Auchterhouse Newsletter

This is our last newsletter for 2018. Thank you to CONTENTS everyone who has submitted articles this month and throughout the year. From wine tasting, to carol singing, Page 2-3 Community Council to a Hogmanay pub night and a burns supper... this Page 4-5 Sidlaw Churches edition of the newsletter is full of local events for you Page 6 Wine tasting night to get involved in. Page 7 School Lane Garden Page 8 SWRI If you are not already on our email distribution list please send your email address to: [email protected]. Page 9-11 L&A Curling Club We also have a newsletter Facebook page which is ideal Page 12 Country Sports for sharing local information, events, photos, news. Page 13 Hogmanay Pub Night Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Page 14 Feed a pet for Christmas Page 15 Baby & Toddler Group Page 15 Rural Burns Supper Page 16 Ceramics Sale Page 17 Mongol Rally 2018

Issue 18 - November 2018 1 Community Council Update - August to November

Police matters raised by PC Gail Beattie There continue to be break-ins and thefts in our rural area. Keep your property secure at all times. PC Beattie advises us all to sign up to receive free neighbourhood crime alerts - www.neighbourhoodwatchscotland.co.uk.

Planning An application for change of use of land east of 24 Braeside has been submitted and approved.

BT Phone Box The box has been painted and the new glass with “Defibrillator” on it has been installed. The British Heart Foundation gave us a grant for 50% of the total cost and we are grateful to the Church who shared the balance with the Village Hall Committee. The defibrillator has arrived and will be installed in the phone box shortly.

Playing Field Toilets The CC will take over management of the toilet block by the end of January. An advert will be circulated to advertise for a cleaner to maintain the toilet every fortnight.

42 Community Council Update - August to November

Donley Wood The legal offer has been made to purchase the wood. An application has been submitted to LEADER to request funding for building an all abilities path.

Community Council Membership On 18th October the inaugural meeting for the new session of Community Council was held and the new members were welcomed. The Community Council Members for this term are: Shiona Baird (Chair), John Forster (Treasurer), Liam Yule (Secretary), Linda Cockram (Planning), Helen Smith, Euan Baird, Alastair MacLeod, Ronnie Hamilton & Aileen Baird. We don’t have any youth members at present but would welcome anyone age 14-16 who are interested in joining.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 13th December at 19:00

Job advert - Cleaner for Public Toilets

Angus Council have handed over the management of the playing field public toilets to the Auchterhouse community.

The Community Council would like to employ someone local to take on the job of cleaning the toilets on a fortnightly basis. The rate is £20 per clean.

If you are interested in applying for this job please email: [email protected] 3 Sidlaw Churches

WE WILL REMEMBER

Auchterhouse celebrated Remembrance with special dedication to the men who lost their lives in the GREAT WAR OF 1914 - 1918.

Firstly our lone piper Gillies Law played at the Memorial at 6.30am.

The Church service was at 9.30am. Rev Jean de Villiers gave a wonderful and thought provoking service and sermon. The names of the five local men who lost their lives in the war were read out: Peter Batchelor, Dronley; Robert Bury, Eastfield; James McLeod, Kirkton of Auchterhouse; Robert Mitchell, Balbeuchley and David Nicolson, Scotston. A candle was lit for each.

The congregation and others who joined in, were piped to the War Memorial by five pipers and four drummers from the Auchterhouse Pipe Band. Then back to the Church for 2 minute silence, God Save the Queen and at precisely 11am our newly repaired Bell rang for 5 minutes.

At 7pm a beacon was lit at Westminster Abbey followed by more than 1,000 beacons all the way up the country. There was a huge beacon on the and was alight with fireworks. A very fitting day for all the thousands who gave their lives in the hope that we could have better lives.

Elzabeth Millar

4 Sidlaw Churches

Carol Singing All welcome—raising money for Shelter. Please meet at the Village Hall.

Sunday 16th December at 6.00pm Tuesday 18th December at 6.30pm

Christmas Family service Sunday 16th December at 11.00am

Christmas Eve Monday 24th December at 5.30pm Monday 24th December at 11.30pm

United Service Sunday 30th December 10.00am in Hall,

Auchterhouse Guild Tuesday 11th December at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

Speaker; Rev Jean de Villiers ‘Tales from S. Africa’ Please join us for what promises to be a fun evening

5 Cancer Charity Wine Tasting Night

Venue: Millennium Hall, Birkhill Date: 8th December, 19:00 till 22.45pm

There will be three white, three red, a rose and sparkling wine to try. Cost of the ticket is £15. There is a bus leaving from the village at 18.45 to take people from the village to Birkhill. The bus is very kindly being provided by Sidlaw travel. The coach will return at roughly 23:00. There are only 15 to 20 tickets available so if you are interested please let Jo Williamson know by contacting him on 320260, 07950414269 or [email protected]

Many thanks, Jo Williamson School Lane Garden This has been the most successful year for fruit in the School Lane Garden. The apple trees bought from one of the smaller supermarkets were laden with lovely red eating apples. Most of the fruit trees planted in the play- ground by Angus Council did exceptionally well. The raspberries produced a bumper crop of really sweet fruit. The peas also did well. The latter two were at their best during the summer holidays and it was gratifying to hear the children say that they had been in with family to pick them. Cabbages did well but the brussel sprouts were devastated by the caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly, despite netting covering them. P2 pupils made a valiant attempt to pick the caterpillars off, relocating them elsewhere in the garden but they either found their way back or new ones hatched. I know some adults with an aversion to Brussel sprouts will be happy but garden sprouts are delicious. The potatoes were much better this year but other crops did not do so well. The visitors from Guiche were impressed with the garden and they too had a good taste of the raspberries.

On another occasion a group of visitors to Auchterhouse, with a long ago connection to the primary school, came in to see what we were doing. On sampling the rasps, which they said tasted better than any they had bought, they asked to do some weeding in exchange for a punnet. That's exactly what a Community garden is all about. We will soon start planning for next year. We need to do more to get better crops in the other veg like onions and carrots. Gardening is a challenge but so rewarding when it goes well and especially when the children get excited by the results of their work.

Shiona Baird

Photo: Glorious Schizostylis flowers brightening up an Autumn day with well cropped chives, much loved by some children! SYLLABUS 2018 - 2019

AUCHTERHOUSE

SCOTTISH WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

Join us for our meeting in December a 1920s themed party night on new membersthe 10th alwaysat 7:30pm welcome Auchterhouse Village Hall & Auchterhouse Curling Club

It has been a busy start of the Curling season for Lundie and Auctherhouse Curling club. We kicked off the season by taking part in the Opening Bonspiel at Dundee Ice Arena on Monday 17th September we may not have been the winning team on the night, but we had a great evening. It was good to get back on the ice this was followed by the Opening Bonspiel at Indoor Sports on Sunday 7th October.

Our Opening Bonspiel took place on Tuesday 23rd October at Dundee Ice Arena with Dundee Virtual Club and Dundee Juniors members joining us. We played what is called a Pot Lid with the aim of the game to get as many stones in the house to win the most points. It was a great evening with us all managing to play each team. The winning team on the night was John Skea and his team of Liz Furrie, Jenny Arbuckle and Hamish Baird.

9 At the start of November 17 members headed down to Stranraer for our annual weekend Curling at North West Castle. On Saturday all four teams played two games which were followed by another game on Sunday. There were only one of our teams went right through to the Final. Sadly they were unlucky in not winning the overall winner of the weekend, but all 4 of them are true winners. The winning team was Bruce and Sandi Buchan and Helen Smith and Neil Mackintosh (sub-John Smith).

On Sunday 18th November we took over Forfar Indoor Sports for our Club Bonspiel which was followed by a meal and prize giving. We had eight teams on the ice with Dundee Virtual Club and Dundee Juniors joining us along one of our member's sisters playing Curling for the first time, and she enjoyed herself. After a great afternoon of Curling, there could only be one team to win the Wooden Spoon and another team to be crowned as winners. Thanks to Liz Furrie who kindly made our Winners Trophies this year.

The overall winners for the afternoon were Neil Mackintosh, Darren Law, Gillies Law (Dundee Juniors) and John Brown.

Wooden Spoon winners were Phill Murrie, Liz Mathews (Dundee Virtual Club) Calum Skea (Dundee Juniors) and Helen Smith.

10 The start of the Season has been very enjoyable and interesting. We have taken part in some leagues in Dundee and Forfar. Including our internal club leagues playing at Forfar Indoor Sports.

In the Dundee Ice Arena Panmure Pairs, John and Calum Skea are through to the Semi-Finals, and Judith Strachan and her team of Helen Smith John Brown and Isla Miller are through to the Second round of the Angus Challenge at Forfar Indoor Sports.

If you have ever thought about giving curling a try why not contact our Club Secretary Karen Smith. Both Karen and Andrew Skea (Match Secretary) are qualified coaches at Dundee Ice Arena. We are looking at running events to allow you to come along and try curling. We will keep you up to date on these events through the newsletter and Facebook page.

Lundie and Auctherhouse Curling Club is a great club as we have a mix of players with varying levels of experience and we support new curlers. We enjoy a wide range games to suit all levels of curling skills. We have social events throughout the year like our annual summer barbeque and so much more.

Karen Smith [email protected] 01307 461461

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Hogmanay Pub Night

You are cordially invited to a Hogmanay pub night which will be held in the village hall. BYOB & BYOF with some ceilidh dancing possible. Join the community in seeing out 2018 and welcoming in 2019. There will be a small charge to cover hall rental which will contribute to hall funds for maintenance and future developments.

For more information please contact Joanne Elwin (320498), Clare Wood 320747 or Ros McKay's (320789).

Auchterhouse Baby & Toddler Group

Auchterhouse Baby & Toddler Group meets every Monday from 09:30 to 11:00 in the Church. All are welcome for a play and a cuppa. We are a friendly bunch of people and its a lovely way to start your week (child optional)! Please contact Pauline Turns (07851 236522) for more information.

Auchterhouse Rural Burns Supper

Auchterhouse Rural will be holding their annual Burns Supper on Friday 18th January in the village hall at 7.30pm. An evening of celebration for Robert Burns, good food, and company. Bring your own drinks. Tickets are £10 for a haggis supper, oatcakes and cheese, shortbread and a whisky or sherry. Tickets are available from Barbara Sayers on 07986867255 or Morag Ellis on 07701065255, or through members of the Rural.

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Mongol Rally 2018

The Mongol Rally thunders over 10,000 miles across the mountains, desert and steppe of Europe and Asia each summer. There’s no backup, no support and no set route; just you, your fellow adventurists and a tiny 1000cc car you bought from a scrapyard for £11.50.

The Mongol Rally is about getting lost, using your long neglected wits, raising shedloads of cash for charity and scraping into the finish line with your vehicle in tatters and a wild grin smeared across your grubby face. Neither your car, nor your life, will ever be the same again.

The rules are simple… 1 You can only take a farcically small vehicle of 1 litre or less (we will allow up to a 1.2 if you’re a bit weak) 2 You’re completely on your own 3 You've got to raise £1,000 for charity

People can read the blog of our experience: https://thehighlandersuk.wordpress.com

Jo Williamson 07950414269

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