Posts for April, 2023

Landseer – A Highland Romance

Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the greatest artists of the Victorian age.

He was inspired by the drama and mystery of the Highlands to paint a romantic vision of the landscape and its people in an exotic northern wilderness. Grantown Museum brings together rarely seen works by Landseer to explore how Highland culture has been shaped by his enduring imagery.

13th May – 30th Sept
Weekdays 10 -5
Weekends 11-3
£5

‘Arrival at a ball in Glenfeshie, The Duchess of Bedford and Party’ , credit: From the Woburn Abbey Collection

Sale of surplus art materials and equipment

Sale of artwork from the collection of the late Gwyneth Wright of Kingussie who died a few months ago plus accumulation of paintings remaining from the work of Dave Fallows and Marielle Barclay.

Join us for a walk around Moray’s earliest surviving tower house reputed to have been built for Scotland’s vilest man- Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch.

Join Glenlivet & Inveravon Heritage Ranger Lydia for an introduction to Pictish art and symbol stones. We will be looking at four Pictish Stones discovered in the churchyard of Inveraven, which has been a site of spiritual practice and pilgrimage for centuries. This tour will provide an overview to Pictish art and culture and will show how the Picts contributed to the shaping of modern Scotland.

Access to Inveraven Church is off the A95 about half a mile north of the entrance to Ballindalloch Castle, and can be found by following the brown tourist sign directing visitors down the single track road to the Inveraven Pictish Stones.

Parking is available at the bottom of the drive before you arrive at the church or in front of the church building.

As we will be outside, please dress appropriately for changeable weather.

Children are very welcome to attend. Please note that toilet facilities are not available on site.

Well behaved dogs may attend but must be leashed.

Funded by Foundation Scotland from the Dorenell Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund.

The renowned Glasgow based Westerton Male Voice Choir has been entertaining audiences for over 60 years and their performance in Boat of Garten is part of their Highland Tour. The choir’s conductor Bryan Marshall, one of 2021 BBC ‘Scotland’s People’ says that to take the choir out to an audience beyond West Central Scotland has long been a personal ambition and represents an important milestone for the choir. You will hear the unique and powerful sound of male voices in harmony with songs like Highland Cathedral and many more.

The first exhibition of 2023 for Creative Cairngorms includes textile, jewellery, woodworkers, painters, felters and photographers. All work is for sale.

Whisky-enthusiasts will delight in the popular walking trail the Speyside Way. Cragganmore was the first distillery in Scotland to have its site selected and be built specifically to take advantage of its proximity to the Strathspey Railway. This walk follows the route of the old railway from Cragganmore station to Blacksboat Station and back again.

“Glenlivet it has castles three, Drumin, Blairfindy and Deskie”. This Heritage Ranger led castle walk will take us to the 16th century tower house of Blairfindy and begins outside the iconic Glenlivet Distillery. On the walk in we’ll enjoy fantastic views over the glen. You’ll learn a bit about Glenlivet’s rich history and some whisky history too.

Blairfindy Castle was completed in 1564 by John Gordon. In 1586 Blairfindy passed to the Earls of Huntly, another branch of the family, who used it as a hunting seat. A panel above the arched doorway bears the Gordon arms and this date. In its heyday Blairfindy was a fine example of a three storey L-plan tower house and even today shows a remarkable degree of preservation.

Research has shown that the castle was probably burned by troops after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and it was never repaired or occupied after this time. A project to stabilise Blairfindy Castle took place in 2019, funded through the Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership, a programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The castle is now open to visitors for the first time in decades and has been specially adapted to encourage nesting birds and pollinators.

Please park at the The Glenlivet Distillery car park. The walk will start from outside the stillhouse under the green signpost marked ‘Blairfindy Castle 1/2 mile’ (see last photo).

Access is by foot along a dedicated track. Please wear appropriate footwear and clothing for changeable weather.

Toilets are available inside The Glenlivet Distillery Visitor Centre.

Children are very welcome to attend.

Well behaved dogs are welcome.

Funded by Foundation Scotland from the Dorenell Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund.

Some notes from the artist:

These watercolour paintings have grown out of my relationship with Scottish landscapes.

Over the last year, I have spent time walking in, observing and sketching landscapes from Aberdeenshire to Orkney to
Mull.

I have absorbed these places deep inside me, and then let them emerge onto paper as and when they want.

These paintings are therefore as much about me and my emotional response to place as they are about this amazing country.

Please note the opening night (9th June) of the exhibition is 6.00pm to 9.00pm. Between the 10th and 16th June the exhibition is open 9.00am to 5.00pm.