookings– and Spring is just around the corner!On the subject of bookings, there is anencouraging upward trend, bringing newclients, and with all areas being used morewhich is excellent news.Plans for a Learning Centre based in theBeaton Craigie Room have received a boost asfunds have been made available from AberdeenshireCouncil and the Cairngorms National ParkAuthority to help produce a business plan toensure viability of the centre, and a curriculumwhich will satisfy community and business needsfor training and leisure. All the current uses willfit very comfortably into this.Website – www.victoriaandalberthalls.co.ukthere is still much work to be done on this, withcalendar entries a priority, but we need to be surethat these are accurate before proceeding.Ongoing maintenance – as always wehave to keep sufficient funds to coverongoing maintenance of the building, and tocarry out repairs and work which helps the smoothrunning of the Halls. You may have noticed thatthe handles on both entrance doors have beenreplaced and it is now possible to gain entrywithout spraining wrists! Jack Coull has designedand supervised the construction of a trolley so we cannow store almost all of the chairs under the stageThe Oven ValetOven CleanersDoing the jobs you hate!Bringing the Sparkle back to your oven.Using Non Toxic,Non Caustic Products in Your HomeT: 01330 823079 M: 07920483233www.theovenvalet.com info@theovenvalet.com

50in the Victoria Hall – much easierthan lifting them on to the stage.We have had several leaks in the roofduring heavy rainfall. The weaknessis in the leading surrounding thetriangular vents - some areas have already beenrepaired, and the rest will be completed when theweather improves.Saturday Films – Ade Scripps and his helpershave done a sterling job in promoting and showingfilms for youngsters (and the not so young!) once amonth – including drinks and popcorn. We haveinvested in a much larger screen to enhance viewingand we will be showing some films which mightappeal to a wider audience, perhaps at a later time.We are at a “break even” point financially, but needto encourage more people of all ages to come along.Don’t forget, if your group would like to organise aviewing of something of particular interest to theirmembers, we can always try to help.Fundraising – Ian Hay and the RefurbishmentGroup are doing a sterling job in attracting fundingfor all the work to be done, and we are buildingShanghaiTakeawayFinest Chinese, Peking, Thai& Cantonese Cuisine10 Golf Road, Ballater AB35 5RE013397 55666Telephone Orders WelcomeOpening Hours: Open 7 days a weekSunday to Thursday : 4pm – 11pmFriday & Saturday : 4pm – 11.30pmWe only accept cashup a match funding pot which has been supportedby a number of user groups.In addition we have events planned over thecoming months –V & A Halls 200+ Club – we will starting anew round of draws in April, and will be twisting armsto renew subscriptions before then! A painlessway to support the Halls, and you can buy morethan one ticket!Saturday 4 th May – a Silent Auction in theVictoria Hall – wonderful lots to be won, withsome wine to lubricate the action!Saturday 25 th May – a table sale – tables canbe hired at £15 each. The Halls committee willrun bottle stall, cake stall, raffle and donations forentry. Donations for these tables would be verygratefully received.Tuesday 2 nd July – Alastair Savage fiddleconcert in either Albert or Victoria Hall. Alastairis a violin player with the Scottish SymphonyOrchestra, but he also plays the traditionalScottish music of Scott Skinner and Neil Gowand folk music, as well as some of his owncompositions.September – Paul Hughson - who performedin the Victoria Hall last year to critical acclaimhas a new show entitled “Fit Like”, and proposesto bring it to Ballater in September.Further information about all these events willbe available in due course.Finally - The Victoria and Albert Halls andtheir adjoining rooms provide the community withan enviable amount of space for all purposes.Once refurbished, we will be able to accommodateall the needs of current users, from small meetingsto larger groups and including sports, exerciseclasses, dancing, weddings and celebrations,conferences to name only a few.Please bear with us whilst the work goes on.There will be some disruption, but we will try tokeep this to a minimum. We would be delightedif more groups could nominate a representative tocome along to the monthly meetings – the minutesand agenda are circulated round all user groups– that way you will have first hand knowledge ofhow things are going!

Charles Davidson – TheBallater Poetby Sheila Sedgwick51Approximately a year ago, Peggy Frasercontacted the Eagle and forwarded a copy of apoem written around 1910 by Charles Davidsonabout the shops and shopkeepers in Ballater. Thepoem was extracted from the book “Deeside Lyrics”and was reproduced in our Christmas issue,as Peggy felt that current residents of Ballatermight be interested to read of the shops andshopkeepers of the village of yesteryear. Therefollows an article by Sheila Sedgwick giving somedetail of Charles, the Ballater Poet.Charles Davidson, a well known characterin Ballater, lived with his wife in Albert Road.Little is known of his early life, but it would havebeen similar to that of any young lad in Ballaterat that time - a smattering of education and anearly start on a job to help to support the rest ofthe family.Like most of the male members of the family,Charlie was a keen Freemason. He was alsovery musical and was in demand for many localmusical events. However, his real interest wasin writing poetry – not necessarily of the statusof Byron who wrote of the beauties of the areaand of “Dark Lochnagar”, but of local eventsand Ballater’s residents, - always with a touch ofhumour. Charles Davidson was a mild man, ofquiet speech and popular in the village. Usuallyhe behaved impeccably.On one occasion Charlie’s mild mannerleft him and he appeared in a different light. Hedid not always take to “foreigners” and when ona rare occasion he felt he had been “affronted”he did not mince his words.The Tsar, related by marriage to QueenVictoria, came for a visit to Balmoral. The StationSquare, extra wide to allow for horsesand carriages and for parades of welcoming troops,was the usual reception base before the carriagesdrove to Balmoral. Charlie was well used to potentatesarriving and to handling their quantitiesof baggage. However, when he had to deal withthe Tsar’s arrival in 1896, the Russian languageand the mountains of luggage were too muchfor him on a pouring wet day. Charlie put some‘immediately needed’ luggage in a waiting horsedrawnvehicle. He ignored, or deliberately didnot hear incomprehensible shouts by a Cossackwho obviously wanted this luggage elsewhere.The Cossack, in a strange environment, gettingwetter every minute, lost his temper with a manwho, to him, was an inferior, stupid Aberdeenshirepeasant. He was about to hit Charlie withhis stick. “Stop” yelled Charlie at the top of hisvoice, “That’s maybe a’ richt in Russia, bit itwinna work in Ballater”. An ugly situation wasdeveloping. Locals were lining up on Charlie’sside when a Russian security man stepped in,spoke to the Russian and pacified Charlie in whata local referred to as ‘Christian Scotch’. Charlielater commented - ‘I suppose I micht hae beenshot in Russia.”To my knowledge Charlie never recorded theevent in verse.A volume of Charlie’s poems, named “DeesideLyrics” that give a picture of life in Ballater duringhis lifetime was published privately, paid for partlyor wholly by the Free Masons and a number ofcopies still remain in the village.Moira MelroseKiltmakersince 1992Quality Hand Sewn Kilts013398 80074Email: kiltmaker@hotmail.co.uk

52 Pottering About...Well, the winter weather hasn’tbeen as bad as a couple of years ago,but as I write I’m getting rather fed up of the whitestuff and very much looking forward to even moredaylight and some warmth from the sun at last. Atleast it’s now almost light when I start work. Theglow in the east, and often the mist snaking overthe river and hills, is a promise of another day of alittle more light. The sudden relentless white stuff,whilst being gentler in the long term than it hasbeen, in that it’s thawed before it starts yet again,has persuaded me to give up attempting to get thecar out. Please see photos in my defence! Andthe walking is mighty good for me, despite beingexhausting when thigh deep.Recently, a very fancy invite arrived to a drinksreception at Birkhall and I accepted. I noted withgreat relief that the dress code covered items I had.Unlike a garden party I attended a few years backwhere invite stated that hats were mandatory. OfCar there somewhere .....by Stella Pottercourse, it’s not that I don’t have an eclecticselection of colourful wacky warm hats to brightenup winter, but nothing suitable for a garden party.So I ended up making my own. One plainborrowed floppy straw hat, one red feather boafrom ebay, enough thread to sew the latter to coverTOTALBUILDINGSERVICESfor all your homeimprovement needs‘No job too small,so give us a call’)013397 56221or 07728 480706KALLOSbeautyEmma MurphyA friendly and professionalbeauty therapist, formerlyof the Marcliffe.Beauty treatments carriedout in your home ortourist accommodation.Call 077345 43554for an appointment.www.kallosbeauty.com

the former and voila! Big, bold and colourful.Rather like me!Luckily there were no hat issues for this occasion.As I never drive in the dark (because of thoseridiculously bright blue headlights that I’ve rantedabout before in these good pages) I arranged a liftwith a colleague who has no such qualms. She’sone of the plucky determined Home Carers thatdrive to Braemar twice a day, whom I’m in aweof for their dedication and bravery.So we set off. In the dark. And the ice. Andthe snow. Neither of us had been to Birkhallbefore, and there were no directions on theinvitation. One assumes the locals know I guess.My colleague had asked someone else, who hadtold her the entrance was on the right off the LochMuick road. As I knew the fence on the right ofthat road marks the Birkhall boundary, this madesense to me too. Very gingerly we made our wayup towards Loch Muick. We did comment on thelack of other vehicles…We passed all the fencing, still no entranceon the right but there was a road / track, eventhicker with ice and snow than the one we wereon. We stopped. No mobile reception to checkthe interweb. We agreed the road /track to theright must at least be going in the right direction,so we braved it. After a while there were lights.Hooray! A house, we could ask for directions.Unfortunately there was no answer to my doorknocking. So, rather deflated, we decided on theAh, there it is ....THE SILVER THISTLEHighland WearHighland AccessoriesHighland DancingBagpipe AccessoriesJewelleryQuality Gifts46 Bridge Street, Ballater, AB35 5QDTel: 013397 56200 www.silverthistleballater.com

‘in for a penny, in for a pound’54approach and continued. A verysteep and sharp icy bend almost hadus going back but my colleague ismade of stern stuff. By now, of course,we were late.A few minutes later we came to a T-junction.We agreed to try turning right, and a wee waydown the road was gritted. Hallelujah! We sawlights and policemen with torches. Assuming wehadn’t been lost long enough to be looked for wesupposed that this was, at long last, the Birkhallentrance. Two policemen checked our ID, and achorus of “that’s the last two now” followed us aswe drove up the far clearer road than we’d beenon for the previous half an hour.At the top of the stairs, a very pleasant youngman offered us drinks. Most welcome I must say.As I wasn’t driving I was delighted to choose thechampagne, although my colleague did say thecranberry juice was absolutely delicious. Inbetween nibbles – the haggis balls were particularlyfine – and generous top-ups of my glass weLaMangiatoiaRistorante &Pizzeriacompanionably chatted with our hosts. I made a bitof a faux pas when asked, what I thought was, “areyou grown up?” and answered, “I jolly well hopeso!” when actually being asked if my children were…For a while I inwardly mused if we ever do growup. We hopefully manage to take on the growingresponsibilities of adulthood, but is coping withmodern life the same as maturity? Having lost bothparents I still hugely miss talking things throughwith my Mum. I’m the matriarch now and still feelthoroughly unprepared. I’m comfortable in my ownskin and do my best to encourage my daughters todo the same, whilst encouraging them in the skillsfor independence – which certainly the eldest hasgrasped eagerly - yet there’s still such a big partof me that still needs my Mum. We didn’t alwaysagree but I recognised her wisdom of experienceand wholehearted love for me. I now fully understandthe wholehearted love for my offspring andguess I need more experience to feel wise, but atleast it’s something I aspire too.So I raise my glass to wisdom, in the hope Imay one day attain some semblance of it. Cheers!H M Sheridan Ltd11 Bridge Street BallaterTel: 013397 55218Fax: 013397 56042email: info@hmsheridan.co.ukBy royal appointment to H.R.H. The Queen and H.R.H. The Prince of WalesBridge SquareBallaterTel. 013397-55999Various selected Prime Roastsavailable this Easter fromYour Local ButcherVisit our online shop atwww.hmsheridan.co.uk

Portrait o’ a Grannyby Mary MunroGranny Davidson fae Coldstone wid haebeen thocht o’ as a bit o’ a slorach tae some fowknooadays, bit she wis jist my couthy, weel lo’edgranny. A bosy fae her wis like bein’ drooned infoosty auld claes – fine smellin for a’ that. In hersaft wallopy breists ye fun the smell o’ the honeydreepin in the ben-the-hoose Room, hens’ maetan corn mash, yirned milk an oatcakes fired onthe brander.Maist o’ her adult life she wis boo’ed twa-fauldan waddled aboot her chores like a deuk, black likea hoodie craw – black, wiven stockins, buttonedblack sheen, black or grey stuff frock wi a blackflooery wrap-o’er apron. Her face wis broon anriven wi wrinkles, bit her e’en were as blue as thebluest bluebell in a green, shady wid.As a bairn, I thocht her affa bonny, an likit taestroke yon lang hairs comin oot o a plook on herchin. Granda wis near eneuch God tae us bairnsThe Deeside Inn55for ye only spoke till him gin ye werespoken till, bit ye could whisperferlies an secrets tae Granny, bosied intae her warmlap, her breath sweet-smellin like the milky guff o’kye in the byre.“Haste ye back!” she wid aye say as ye leftfor hame – an meant it, nae like some fowk fa sayit, secretly hopin ye’ll forget far they bide! Ye kenthon fowk that look o’er yer shooder at a pairty, taesee fit ither body looks o’ mair interest that yersel!Granny hid niver traivelled far afield – a triptae Tarland wis a “reed-letter day”, bit she wis themaist contented body I iver kent, happy at the heido’ the breem hill, wi her chuckens an her coo, anher grandchildren, in that order. Bit she traivelledin her heid, for she wis a great ane for books. GinMother wis like tae gie me an o’ergaun for sittinwi my nose in a book, fan there wis jobbies tae bedeen, she wid aften say “Leave her be the noo –We are offering traditionalSunday lunches (£9.95 fortwo courses or £12.95 forthree) as well as a weeklysteak night - priced at£14.95 per personincluding a half bottle ofspecially selected wine.The new management team are looking forward to welcomingthe local residents of Ballater.Come along and see us soon.For more information call 01339 755413The Deeside Inn,13-15 Victoria Road, Ballater, AB35 5RAE: deeside@crerarhotels.com W: www.crerarhotels.com

56books are gweed for her!”We a brocht Report cards taeshow Granny, an her gweed Roomwis stappit fu’ wi school photos o’her grand-kids. Birthdays wereaften doon at Granny’s, for she aye biled a muckleclootie dumplin, wi silver threepennies wrappit ingreasproof paper, an the hillie in front o’ the craftwis the best place on a fine day for an Easter picnictae row yer hard-biled eggs.Tae me, she’s a granny tae be prood o’ for a’her lack o’ “sophistication”, for we can dae finewithoot that! She wis warm an couthy an gweedtae fowk. That, tae me, is a that I look for in a body.TechnologyI was visiting my son and daughter-in-law lastnight when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.“This is the 21 st century, old man” he said.“We don’t waste money on newspapers. Here, youcan borrow my iPad.I can tell you that fly never knew what hit it …!(With acknowledgement to The Pensioner Magazine.)C.S.M.HandymanJ.LaniganAll the little jobsyou can’t get any1 to dogeneral maintenance inside andout, gutter cleaning, gardentidying, chimney sweep, etc.Strathgirnoc FarmhouseSouth Deeside RoadBallaterTel. 013397 56227Mobile07506951506Email: C-S-M_Aerials@hotmail.co.ukWeb: csmhandyman.co.ukFRASER & MULLIGANYour localsolicitor andestate agentBuying and Selling PropertyWills and Powers of AttorneyTrusts and ExecutriesNotarial ExecutionsResident Solicitors24 Bridge Street, Ballater, AB35 5QPTel No. 013397 55633Fax No. 013397 55564ballater@fraser-mulligan.co.uk

Carers Week 10th to 16th June57Across the UK the number of people caring,unpaid for a family member or friend who is ill,frail and disabled has now risen to 6.5 million.Every day at least 6,000 people start caring.Becoming a carer can impact significantly on aperson’s life – it takes time, energy, can leave youisolated and can be costly.Prepared to Care? – the 2013 CarersWeek campaign –will focus on how the UK’scurrent carer population is coping, how effectivelyGovernment is supporting the growing numbersof carers, and whether the wider population isprepared for future caring responsibilities.Through Prepared to Care? Carers Week willhighlight the impact of caring on daily life and,with an ageing population and higher incidence ofdisability and serious illness, encourage the publicto think whether they could manage a caring role.Prepared to Care? will also help thosealready caring to make sure theyare accessing all the practical andemotional support they need to care safely andlook after themselves.A new report to be published for CarersWeek will highlight to Government the changesrequired to improve the lives of carers and thepeople they care.Running from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 June2013. Some 2,000 organisations will be involvedin 10,000 Carers Week Prepared to Care? events.Carers Week has a wide range of carerswilling to share their experiences.Contact: tel 020 7378 4955 or email media@carers.orgKeep up to date with campaign developments atwww.carersweek.org and www.facebook.co/carersweekTwitter @carersweekSTUART ESSONPLUMBING &HEATINGENGINEERTEL: 013397 56378MOBILE: 07786 543100LOCALEXPERIENCEDAWARD WINNINGKNOWLEDGEABLEINDUSTRIOUSEFFICIENT

58 Advertisers IndexHere at The Eagle we are keen to try things to see if they improve your enjoymentof our Community Magazine. We had a suggestion to include an index of advertisers.We hope that even after you have enjoyed reading the articles, you will find The Eaglea valuable asset everyday, finding those all important contact numbers more easily. Ifyou like this feature please let us know and we’ll make it a regular thing.Aboyne Physiotherapy 8Aboyne Van Hire 9Alexandra Hotel 13Atholl Countrywear 12Auld Kirk 34Ballater Post Office 19Balmoral Estate 2Bill Barclay Kiltmaker 10Bill Yule 29Brian Smith Funeral Services Ltd 44Carnelian 11Celicall Crafts 59Cindy Adams 12Classic Abode Garden Services 59Crannach Coffee Shop and Bakery 14C.S.M. Aerials 14C.S.M. Handyman 56Darroch Learg Hotel 24Davidsons Chemists 38Dee Valley Blinds 27Deeside Animal Feeds 59Deeside Books 16Deeside Deli & Garden Shop 26Deeside Inn 55Deeside Tiler 28Deeside Tree Care 29Dee Valley Blinds 27D P Opticans 18Edward J Emslie 35Forbes Duguid 20Fraser & Mulligan 56Glen Lui Hotel 39Graham Stuart 17Hairloft 28H M Sheridan Ltd 54H.P.S. (Aberdeen) Ltd 15Inver Hotel 37Invercauld Lodges 47Kallos Beauty 52La Mangiatoia 54Larks Gallery 41Marie Chapman 11McEwens of Perth 32Moira Melrose 51Morven Veterinary Centre 38NPC Mole and Pest Control 33Phillip N. Stellmach 40Roy Mitchell 21Shanghai Takeaway 50Short, Bark and Sides 42Speedwell Framing 29Spencer’s of Crathie 23Station Restaurant 43Stuart Esson 57The Garage Roof Company 46The Hair Loft 28The McEwan Gallery 32The Oven Valet 49The Silver Thistle 53Total Building Services 52Ultimate Hair 59Wee Jim Firewood 40Wee Jim Landscapes 36

PROFESSIONALGarden & LandscapingFor all your garden projectsFriendly & Professional ServiceMember of Gardeners GuildFree EstimatesContact Moira - 013398 82496www.classicabode.co.ukWe offer a broad range ofpet and animal feeds and bedding fordogs, cats and other household pets,wild birds, chickens and otherpoultry, horses, sheep,goats and pigs.Free weekly deliveriesto Ballater and area.Open 7 days a week:Mon - Fri 8am - 7pm. Sat & Sun 10am - 4pmMoss-side, Lumphanan, AB31 4RP01339 883221 or 07970794973www.deesideanimalfeeds.co.ukHAIRDRESSINGSERVICESIn the comfort of your own homeBy Rae StanfordAboyne, Ballater, Crathie, BraemarLadies, Gents,Children, Concessions,Bridal/SpecialOccasionsCutting, Colouring, PermingHair ExtensionsTel: 07824 338 767Web: Ultimatehairbyrae.co.ukEmail: Ultimatehair.byrae@googlemail.comCelicall CraftsG. Cowie, Workshop,3 Braemar Road, BallaterTelephone: 013397 55699By Appointment toH.R.H.The Prince Of WalesThe Duke Of RothesayPicture FramerCelicall Crafts, BallaterBespoke Picture Framerestablished over 25 Years.Tapestry & Needlework framed.Supplier of framed Fishing Flies,framed River Maps andlocal Pen and Ink Sketches.

Springtime is the land awakening. TheMarch winds are the morning yawning.L GizzardThank you to Colin Cowie for this wonderful photoof such a special place in the hearts of many BallaterresidentsPerhaps not the perfect place for arelaxing seat at this time of year!Newfoundland Loggers by Eric BeckettBelow is a photograph of Newfoundland loggers in Ballater 1940. I was wondering if any of your readerswould know who the two young boys are and if they are still alive. They seem to be wearing schooluniforms which might help to identify them. I can be reached by email ebeckett@nf.sympatico.caThe Ballater & Crathie Eagle is made possible by:Advertising, Donations, Sponsorship, Fundraising, “Awards for All” Lottery funding,and Cairngorms Leader + European Funding. A special thank you to SandyDonald for a donation to the Eagle. Thank you to everyone who supports us.We deliver FREE from Crathie to Cambus O’May. Thanks to Friends of theEagle for delivering to some outlying areas.