Posts for July, 2022

Scalan was originally the site of a secret Roman Catholic seminary where priests, known as ‘heather priests’ were trained during the 1700s when Catholicism was prohibited.

Following the departure of the priests in 1799, Scalan reverted to a farm. Two steading buildings were built housing corn threshing mills which served the Glenlivet farming community. The threshing machines and water wheels are still in place along with a wealth of historical graffiti telling the story of farming life in the 19th and 20th centuries. A major project to conserve the mill buildings took place in 2019, restoring the waterwheel and lade in North Mill and improving visitor access to the site. This was funded through the Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Join Glenlivet & Inveravon Heritage Ranger Lydia on a guided tour of the site and the mill buildings. You will learn about the history of the site and the mill buildings and we’ll touch on the history of illicit whisky distilling and smuggling too. In addition to being of historical interest, this area abounds with oystercatchers, curlews, and lapwings in the spring and summer months – be sure to bring your binoculars if you have them.

We will be meeting in the Carrachs car park at 1:00pm before proceeding by foot along a farm track, 1km from the car park at the end of the public road. Please wear appropriate footwear and clothing for changeable weather.

Children are very welcome to attend.

Toilet facilities are available during the summer months.

Well behaved dogs are welcome in the mill buildings, but are not permitted in the seminary. Please note that sheep and other livestock live on site.

How to get to the Carrachs car park:
Turn east off the B9008 at Auchnarrow (signposted for Scalan) and follow this road right to the end ensuring to follow sign for Chapeltown of Glenlivet. If you are using a navigation system, the postcode AB37 9JS will take you most of the way to Chapeltown of Glenlivet. Drive past Braeval Distillery and at the road end follow the 90-degree right hand turn which leads to the car park. This track is quite potholed and uneven in places so please proceed slowly and carefully.

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

“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 , Smugglers Trails’.

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.

Company of Wolves presents a solo work by Anna Porubcansky.

Unbecoming is a performance about loss and rage, told by a woman and a mother.
Rage, at all we become when we don’t feel like we have a choice. Loss, of all we haven’t become.
And how we unbecome.

Using traditional song, soundscape, myth and movement, Unbecoming is a dreamworld, a rich and sublime
space where image, memory, desire and fear all reside. Watch a woman unravel, layer upon layer stripped away,
to reveal a human, unmasked. How much of what we are is what we’ve chosen to be?

“genuinely powerful … a captivating portrait of a woman caught in the dissonance of contradictory desires”
-The List

“Anna Porubcansky’s… looping and overlaying of recorded layers and real-time vocalisings echoed the complex
layers of a woman caught in a swithering vortex of choices and desires” – The Herald

Featuring over 20 UK and international Carvers competing for the Claymore Trophy.
Trade, craft and food stalls.vintage buses, Beer Tent and Tea Tent Home Baking, Children’s activities. Pipe Band and Grand Auction.

Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh with Charlie McKerron, will be joining Ian Cameron and Margaret Bennet, plus local artists from Laggan for the Laggan Ceilidh at Laggan Village Hall on the 6th August 2022. Doors open at 7.30pm. We hope to see you there for a good knees up. Entry by donation.

For our wildlife and environment to be protected for years to come we must engage the next generation with our natural world. This talk will discuss Mya’s experience of growing up being fascinated by nature, what we must do differently to inspire young people, the barriers that young naturalists often have to overcome, and what projects and opportunities are already available.

Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh Band Summer Tour 2022 will be showcasing young local traditional musicians aged 15-17. Monadh Ruadh will be playing at the Loch Insh Outdoor Centre, Kincraig from about 12.30pm, come and listen to some splendid Scottish music over a spot of lunch, whilst enjoying the beautiful views.

Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh Band Summer Tour 2022 will be showcasing young local traditional musicians aged 15-17. Monadh Ruadh will be playing at the Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore from about 12pm, come and enjoy some splendid Scottish music for free.

Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh Band SUMMER TOUR 2022 will be showcasing young local traditional musicians aged 15-17. Monadh Ruadh will be playing at the Pine Marten Bar, Glenmore from about 4pm, come and enjoy some splendid Scottish music for free whilst enjoying an apéritif or early dinner on the terrace.

Tour dates:

Monday 1st August
Speyside Centre, Dulnain Bridge -12.30pm
Tuesday 2nd August
Landmark Forest Adventure Park, Carrbridge -12.30pm
Wednesday 3rd August
Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore – 12.30pm
Pine Marten Bar, Glenmore, Aviemore -16.00pm
Thursday 4th August
Highland Folk Park, Newtonmore – 12.30pm
Friday 5th August
Loch Insh Outdoor Centre, Kincraig -12.30pm
Saturday 6th August
Laggan Hall – Ceilidh guest performance, 7pm, (paid entry)

Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh Band SUMMER TOUR 2022 will be showcasing young local traditional musicians aged 15-17. Wednesday 3rd August Monadh Ruadh will be playing the Old Bridge Inn at lunchtime, come and listen to some splendid Scottish music for free whilst enjoying your lunch or a drink on the terrace overlooking the river.

Tour dates:

Monday 1st August
Speyside Centre, Dulnain Bridge -12.30pm
Tuesday 2nd August
Landmark Forest Adventure Park, Carrbridge -12.30pm
Wednesday 3rd August
Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore – 12.30pm
Pine Marten Bar, Glenmore, Aviemore -16.00pm
Thursday 4th August
Highland Folk Park, Newtonmore – 12.30pm
Friday 5th August
Loch Insh Outdoor Centre, Kincraig -12.30pm
Saturday 6th August
Laggan Hall – Ceilidh guest performance, 7pm, (paid entry)