FREE! Sponsored by Mintlaw Gala Committee

email: [email protected] Issue 33 Autumn 2020

elcome top our first edition since February. What a lot of water has gone under the proverbial bridge since then - little did we know what was ahead of us! I was in Edinburgh mid-February and on seeing a lady wearing a face mask, turned to my W daughter and said ‘isn’t that a bit over the top?’ Look at us now - practically each and each and every one us wearing a face covering of some sort. I’ve made many silent apologies to that unknown person since!

One good thing to come out of all of this though, is Mintlaw’s amazing community spirit making itself felt yet again. Whatever the cause Mintlaw has risen to the challenge - the Millennium bash, successive galas, the Christmas lights initiative, the foodbank drives to name but a few, and now Mintlaw Matters. Whenever help has been needed Mintlaw has responded 110% - what a fantastic place we live in!

During the lockdown many local heroes emerged, but there will be lots others most of us don’t know about . The Community Council would like to hear about these exceptional people and mark their achievement with a special certificate. Do you know of anyone who has gone above and beyond to make life easier for those round about them? If so just complete the nomination form at the bottom of this page and return it to the address shown, making sure you have the permission of the nominee, and if it’s a child parental permission.

At the height of lockdown one way we showed we appreciation and respect for the NHS was by displaying rainbows in our windows. Be- cause of Covid-19, Remembrance as such will be cancelled - see arti- cle on page 3 - but following an initiative by the British Legion we can participate and remember by displaying a poppy in our windows. Mintlaw Primary School will be issuing templates to all its pupils, but anyone else who would like one can pick it up from the community shop in Mintlaw Hall on Tuesdays 10.00 am -12 noon, or Thursdays 12 noon - 2.00 pm.

I would like to nominate ...... (Name)

...... (Address) for an award

During the lockdown he/she ......

...... (Reason)

My name is ......

Return form to Mrs J Whyte, Northcote, 2 North Street Mintlaw AB42 5HH by Tuesday 17th November MINTLAW & DISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The Community Council has continued to function over the lockdown and since, first of all by email and phone calls but latterly with Zoom meetings - what an amazing app that is and how well it works, as I’m sure many of you have discovered!

Just recently the CC applied for and was awarded £2,500 to allocate to local businesses to help with their PPE costs. Those who applied are listed below.

A further sum has been awarded from a pot designed to get visitors back into the community to support our local businesses. It’s been decided to use this money to produce a book of local walks, all starting and finishing at a point as near to the Square as possible. Production is still at the planning stage, but it’s intended to have this ready for next Spring.

The Community Council is constantly looking for new members - if you have an interest in your commu- nity and care about what happens in it, please think about joining .

Contact details - [email protected]

Murdoch Allan Flowers by Wendy Mintlaw Public Hall Dubby Paws K Design Saw Services & Power Tools Golightly Beauty Ewan Morrice Angela Roxburgh Mintlaw Men's Shed Macbi Dawn Connah Head 4 U Lynne Freeman Macbi Cafe Country Park Inn Stephen Findlay Alysha Beauty Studio Angela Clark LMR Hairdressing Bigman Handyman (Gary Clark) EH School of Motoring JStyle Steph's Hair Studio Judith Anderson Mike Ferris The Mintlaw Chipper Rebecca Hastie Pitfour Arms Hotel Lawrence Dance Academy Station Garage Ann Joss

HOUSEHOLD RECYCLING CENTRES

You still need to book a time slot to visit a recycling centre. This can be done through the Council Website or by calling the Council Wasteline Team on 03456 081207

Please be aware that the seasonal garden waste facility closes on Saturday 31st October. Remembrance Sunday reat to have the CLAIK Because of the ongoing pandemic crisis, this back in our year there will be no parade round the Square, G midst again! no piper, no bugler and no fly-cup in the hall afterwards. The Legion will be sending just a We in the Mintlaw couple of members to lay its wreath after the Cancer Self Support 11.00 am event in , and any group/ Group appreciate supporting this local paper organisation who wishes to lay one in Mintlaw that keeps us up to speed with all that’s going is welcome to do so at approximately 11.15 am. on in our area. However, only ONE representative per group will be allowed to do so, in a socially distanced It’s been a difficult time for some in our group, manner. and still is, being locked in, locked up and let down by this virus and still no escape from it. Please respect, and adhere to this request from the British Legion. So let’s all happily share and read what’s happening with all the good things via the CLAIK

Keep safe

Christine Moir MCSS Group

Our ‘tea in the park’ was another casualty of Covid-19 - all the planning, prepa- ration and arrangements wiped out overnight! However, we still hope to have a belated celebration in 2021 - hope being the operative word!

One of the most welcome donations came from that incredible lady, Janice Mutch, (you can find her on FB Mutch4Less ) who works tirelessly to raise money for loads of charities. Her target when she started was £50,000 and now she’s only £6,000 short of that. There are no words to describe her!!

Janice is pictured presenting a cheque back in February to VE Day organiser, Justine Tough.

We did have a small, socially distanced gathering when local pipers Mandy Rae, Pamela and Sandy Whyte and Kyle paid tribute by play- ing ‘The Battle’s O’er,’ and another piece that was specially commissioned for the occasion.

Pictured is WW11 veteran 94 years old Peter Davies who participated in the event. nother event to fall victim to Covid-19 is the annual community carol sing- ing following the switch on of the Christmas lights. We are still hopeful that the lights will go up on November 29th, but there’s little A chance of enjoying our so much looked-forward to afternoon of even socially distanced singing with both the Aurora Choir and the choir from the church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints followed by the welcome refreshments.

Hopefully this will again take place in 2021, but meantime, to continue our tradition of donating food for distribution amongst those who need it, please hand your donations into the Mintlaw Matters community shop, open on Tuesdays 10.00 am - 12 noon, and Thursdays 12 noon - 2.00 pm.

Thanks!

MINTLAW PUBLIC HALL

The new kitchen in Mintlaw Public Hall was installed a good few months ago now and prior to the lockdown much positive feedback had been received from hall users. The project was achieved thanks to everyone who at- tended our fundraising events, made donations, collected small change, held a raffle, made toffee etc, and it is all very much appreciated.

The fundraising however will continue as we have quite a few more improvements in the pipeline. These include up- grading the toilets with new sanitary ware, replacement cubicles, new flooring and redecoration of all three areas.

Our first phase of funding towards this has been received from Foundation and the NorthConnect Legacy Fund by way of £1,100 grant towards replacement hand driers which will be installed just as soon as possi- ble. Improving and upgrading all heating and lighting to more efficient and economical systems are also on the long list of refurbishments, but are all looking more likely following a significant Asda Foundation grant. If only Covid-19 hadn’t happened!

A £1000 donation has also been received from Mutch4less which will also go towards improvements. Our thanks go to Janice for this donation as she works very hard to give to local groups etc.

The Hall Trustees are all volunteers and give their time generously to help keep the 127 year old building at the heart of the village in good repair and with your help and support we will continue to do so.

Top - Janice Mutch - Mutch4less - presenting a cheque for £1,000 to Hall Chair, Hilda Keith.

Right - views of the new kitchen ike every other organisation, Mintlaw and District Men’s Shed has been severely affected by Covid 19. Our monthly meetings were replaced with a phone call or email to members, and we have es- tablished a fortnightly keeping-in-touch Zoom meeting for those who can manage. Several of our L members were in the shielding category in the early days of lockdown, but all our members are in the vulnerable category and are rightly cautious.

However, some activities have continued. We have removed the old fence and tidied up the compound, removing brambles and weedy ground cover. Uprights to support cladding to allow the containers to sit more natu- rally in the compound at Aden are now attached to the containers, ready to be covered with cladding. All this was done within government restrictions and following the Scottish Men’s Shed Association recommenda- tions. Nationally, Men’s Shed will not been given the green light by SMSA to A sunny afternoon at the fully open until at some point in Phase 4 of the government’s route map. compound - uprights ready for timber cladding Members of the Men’s Shed maintained the gateways into Mintlaw over the summer, and recently planted around them daffodil and tulip bulbs for a Spring show. The attrac- tive sign at the entrance to was also refurbished, but we have not really managed to work in partnership with other local bod- ies as we enjoyed previously.

Fencing materials ready to be We were fortunate to have been awarded money by Aberdeenshire erected Council in the summer. Some of that money allowed us to buy ma- terials for a security fence at the back of the compound, a generator and additional steel carriers for the profile sheeting for the roofs. Some of the money is for work benches. We are also grateful to Mintlaw Community Council who awarded us PPE money.

However, the restrictions on social distancing have meant that our summer plans to refurbish the containers to use as workshops were totally disrupted. Currently, the two metre/two households only rule means that much of the outstanding work to improve the containers, for which we have all the materials, cannot be com- pleted by only two guys. So we waits until restrictions ease. Extra steel carriers In September we held a successful AGM on Zoom and all positions were for the roof - timber cladding in back- Appointed. ground

If you want to get more information on our Shed, please contact Sandy Thom, Chairman 01771 622912, or David Pringle, Vice-Chairman 01771 622734. Our email is [email protected], and we have a Facebook page for further information.

Our Men’s Shed is still very much up and running and new members are always welcome, so do not let Covid put you off. You are very welcome to join our Zoom meetings in the meantime by providing Tony Sladdin at [email protected] with your email address, or if you just want to go on our mailing list for updates, again, please let Tony, David or Sandy know.

Take care.

Stay safe.

Sandy Thom. Hi Everyone,

It's very strange times just now with Covid-19 but we have been fortunate to be able to escape to our plots. It’s very disappointing that our “Tea in the Cabin” has stopped for the moment and our much loved yearly BBQ Funday was cancelled, but we are in exactly the same boat as everyone else and so as long as we are healthy and stick to the rules we will get there, get everything up and running again involving the community - it will be tickity boo!

Our Toilet Project is coming on great and will be a great asset to the site. To aid the completion of the project, and erect more sheds on newly developed plots, we have organised some fund raising:

 on sale at the Buchan Saw & Tool Services and Mintlaw Co-op, we have packs of 10 beautiful blank cards suitable for all occasions @£7 designed exclusively by the allotments.  orders welcome for large, beautiful wreaths @£15  Takeaway Feed Saturday 28th November- Massive feed! Adults £10 : children £5. Bookings only. Definitely too good to miss!

Reservations to Paula 07826527536 or visit our Facebook page or Adenplots.co.uk

Our compostable toilet is currently for sale - contact me as above if you’re interested.

Our site is open to the public to have a walk around; we have sanitising stations all over he allotments, and a social distancing policy in place. We also have new seating currently being placed all around our site to make it more enjoyable and comfortable for our plot holders and visitors alike.

Take care everyone and thank you so much for supporting us.

Paula Chair

An example of the wreaths A few of the benches situated around the site on offer CLAIK CONTACT DETAILS: CLOSING DATE FOR NEXT ISSUE COVERING LATE FEBRUARY, MARCH APRIL AND MID-MAY Joan Whyte, 01771 622588

[email protected] TUESDAY 18th MAY 2021

Myra McCredie, 01771 622517 Hopefully a lot more brighter news by then! [email protected]

Activities restart at Aden Country Park

After five months of very limited events and activities in Aden Country Park they have now restarted and to date they have been a great success As part of the ongoing National Lottery Heritage Funding, Project Wheelie Fun Aberdeenshire is now offering Segway and E-Scooter tours of Aden. The sessions One of the amazing include a guided history tour which you can enjoy whilst riding around Aden on a scarecrows! Segway. In September a scarecrow trail was held. Ten scarecrows arrived at Aden on the 27th of September ready for a day of scarecrow hunting and crafts in the park. The event was well received and a real hit with those who attended. We are now looking forward to the Aden Halloween Hunt which will be held on the 31st of October and 1st of November. Tickets for the event have sold out and it is going to be an exciting and spooky day for those who have tickets. More trail events will be coming to Aden over the next few months. Details of all upcoming events and activities including how to book Wheelie Fun Tours are available on the Aden Country Park Facebook Page.

The CD Launch for the Music for the Book of Deer Suite The Music for the Book of Deer Suite (written and performed by Richard Ingham and recorded with his band Strangeness & Charm) will be an opportunity to listen to a suite of music written as a tribute to Scotland’s oldest book and greatest icon, the Book of Deer. The suite has in the past been performed on the site (Old Deer) where many experts believe that the Monastery of Deer (where the Book was written) originally stood. The book which was written in the 9th or 10th century (is held in Cambridge University) and contains the four gospels of which only John is complete. Added shortly afterwards is an office for the visitation of the sick and the creed. A Latin charter of King David 1(1124-53) to the clerics of , follows the life of St Drostan, the founder, and records of the abbey's land holdings written in the earliest example of Scottish Gaelic between 1100 and 1150 The ruins of the Cistercian Abbey are just west of Old Deer and it is believed that the original Celtic Monastery was sited close by, the most likely place being behind the present Parish Church at Old Deer or possibly, based on information from the last dig on the site of the Abbey. The Book of Deer Project is in collaboration with Cambridge University to have the Book returned on loan in 2022. The Music for the Book of Deer Suite CD launch PR package which involves print journalism and radio shows takes place on Friday 16th October via the Big Lit website. On this date it will also go live on all download and streaming platforms. Here are the links: http://www.biglit.org/index.php/programme/157-strangeness-and-charm-music-for-the-book-of-deer http://www.biglit.org

We at Music of Aden As the winter months approach this seems have met only twice like a receding hope but we must keep our spir- by Zoom. We have its up! been in touch informally however, and have been considering Meanwhile Justine Tough keeps up a score of how we might continue to stage concerts in the possible trails and fun activities in the light of possible continued Covid 19 restrictions: Park which draw record crowds - all able to small groups in larger venues, open air concerts, maintain their social distance, thanks to the virtual or live screenings for example. We do have wide spaces available! groups of musicians who would be prepared to play through out the Spring/Summer/ Winter/ Ruth Smith 2021 if the circumstances were right. Music at Aden MINTLAW PRIMARY SCHOOL

ust thought we'd let you know what the Rocket Room have been up to this term.

J We were kindly donated six bikes from Sustrans ( http:// www.sustrans.org.uk/ ) Sustrans is a charity that makes it easier for people to walk and cycle. They are engineers and educators, experts and advocates.

The boys and girls from the Rocket Room have loved spending time outside learning to ride the bikes and learning about safety while rid- ing.

This is Caitlin - she’s 9 years old and suffers from a neurological developmental disorder known as dyspraxia. It affects her memory, gross motor skills, co-ordination, balance and more. Up until one month ago, she couldn’t ride a bike, the co-ordination and balance required had always been a strug- gle but desperate to be like her friends, she practiced every day and overcame her battle with the bike.

Caitlin is also a Brownie and had been set the challenge of completing a ‘100 Some- thing’ challenge to get her Charities Badge. She decided to cycle 100 miles after school to raise a little bit of money for the Girl Guides Kenya trip, but also towards assisted learning/Rocket Room in her school.

Caitlin originally wanted to try to raise £200 but has raised an amazing £865! We are really proud of her achievement and deter- mination.

Claik comment - well done Caitlin. You’re a credit to both your school and Girlguiding! PITFOUR PRIMARY SCHOOL

The boys and girls in the Nursery are really enjoying being back and are especially loving the new outdoor area

Primary 1/2 have enjoyed starting/being back at school too. It has been a fun term of learning so far. One thing they have par- ticularly enjoyed is spend- ing time outdoors. They have focussed on writing activities around the story ‘The Bog Baby’ and been on a Bog Baby hunt - they’ve even made a home for Bog Baby! Mazes, using natural and other ma- terials, have been built, and letters practiced using chalk and water. The photos show some of the learn- ing that has taken place.

Primary 6 has enjoyed reading Wonder by R J Palacio this term. Wonder, and the main character's experi- ences of starting a new school, have formed the basis of our Health and Well- being learning this term. We have created our own Wonder Wall with our precepts and our interpretation of our favourite characters. To create our characters, we learned about proportion and perception and are really pleased with the result!

P2 and P3 creating autumn tree art.

P2 and P3 having P.E. outside with Mr Sinclair.

Primary 4 has been enjoying weekly trips to Aden park. The walk is a great way to keep everyone’s bodies nice and healthy with lots of fresh air. The class has enjoyed exploring the man- sion and new play park. And has spent some time making bird feeders by recycling plastic bottles. The pupils enjoyed filling them up with seeds and took them to the fairy woods for all the birds to eat. The class is going to be learning about the different types of birds that live in Aden Park, and everyone is looking for- wards to going back and seeing if the feeders have been emp- tied by the hungry bird! Lets hope the weather stays nice and dry - the pupils have been very lucky with the weather so far!

This term P5 has been walking to Aden Park on a weekly basis. As well as get- ting plenty of fresh air and exercise pupils have used leaves to identify trees, collected leaves for using in their art work and have used walking through the trees as inspiration for their writing. They have completed an Autumn acrostic poem and a hedgehog made with leaves, both of which are on display in the classroom. P5 also carried out a survey on the different types of birds they have seen and have produced bar charts.

To promote fitness and mental wellbe- ing, Primary 7 have been going on bi- weekly walks to Aden. On these walks the pupils have had opportuni- ties to build stronger relationships with one another through conversations whilst walking through our local countryside and playing together in the Aden play park, resulting in many giggly and tired afternoons! We have also had the opportunity to slowly build our strength and stamina through aerobic ex- ercise, and have noticed that we are able to walk to Aden much faster now!

We are now almost at the end of what has been a particularly challenging term. Staff returned to on 10th August, and pupils on a phased basis from Wednesday 12th August. Protocols, including a revised one-way system, 2m distancing within classrooms for teaching staff and hand sanitisers around the building were all in place to support a successful return to school and we are delighted that we have reached the end of Term 1 with no positive cases of Covid-19 either with pupils or staff. Both staff and pupils were delighted to return to the building in August and have been working hard to ensure, particularly senior pupils but all pupils S1-S6 have been building up clear evidence of performance in advance of any announcement about next year’s exam diet. Following discussion with our Parent Council we agreed that parents evening would not be possible this session but we have now sent out the first set of tracking reports for all pupils pre the October break. The need for pupils as well as staff to wear face cover- ings, both for movement around the school and on school transport was added to Scottish Government ad- vice at the end of August and almost all pupils have responded to this further challenge well.

Yesterday the Deputy First Minister announced that there would be no National 5 exams across Scotland next May which is a position we had already been working towards across the school. Senior pupils will now continue to build up robust evidence across all their courses and faculty staff are already engaged in ensur- ing these are being routinely moderated.

We are finishing this term with a virtual sponsored event, in place of our annual Sponsored Walk and plan to divide all proceeds equally between ’s “Relay for Life” and ICT provision across the school, the latter more important than ever in a world where e-learning as part of a Blended Learning approach could potentially become the default at any stage this session. In the meantime however, staff and pupils alike are now very much counting down to a very well deserved October break and hoping the weather is kind.

Mrs Duthie (Head Teacher) Sponsored Walk Like most things we unfortunately cannot run our usual sponsored walk this year. But with greater need for ICT equipment than ever in schools and with so many local charities having their funding affected with the pandemic, we still wanted to do something to help, so we have organised a Sponsored Walk Event where pupils are being asked to complete our usual sponsored walk themselves or with appropriate fam- ily and friendship groups. Pupils and staff also have the option to split the walk over the week and build up as many kilometres as they can. House points will be awarded to the house who build up the most kilo- metres from walking, running or cycling over the week. We hope that pupils will receive support for their efforts through our just giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ mintlawacademysponsoredwalk2020?utm_term=prjJZQXVd Half of the money raised will go towards improving ICT within the school and half will go to the Peterhead Cancer Research UK Relay for Life. Senior School Executive Our Senior School Executive team is normally selected following a process of applications, interviews and candidates delivering a presentation to their peers. Due to school closure these inter- views took place over Skype. Interviews were of an exception- ally high standard and resulted in the following pupils being ap- pointed – Cameron Whyte (Head Boy), Cari Willox (Head Girl), Elisa Elphinstone and Emily Strachan (Deputy Head Girls), Finlay Murray and Jack McAuley (Deputy Head Boys). Since our return to school these pupils, along with the prefect body have done an exceptional job, particularly in supporting our new S1 pupils. Virtual Events During Lockdown During lockdown many of our annual events went virtual. In May pupils and staff took part in virtual Health Week. All were encouraged to take part in the daily mile by walking, running or cycling. As part of the week pupils took part in virtual Sports Day challenges, which included virtually climbing the 1665 steps of the Eiffel Tower. Our first virtual Awards Ceremony took place on 11th June. It was great to hear pre-recorded messages from a number of our pupils. Mrs Duthie virtually presented a range of awards and it was great to have former pupil Kim Little – Scotland and Arsenal football player - deliver the keynote speech. Our final virtual event of lockdown was House Chal- lenge during which pupils and staff took part in a range of challenges. The end of term was marked with a live announcement that Brucklay House were the 2020 winners!

Positive Stories from Lockdown During lockdown the English department asked pupils to write about ‘what nice things have you done for yourself, your household, your neighbours, and a nice thing someone did for you...?’ Here are a few of the examples of the positive things our young people did to help themselves and others…..  I cycled to Mintlaw for one of my single outdoor activities and left one of my friends a present on their door before cycling home. Still not sure if they know it was me!  All of my friends have been really supportive through this tough time, especially with a couple more personal issues going on at this same time. It’s just nice knowing how much they really care.  I have been spending time just chilling out with my family, as normally I have barely any time with them as we are normally a busy family. I have had lots of facetimes with friends and family (including teaching my Granny and Granda how it works).  I have made tea for my mum and dad a few times as they have both had work as they are key work- ers and I have done some chores for my mum.  I have given my neighbours dog regular walks as she can’t leave the house.  Delivered papers to the vulnerable and to whoever else that wants one, I am delivering food and es- sentials to members of the public that I deliver papers too. I painted my Granny’s fence as well as plant- ing her tatties, beetroot and cabbages.  My Mum and I bake things and I drop them off at people’s door when I go out on walks with my dog. I have been helping keep the house clean and safe as possible due to the fact my mum still has to child mind for a couple of key workers families. I have also been helping “home school” the children and keep- ing them entertained by drawing with them, doing puzzles and going outside.

Make sure YOUR children are both SAFE and SEEN. Insist they always wear a helmet and check regularly that bike lights ARE working

When walking your much loved pooch, please leave behind only its footprints.

ack in the middle of March little did we know that the resilience Covid-19 group which was set up to help those in isolation would still be Mintlaw Matters running today. Like most folk we thought this pandemic would B be over in a couple of weeks, how wrong were we! Nevertheless, during these past 7 months the Covid-19 Mintlaw Matters dedicated group of volunteers has responded to over 650 requests for assistance. These include delivery and collection of shopping, prescriptions, utility top ups, and papers, along with dog walking, gardening, putting out refuse bins, drop- ping off laundered items to hospital, supplying and arranging emergency food, and any other reasonable request. Although phone calls for assistance have gradually decreased, the group quite early on in the pandemic saw a need for a community shop. With funding and guidance from several Aberdeenshire Council departments, BDP, Shell UK, AVA and donations from Mintlaw Co-op, Morrisons, Aden Allot- ments, Jog Scotland Hatton, McConnell Seafoods, Mutch4less and many kind individuals along with the very generous offer of a room at the Academy, a shop was soon open. Donations from Asda Peterhead, Central Buchan Rotary Club and Peterhead Area Community Trust also helped the group purchase school uniforms, bags and trainers for 26 pupils from six different schools, which helped families who were finding things difficult. The group was very grateful for the use of the room in the Academy but with the start of the new school term this was needed back, hence Mintlaw Matters commu- nity shop relocating to Mintlaw Public Hall. The shop is open on Tuesdays 10am- 12noon and Thursdays 12noon-2pm with entry at the side door down the lane, and everyone is welcome as the shop is for the whole community. There are 3 food shopping options (a) take 7 food items free (b) bring a donation and swap for an item (c) take what you require and leave a small money donation. All money dona- tions go to purchasing more food items. Other items available are home bakes, free range hen and duck eggs, vegetables, fruit, toiletries, and as new toys, games, books, DVD’s, CD’s, jigsaws and clothing. Only 3 customers please in the shop at one time, hand sanitise before entry and face coverings must be worn as in line with government guidelines. Donations are always welcome,. Please visit our Facebook page - Covid-19 Mintlaw Matters.

Be-link’D Buchan Transport pilot launches on Wednesday, October 7, 2020.

A new initiative offering free community transport is being launched in Buchan on Wednesday, October 7th.

The Be-link’D pilot scheme is being operated by Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus to help meet the needs of people in rural areas who cannot access suitable transport because of existing bus times, accessibility, or cost. It will be available Monday to Friday with pick-ups from 9am and a last drop-off at 3.30pm.

The project has been led and developed by a number of Community Planning partners including Ab- erdeenshire Council, Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Buchan Development Part- nership, Foyer and the Department of Work and Pensions.

Buchan Community Planning officer Maureen Stephen described the pilot as “a fantastic opportunity to try to meet the transport needs of our rural communities”.

She said: “We know that a lack of transport contributes to people’s feelings of isolation, so in these challenging times, enabling people to stay connected is more important than ever.

“The key to the project’s success will be in clearly demonstrating that there is sufficient support within the community to make the service financially sustainable.”

This service is operated on a referral basis only. Once a referral form has been completed by one of approved project partners and processed, either the referrer or the client can phone or email to book the transport.

Clients who are already registered with the Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus for the T4U service will not be eligible to use the new scheme.

Jayne Fraser, Finance Manager with Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus said: “We are delighted to be involved with this pilot because it fits well with the services already being provided by our organisa- tion.

“This is also an exciting opportunity for us to work more closely with other service providers. All the required adaptations to our buses have been undertaken to allow people to travel safely and we are looking forward to welcoming our new passengers.”

The Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus office is operational from 8.30am-4pm Monday to Friday.

Bookings and informal enquiries can be made by calling 01771 619191 (leave a voicemail and we will return your call), 07397 270965 or by emailing [email protected] The Tattie Holidays

The October school holiday, and the month of October in general, was a busy time in Mintlaw, and indeed for the entire Buchan area. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, a bonanza for kids and Mums alike, was the annual lifting of the potato crop.

It doesn’t seem much in to- day’s money after all these years of raging inflation, but when I first went to the ‘tatties’ it was 10/- (50p) a day for kids and £1.00 for the ‘wifies.’ Apart from the tractors and the digger, there were no me- chanical means of lifting the potatoes - it was all done by hand. At 8.00 am, a tractor and bogey would be waiting at the end of Lussies old road (opposite Baluss Place) and a gang of kids would climb on board, all with flasks and piece bags for the day. We would travel along to the ‘tattie park’ where ‘aal Cadger’ would be stepping out the ‘bouts’ (sections) - around 30 strides per kid. There would be a bit of arguing among the ‘gedderers’ before each kid got sorted out with a bit, then the digger was off and it was head down and bum upmost to get your tatties lifted before the digger came round again. You would learn to start at the end with your ‘skull’ between your legs, dragging it along behind you as you went, then a spare skull halfway along to change over when the one you were dragging got too heavy. Depending on the crop, you could be finished your bit and get your back straightened for a wee while. However if there was a plentiful yield, you could ‘faa ahin’ and the digger would be past again be- fore you had finished. If this happened you could get in a real panic and if you were lucky your neighbour would give you a ‘ca tee’ to help you get back on track again.

Tea time would come at 10.00 or 10.30 am, and you would sit on an upturned skull and enjoy your piece with hands heavily encrusted with good dark Buchan earth, then it was over and the digger was off again and it was head down until ‘denner’ time and another respite from the back-breaking toil. A tractor would arrive from the farmhouse with huge pots of home-made soup, sometimes chicken broth, but always deli- cious in the open air. After a couple of days of this, you would end up with an ache at the top of your inner thighs that my granny used to call ‘hip-grippet.’ It could be quite painful, but a strange sort of pleasant pain, at its worst when you were dragging yourself out of bed in the morning, moaning and groaning with the thought of another day of it. Come Friday night, we all climbed into the bogey to be taken up to the farmyard, where ‘aal lussie’ (Mr Davidson) would be waiting for you in his Rover car. He was a very up- right and authoritative figure and you found yourself standing to attention in his presence. He would call out the names one by one and you would go forward and with a thank-you accept your little brown enve- lope. Back in the group, you would carefully open it to find two crisp green pound notes and a crisp red ten shilling note. Yes, you would pay more than that for a cup of coffee now but it was a lot of money for a wee boy to have all of his own.

Regrets? None! The tatties were great! Hard work but great fun and camaraderie, and I really wish today’s kids could equally enjoy the experience.

Doug Simpson 9/09/2020.