Sponsored by Ian Anderson Issue No 27

Home , County of Moray, Dufftown, Rothes

THE ROTHESIAN

Sept 2004 Sponsored by Ian Anderson Issue No 27

The sponsor for this edition of the Rothesian is ROTHES TENANTS ASSOCIATION Ian Anderson, a Rothes loon. The Rothes Tenants Association is now registered with the Moray Council. The certificate of registration was presented to the Group at their recent meeting, by Cllr. George McIntyre, Vice-chair of the Community Services Committee. The newly registered area forum group has a recognised role within the council tenant participation process. The move also places a legal requirement on the local authority to consult with the association on all housing policies and procedures before their adoption. Established in August, 2002, the Rothes association has nine members who work closely with the council in addressing local housing related issues. In the past they have been instrumental in getting a series of maintenance programmes done within Rothes, ie new kitchens, peep-holes in doors, replacement doors, new fencing and others. Ian, son of As each association has a dedicated budget they are the late the ones who can decide how that money is to be Conrad Anderson, was brought up at 7 Seafield Square, and as a boy, attended Rothes Junior Sec- ondary School. He left school at 15 and joined the boys service to make a career in the Navy. He spent ten years in the Navy before returning to civilian life. Ian now has a successful business in South-west England, and wished to sponsor the Rothesian in memory of his happy school days at home in Rothes. Ian still has a number of friends and rela- tives in the Rothes area, and he would like to wish them well.

spent. If you are a tenant you can become a member of the group and help determine how the money can be spent. Letters giving you more information on the group will be circulated to all council tenants in the near future. The AGM will be held in November, date and time to be confirmed. The Group would like to encourage new members to strengthen their association, all would be made most welcome. For more information contact chairman, Helen Mackie, Land Street.

You may contact The Rothesian by e-mail, using the following address: [email protected] The Speyside Community Car ROTHES BROWNIES

Sharing Scheme The 1st Rothes Brownies have started back after a lovely summer break. We are all going to become artists this ...is now up and running. term with the girls taking part in their Artist's Interest If you don’t have access to a car, or are Badge. This will involve drawing, painting and craft. unable to drive at the moment due to ill- Our winter fundraiser will be our Webb Ivory cata- ness, then we may be able to help you. logues, these will be going out shortly, anybody wishing If you require transportation, please ring to have a browse through the books will be more than our number between 9 am—5 pm, at least welcome, the Brownies receive 25% of all sales. 48 hours before you need a car. At the end of last term we said goodbye to 3 of our old- er girls, Natasha, Isla and Claire, therefore we have a

01340

SPEY- 820808 SIDE COM-

MUNITY Car Sharing Scheme few vacancies. If your daughter is aged between 7 to 10 and would like to come along or is 6 and would like to Requires drivers and their cars from the go on the waiting list, please call me on 831201 or Bev Rothes area, for long and short journeys. on 831137. or pop into brownies on a Thursday evening Generous mileage allowance at 6.30pm (Grant Hall, upstairs). Beverly and I are currently looking into opening a Rain- Without you we can’t operate bow Unit for girls aged between 5 to 7, we are looking You’re the vital ingredient! for ladies, who like working with small children, to come on board to help us either on a weekly or rota ba- Contact 01340 820808 sis. Once help has been found we will then open a waiting list. More details to follow. If you have enquiries for Rainbow, Brownies or would like to see a Webb Ivory Christmas catalogue please do PAPER BOY not hesitate to contact either myself or Bev on the tele- phone numbers above. Yours in Guiding, Sadly, Kyle Coutts, our paper delivery boy has come Jennifer Nicol of age when he must give it up to pursue a career of his choice. He has been so pleasant. dedicated and punctual,no DOUGLAS - IMRIE CONNECTION? matter the weather, I feel he will be difficult to replace. I also feel that at whatever he has chosen to fol- Chris Hegley, 179f Brooklands Road, New Plymouth low he will be successful. in New Zealand is looking for information on their All the Best Kyle from Betty Thomson family Douglas-Imrie connection. The information they have is an Alexander Douglas, son of Alexander and Barbara Imrie, around 1840-1860s. [email protected]

2 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson VACANCIES ROTHES JUNIOR YOUTH CLUB

Rothes Primary School PTA has the following vacan- Last Tuesday saw the start of our third year of the Jun- cies ior Youth Club. Here are a few highlights of what the Chairman, Secretary & Ordinary Members children got up to last year. 15 - 25 hours per annum Our movie night was a great success and enjoyed by Apply in person at the AGM all our regular members; the guests included James On 29th September 2004 Bond, Rose from the Titanic, Cinderella, Men In at 5.30 pm Black, Abs from Ghost Ship, Lara Croft, The Little In the School Library Mermaid, Anastasia and Harry Potter these were just a Job Description few. The Oscars were won by Natasha, Jemima, Sam- Willing volunteers are required to join the Rothes Pri- my and Melissa. A big thank you for all who helped, mary PTA. Duties mainly include thinking up ideas some at the last minute. for and participating in the fund-raising activities of Our evenings are full of activities including board the school as well as providing support at school games, cards team games and football, also last year events involving children from nursery through to pri- we made Halloween masks, calendars, bird feeders, mary 7. tossing the pancakes and eating, hammer beads (one of Funds raised by the PTA are used to provide extras for their favourites) t-shirt printing and much more. children throughout the year, such as school trips, par- For all these activities to continue we are in need of ties, outings, visits by travelling theatre companies, more volunteers to come forward and help run the participation in sport competitions and many more. Youth club. We need some permanent helpers plus Helping out at school events is good fun, chaotic at parents who can help out on a rota basis. If we get times and you never know what skills you'll be using! enough volunteers it would only mean helping out To qualify for one of these positions you must have a once or twice a year. child, who attends Rothes Primary School and that is We meet on a Tuesday evening in the Grant Hall at it, no other qualifications required except your enthu- 6:15pm - 8:00pm for all primary aged school children. siasm and of course a sense of humour helps. We ask that children do not turn up until 6:15pm and This is an equal opportunities PTA, and Dads as well that the younger children are picked up at 8:00 pm. as Mums are welcome, as Angus is feeling slightly The last Youth Club before Christmas will be the 14th outnumbered. December. Job satisfaction is guaranteed, your children will be If you are willing to help out or require any further proud of you helping their school, and it always looks information please contact Elaine 01340 831845 or good on your CV! come along to the youth club on a Tuesday night and For further information, please ask a PTA member or see for yourself the fun we all have. member of staff. Elaine and Joanne.

ENERGY ADVICE FLOODING UPDATE An energy advisor will be available in Rothes library Moray Council have agreed the next stage in the on Thursday 2nd December from 2pm-4.30pm. Rothes Flood Alleviation Scheme. After more work on the plans, the Flood Team will have a consultation day The Energy Advisor is available to help anyone who in Rothes in early Spring. The likely costs have risen wants advice and information regarding: energy effi- to £7-11 million. ciency; insulation; heating; deregulation of the domes- The Council have done a number of interim measures, tic fuel market; fuel bills; grants or problems such as mainly in the Provost Christie Drive and Burnside dampness and condensation, and information regard- Street areas, which should help when the burn is at its’ ing the expanding change to renewable sources of en- height. The recent flash floods have again confirmed ergy ( e.g. wind , hydro electric and solar power.) that Rothes has a problem with poor surface drainage. Talks are being arranged with the Water Board to dis- Lynne Laing cuss this issue. SCARF - Moray Project Tel 01343 823059 [email protected]

This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson 3 ROTHES TENNIS CLUB Club chairman Hugh Tawse reached the Final of the Mixed Doubles Handicap with his partner, Lynsey The club had a very successful league season with the Milne, from Grantown. They had to play their semi- three teams winning their competitions. final at 9.30 in the morning, and then had to wait to At the start of the year we aimed to win promotion 7pm start their final. Not the best way to prepare, and from Division 2 of the Men's Doubles, and captain it did not help Hugh and Lynsey as they went down in Peter Scott duly guided the team to victory. There was two sets. only one point dropped, a draw at Elgin. The one other Any report on the achievements of the Rothes players side which was feared could cause a problem, Gor- at this tournament just cannot omit the accomplish- donstoun, was successfully overcome with a 6-2 victo- ment of our two entrants to the Ladies singles. Cousins ry. Otherwise it was all plain sailing. Others who Michelle Malcolm and Kelly Newlands reached the played were:- Andrew Anderson, Graeme Ander- semi-finals. It could so easily have been an all Rothes son,Chris Grant, Gary Logan, Kevin McConnachie, Final, but Michelle lost out to Amanda Shepherd Paul Meldrum, Hugh Tawse and Richard Thomson. (Aviemore) 6-2, 6-4, whilst Kelly was involved in an As the season went on, we began to realise that there extraordinarily close match with Angela MacDonald was a great chance of taking the Mixed title, going one (Inverness) losing 7-5, 6-7, 7-9. Angela went on to better than last season's finish when we were entered win the event. as a joint team with Aberlour. Team skipper, Paul At the time of writing, out Under 13 team had just Meldrum, ably assisted by Maureen Grant, played his started their league competition. Three matches have cards very astutely, ensuring everyone, who wanted to, been played and won, defeating Findhorn, 12-0, Keith got a game at some stage in the campaign, whilst mak- 9-3, and Nairn 7-5. The squad consists of 1 William ing certain no points were lost. The crunch match was Sifort, 2 Cameron Campbell, 3 Arron Thomson, 4 Mi- against Nairn and the team selected for that evening chael Sifort and 5 Andrew Ewan. was spot on with an 11 sets to 6 victory being record- ed. The Ladies team, unbeaten at the half way stage, took a couple of knocks in the run in, losing at Grantown THE COTTAGE and drawing at Forres, They had to win both their final matches - against Elgin and Aberlour - to take the tro- The Cottage has had a very busy summer with visitors phy. This they did, with ease, beating Elgin 6-2 and from all over the world, many asking for information Aberlour 7-1. There was a doubt at the start of the sea- on their families who came from Rothes and area. The son as to whether we would be able to field a full team photocopier has been well used as has the computers. for every match as we had only four players - Irene A computer class has been in place for the last ten Low (captain), Maureen Grant, Michelle Malcolm and weeks and another two are in the process of being or- Kelly Newlands. In this situation, injury or work com- ganised. NCH and Adult Learning have been using the mitments would have meant putting out a depleted building for regular meetings and will continue to do team of only one couple, and only being able to, at so. The committee are applying for a grant to help pay most, draw the match. However, we were saved by the for a co-ordinator as they feel that the social role clear- return of three former members in Irene Allan, Laura ly identified needs more concentrated input than can Allan and Catriona Graham which meant that the cap- be provided at present. tain was able to cover all problems. The committee would like to express their thanks to all This is the second time Rothes has won the second the volunteers who helped man the centre over the division. Back in 1996, out Ladies B team was suc- summer months, without their help we would be una- cessful. ble to provide the service we did. On another historical note, Rothes Ladies were the first ever winners of the Ladies League, and it is only right that they are back where they belong, in the top flight of women's tennis in the Highlands. Several of our members took part in the North of Scot- land Restricted Tournament at Grantown in the first week of August, Success came the way of Peter Scott and Kelly Newlands when they won the Mixed Dou- bles Open, defeating Stuart Anderson(Elgin) and Ni- cola Stronach(Aberlour), in the final, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Both couples were unseeded, with Peter and Kelly coming through the top half of the draw, knocking out the top seeds Lindsay and Niall Govan from Forres 6- 0, 6-2 on their way to clinching the title.

4 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson ROTHES ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB. ROTHES GOLF CLUB NEWS

The season is now over. The primary 7 & Under team Once again, the weather has taken its toll at the golf had a brilliant season by winning the league trophy. They club with heavy rain causing competitions to be post- poned and heavy conditions in those which were played. New greenkeeper, Michael Mann has not had an easy start trying to keep up with the growth in the warm, wet conditions. Michael replaced John Milne, who moved on to Meldrum House at the beginning of June. Champions this season were William Binnie in the Gents section, with Fiona Webster taking the honours in the Ladies and Ross Younie in the Junior section. Congratulations go to the winners. The annual Ladies versus Gents competition saw an upset for the gents who were beaten 6-2 by the ladies. Needless to say, celebrations were lively but the gents accepted defeat with grace! The Ladies/Junior fun day was a great success with over £150 in sponsor money to date. The juniors were supported by the ladies in playing a variety of compe- only lost one league match all season. They also won tition formats, followed by a skills challenge. The another two cups, and were runners up in the Forsyth weather was lovely and everyone seemed to enjoy League Cup. themselves. Prizes were awarded for the competitions. The primary 5 & Under team finished third in their Many thanks go to the ladies who helped on the day league and were runners up in the Trocadero trophy final. and to all family members and friends who sponsored The primary 3 & Under team finished third in a tourna- youngsters to help with the fundraising. ment at Garmouth. This year the Ladies had their outing to Kintore Golf Club, a course that few had played before. The weather was cool and blustery with showers to start with but it improved as the day went on. Sandra Bruce won the outing and the Love Cup, and Liz Ballantine and Ellen Spence won prizes in the Open also. This year the gents are visiting Insch Golf Club and taking part in the Open there on September 4th. The Ladies Final Fling takes place on October 2nd with the AGM taking place after the golf. The Gents final fling takes place on October 9th. The prize giving will be held on October 30th in the clubhouse and all prize winners are urged to attend to pick up their prizes. It is hoped to organise a prize bingo later in the year, although the date is still to be confirmed.

Sandra Bruce

The P3 & Under have received a set of new strips from Gary Laing, and also rain-jackets from John & Betty Til- ley. Many thanks to Betty, John & Gary for their kind SENIOR CITIZENS donations. At our tombola in July we raised the grand total of £582.00. Many thanks to everyone who support- The first meeting of the new season starts on the 6th ed us. Also a big thank you to Isabel Thomson, who or- October. The committee are looking forward to meet- ganised the event at such short notice. I would like to ing old and hopefully new members. thank all the parents for all the support during the season, with transport to away games, setting up and removing the goals. We are still training outdoors and already have 6 new primary one children started. If your child is keen on football bring him or her along to the park. Willie Younie 01340 831732.

This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson 5 Hi All 68 New Street Rothes My cousin in Australia and I are looking at our family The Editor who lived in Rothes in the 19th Century. Mainly it The Rothesian appears around New Street and Old Street in Rothes. Surnames that have cone to light so far are Raich, An- Dear Pearl derson, Sharp, Falconer, Wright and Davidson. A cou- I agree with Hamish McBain that Rothes has never ple of interest include: James Davidson, who owned been in Banffshire, it is, as he points out, only the Post the Macallan Distillery until he sold it just before his Office who persist in keeping the word Banffshire death in 1868 and James Wright, a manager at the alive and going against all historic and geographical Macallan who died suddenly in 1905. precedents in doing so by extending it across the River Another of out ancestors has intrigued us. According Spey. In all other respects Rothes is in Moray. The to family information a George Riach was employed Rothes Council is trying to contact the Royal Mail to in Rothes as the town drummer. He was in the battle sort out the anomaly, firstly by obtaining a copy of the of Waterloo and died in Fort George before 1855. I Post Office Address File Code of Practice book but have checked at Elgin Library and they have no rec- this is proving more difficult than you might think. ords. Can you help? I must take issue with Hamish, however, over his con- My cousin and I would be interested to hear from any- tention that Rothes is in Morayshire. The general rule one who thinks we are related. is that a county is only a '-shire' when the county town Dave Fell has the same name e.g.; Inverness, Banff, Aberdeen [email protected] etc. The likes of Caithness (Wick), Ross & Cromarty (Dingwall), Sutherland (Dornoch) and Moray (Elgin), do not carry the suffix. There are some anomalies; Lanark is not the county town of Lanarkshire Dear Rothesian (Hamilton), nor is Clackmannan the county town of Clackmannanshire (Alloa) and Berwick is generally I was very pleased to receive my June issue(no.26) regarded as being in the English county of Northum- especially as my wife Ann and I got a front page men- berland with Duns as the county town of Berwick- tion in the "write up" on Jenny Paterson- she is truly a shire. remarkable person. The county of Moray was at one time alternatively I don't get over to my home town now very often but known as Elginshire but then, when sending letters am kept in touch by my sister Bet and husband John, from England to Scotland, North Britain was once the Northern Scot, and of course the splendid Rothe- used as part of postal address rather than Scotland sian. John Tilley As I work in the Huntly Golf Club shop, I also meet a few of the Rothes golfers over playing and even although they never buy anything in the shop it is always good to have a 'blether' with them!! Also any Huntly Dear Editor, golfers going over to play at Rothes always come back with glowing reports of the reception and welcome I see there are still some people leaving paper at the they get - not to mention the food. end of Land Street outwith waste paper collection I am always glad to see that there is such a lot going times. The diary in the library usually has the dates, on in Rothes these days and would like to thank all and there are also notices on the bottle banks, so there those who are keeping things 'ticking over' - keep up is no excuse for people not knowing when the collec- the good work. tion van comes. My best regards to all who know me and Ann, espe- When it is windy, the paper is blown all over the cially Jenny, the members of Rothes Golf and Social place, making the town look very untidy, so please Clubs and all those who keep the Rothesian in circula- take your paper home if you miss the van, and bring it tion. back on the proper collection day. Sincerely Yours, Jock Sherret. A concerned Rothesian

6 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson Rothes Diary Dates 4th December Rothes FC Social Club Coffee 2004 Morning 18th December Rothes FC Social Club Tombola September 21st December Schools close for Christmas 21st September Rothes Ladies Group new ses- Break sion. Kirk Hall 25th December Christmas Day Disco at Grant 24th-27th September Speyside Whisky Festi- Hall val. Visit Dufftown 2000 site for details 25th September Church Fund Coffee Morning Rothes Diary is ©Copyright (Sandra Ross) and may not be reproduced without permission October Please let Sandra know about events to ensure that the diary is as up to date as possible for all. Com- 1st October Re-cycling facilities at end of petitive fund raising is not very successful. Land Street The diary is displayed in Rothes Library window and 2nd October Rothes FC Social Club Coffee is updated fortnightly. Updates for PCD are less Morning frequent. 2nd October Dufftown Highland Dancing Fes- tival 4th October Rothes Council AGM 9th October Opening of the new Scots Parlia- ROTHES FLOWER SHOW ment Building at Holyrood in Edinburgh 8th October Schools close for October Break The Annual Flower was held in the Grant Hall on Sat- 11th October to 29th October ‘Good as New’ in urday 4th September and it proved to be a great suc- Kirk Hall cess with the number of entries up by over 100 on last 18th October Rothes Community AGM year. We were pleased to see quite a number in the cut 23rd October Rothes FC Social Club Tombola flower section in spite of the wet summer. The num- 25th October Schools reopen after October bers were also up in the crafts and wines sections Break which is very heartening. We had a good attendance in 30th October Church Guild Coffee Morning in the afternoon for the presentation of the trophies Kirk Hall which was performed this year by Bob Blaine who has 30th October Halloween Disco/Dance at Grant been a stalwart since the show began. Our next meet- Hall ing will be held in the Grant Hall on Monday 18th Oc- 30th October GMT begins. Clocks Back One tober. This is the "Greetin Meeting" and we will be hour pleased to welcome new Members

November 6th November Coffee Morning in aid of the Orthopaedic Scanner Appeal in Kirk Hall 7th November Remembrance Planters will be available by the War Memorial 11th November Armistice Day - At the 11th hour on the 11th Month the Great War ended. 13th November Rothes FC Social Club Coffee Morning 14th November Remembrance Sunday 15th/16th November Schools Closed In- service days 19th November ‘Children in Need’ 20th November Rothes FC Social Club Tombola 24th November Rothes Goes Live with Broad- band 27th November Senior Citizens Coffee Morn- ing Kirk Hall 27th November Rothes PTA St Andrew’s Night, Grant Hall 30th November St. Andrew’s Day

December

This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson 7 Who can recognize these 2 Jeans? both taken when the ROTHES PRIMARY SCHOOL big gun was still up by the Castle wall. Teachers went back to school on Monday 16th Au- gust, full of vim and vigour ready to start the new term. We have one new member of staff, Miss Michelle Dyke, who teaches Primary 3/4.

Children came back on Tuesday 17th August, and for Primary 1 it was their first day at school.

Enrichment Fund Thank you for all your effort in earning and collecting money in the Pigs during the holidays! The teachers took a pig home as well. The grand total to date amounts to approximately £350. The total of the enrichment fund now stands at over £30,000. Remember anything that is collected for the next four years will be doubled by the Edrington Group. This initiative is benefiting your children now and for years and years to come! It means that we, as a school, are able to do lots of fantastic extra curricular activities.

After School Clubs After school clubs started the first week in September. The following activities are available for children to enjoy: Gardening Football Homework/Reading John Derby- Art and Crafts Club shire Visit by Artist Primary 4/5s topic this term is all about Pollution and CHILDREN'S PLAYTRAIL Recycling. Mrs. Grant has organised a full day visit from a local The children's playtrail is progressing slowly but artist who specialises in using recycled materials. steadily. There are two barbecues ready to be placed in the area, the fencing is all finished, as is the car park, a French and Gym number of plants and trees have been planted, and Primaries 4-7 are benefiting from some extra expert most of the picnic table and seats are in place. Thanks and enthusiastic tuition in French and Fun Keep-Fit must go to the Masons for their financial contribution from Mrs. Mustard, Mrs. Reid and Mrs. Thomson. to the last part of the fence. The maze will be in place before the end of this month and the school is working towards the information boards and the bird boxes.

8 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson MORAY ACTION for COMMUNITIES To enter the competition, apply for one of the positions available, or to register your child please contact: The Moray Action for Communities programme is - Mrs Louise Reid, Secretary, Rothes 2+ Group. 66 making recognised qualifications available free of Land Street, Rothes, AB38 7BB. charge, to all voluntary and community organisations For informal queries phone Louise on 01340 831851 in the Moray area. between 10.00am and 4.00pm. The MAC Community Leadership Programme is based on a series of short, mostly evening workshops, hels at the Community Centre in Elgin. These lead to qualifications awarded by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) The programme takes about 6 months to complete over the winter, and is enjoyable as it is based not on lectures, but on discussion, group exercises, and some personal study. Details from Michael Meighan on 01349 864583, or Kay Turner on 01343 563353 VETERAN CHAMPION

Michael Clerihew was a ROTHES 2+ GROUP competitor in the Euro- pean Veteran Champi- Another successful meeting was held on Wednesday onships in Aarhus, Den- 1st September, 2004, where an interim committee was mark in July, and won elected to push forward to get the group up and run- Gold in the 4x100 Re- ning ASAP. The Office Bearers are Chairman - Eliza- lay, Silver in the long beth Masson; Secretary - Louise Reid; Treasurer - jump, and Bronze in the Stephanie Allsop. Pentathlon. The Group's aim is to provide the transition from the Rothes Toddler Group to the Rothes Nursery, so the target age is 2 until a nursery place is available, however, if there are spaces, children will be more than welcome to stay if they want to continue coming along once they have reached nursery age. The group hopes to be up and running the week the school returns after the October break, provisionally on a Monday and Wednesday morning, upstairs in the Grant Hall from 9.15am to 11.00am, though if there is a demand for different times, they will be considered. To achieve this we need three things:- GRADUATION A Name. So we propose to run a competition to choose a name for the new group. This competition is Scott Shearer, of Warleigh, Spey Street, Rothes, grad- open to all ages, and closing date for entries is Thurs- uated BSc.(Hons) in Environmental Science and Man- day 30th September, 2004. Prize will be awarded to agement at the Robert the winner. Gordon University, Ab- Staff. A playgroup Leader and a Playgroup Assistant erdeen this summer. are required to work 6 hours per week. This will be a Scott is travelling in Eu- great opportunity to get in at the beginning of a project rope at the moment for a enabling the successful candidates to have a big input few months. into the way the Group is run and help chose the materials required to set up a group. HNC/SVQ in childcare is essential for the playgroup leader and preferred for the playgroup assistant, though we would look at applications of people willing to train for the qualifica- tion. Please reply in writing with your CV to the address below. Children. If you would like to put your child down on the waiting list, please contact us and we will send you out an application pack.

This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson 9 NCH PROJECT UPDATE If you have any ideas for future events, can offer expertise for future events to be organised or would like in- What has been happening in Rothes since March? formation on any of the above please contact: Margaret Since putting in an article in March, several local peo- Morris, Rural Project Worker on 01343 549557 or ple enquired about becoming registered childminders. 07909641998 during office hours or come along to the A meeting was held in the Resource Centre for those Rothes Resource Centre at the Cottage, New Street interested. Rothes now has it's first registered Tuesdays 10am-12noon or Thursdays 12noon-2pm. childminder who can child mind up to four children initially and another two individuals are on their way to becoming registered in the near future, having attended the compulsory information session run by the Care Commission. There is still plenty demand for any further people who may be interested in becoming childminders as there are very few childminders in the whole of Speyside and there is an identified need for ROTHES COUNCIL childcare. A group of enthusiastic women are at present working Rothes Council has had its first meeting since the sum- with myself and Moray Childcare Partnership, to set up mer break. A petition is being organised regarding the a permanent 2 and 3 group in Rothes, which will be run Banking opportunities in Rothes, if you can help with as a non-profit business with charitable status. This will this please let us know. Although our first effort in involve employing permanent staff and providing good getting a pedestrian crossing was unsuccessful Moray learning opportunities for the youngsters. The group Council has been asked for a report on the criteria for hope to meet in the Grant Hall. A lot of work has gone pedestrian crossings. This will also be one of the into this already and anyone else interested can get in Rothes priorities for the newly forming Community touch can get in touch to help or register interest for his Partnerships who will hopefully report on our priori- or her child. There is also the possibility of a separate ties for improving the quality of life in the town. 2's group for parents and two year olds meeting on a The council members were pleased to hear that 20mph different day for those interested. signs would soon be erected at the approaches to In the last two weeks of the school holidays sporting Rothes Primary School, the speed limit will operate and art events were available free for children in the during high activity times for the children. As Rothes local Primary School. Thanks to Geoff Roberts, artist in was one of the front runners in getting a 'safer route to school scheme' four school pupils have been invited to attend a conference in Edinburgh on the 29th Septem- ber on this issue. The 'Dounie Walk' raised £1341.10 for the Christmas Light Fund. Keith, along with two members of the Rothes Council will be meeting with agents of a lights supplier on 17th September to discuss possible lights for the Square area. The next meeting of the Rothes Council will be the AGM, which will be held on Monday 4th October. All Rothes Council meetings are open to the public but we would also like to encourage new members to come along, you would be most welcome.

residence, for the terrific fun both the children and adult helpers had making their creations. Also thanks to SUBMISSIONS! Keith Kingham for volunteering and his expertise with the glue gun! Kim Paterson, Youth Development There are still numerous occasions where people are Sports Worker provided the staff for the sports ses- submitting articles on a sheet of paper, after they have sions. Although disappointed with the low turn out for printed them out from their computer. the sports events, those who did attend had great fun It would help us greatly (and save re-typing) if these and gave some great feedback on other events they could be e-mailed or submitted on disc to Pearl or would like in the future. Chris. Look out for further events, hopefully on a monthly basis and during the October school holidays. The children will receive info through the school and events will be advertised locally.

10 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson SPEYSIDE COUNCIL BOWLING

The Speyside Council is trying to find a new role for The recent AGM of the Rothes Indoor Bowling Club itself following the demise of the Speyside Training Mr Billy Masson, Club President, expressed his disap- Services and a seeming parochialism among the elev- pointment at the poor turnout of members. Mr Masson en constituent Community Associations who make up thanked all those who had helped over the past season, the Council. the sponsors for the highly successful tournament and Following a poorly attended AGM on 6th May when Mr & Mrs Davies for the catering. the appointment of a convenor and treasurer was post- The following were duly elected for the coming sea- poned until the next meeting of the executive commit- son:- tee, that meeting, on 17th June, was also insufficiently President/Secretary - Mr W Masson representative of local communities to warrant the Vice-President - Mr J Brian election of post-holders. Treasurer - Mr S Cameron In an attempt to increase support, the Secretary has Committee Members - Miss M Munro, Mr I Shaw, Mr written to all Community Associations and to impress B Murray upon them that, if they are unable to attend a meeting The start of the new season will be the 27th Septem- of the Executive Committee, they can nominate a sub- ber. There will be two Open Nights on 27th September stitute. The Committee only meets about six times a and 5th October to encourage new members. All wel- year and has, in the past, performed a useful function come. in representing to Moray Council and to other bodies who have responsibility for our health, wealth and well-being, such as NHS Grampian or even the Scot- tish Executive in the case of the A95, the needs and CHURCH GUILD concerns of our small and, in many cases scattered communities. The Guild starts on the 5th of October. The speaker on Disbandment of the Speyside Council and its replace- the night will be Patricia Rigby(Wales). A varied and ment by two Community Councils (one representing interesting programme has been arranged for through- Dufftown, Glenlivet and Upper Speyside and one rep- out the winter months. resenting Rothes, Aberlour and Lower Speyside) has Anyone with blankets or teddies for Malawi, the next been considered but dismissed as it was felt that the consignment goes the second week in October. splitting of the local communities, who had worked New members are welcome to come and join our well together over many years, into two separate units small but happy group. would not be in their best interest. God Bless The Council continues to run the Speyside Dial-a-bus Nan McPherson scheme and help fund pupils from Speyside High School taking part in 'national' activities and has, in the past, helped other local organisations such as the Speyside Car-sharing Scheme, the Friends of Ben GRADUATION Rinnes and the Speyside Sports Trust to get off the ground. Linda McGingle, daughter of Mary and Johnny Bur- It is hoped that the next meeting to be held in the Li- gess, 38 Land Street, has graduated from Robert Gor- brary of Speyside High School on Thursday 7th Octo- dons University with a ber will have a full compliment of representatives diploma in Adult Nursing. from all the local communities which should, by then, Linda is currently work- have held their Annual General Meetings and appoint- ing at the Stephen Hospi- ed their delegates. tal in Dufftown. John Tilley, Vice-President

This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson 11 ONCE A ROTHESIAN! Magdalene Plank/Sandy Buchanan The above picture shows children at Rothes school in Annie Calder Simpson was born in the village of 1931. Rothes in Speyside in the year 1918. She was the Back row: Jim Barron, Edmond Sim, ??, Dod youngest member of the family of eight children of Mathieson, Willie Leslie, Robert Calder, Tom Bar- John and Jessie Simpson of Land Street. Although people in those days had very little Annie spent a happy childhood there enjoying the freedom of the countryside and developed a life long love of na- ture. As a young girl she loved to sit up the Castle Hill with her dog Glen. Annie's first job was in domestic service in Garmouth, but she soon had the urge to look further afield and headed for the bright lights of London where she also worked in domestic service in a large city household. During the War she served as a member of the Wom- an's Royal Auxiliary Airforce and met her husband, Tommy Plank, from Edinburgh who was serving with the Royal Navy. They later set up home in Edinburgh and brought up their two ron, ??, Jim Henderson, Edward (Polo) Grant. children, Magdalene and Alex, there. The family made 2nd row: Agnes Roy, Cathy Calder, ??, J. McMillan, many visits to Rothes during that time to visit family P. McMillan, D. Ross, M. McKay, Mary Bruce, Edith and friends and her children relished the freedom of Low, Nellie McIntosh. the countryside there; being used to living in the town 3rd row: ??, Betty Beaton, ??, Elma Riach, ??, Etta it was a novelty to them to have such freedom when Nicol, Annie Fraser, Mollie Riach, Isobel Riach, Alice visiting Annie's mum, Granny Simpson. Fraser. Annie had a great love of young children and for 37 4th row: Margaret Calder, Connie Henderson, Annie years worked amongst them at Moray House Nursery Simpson, ??, ??, School in Edinburgh, and many now grown up re- Front row: ??, John Fraser, ??, Jimmy Leslie, Jimmie member her with great affection. She had a great sense Leslie, Jimmy Riddell. of fun and loved to tell jokes. Later after Tommy's death, she helped out with her own grandchildren who loved her dearly. Even in her 80's she loved her bit of fun with her great grandchildren. PENSION CREDIT Never one to sit still she went out every day and took a great interest in life and what was going on around Do you need advice or help completing an appli- her. She always had a cheery word for everyone she cation form for Pension Credit? Call and see met and made friends with along the way. someone from the Pension Service at Rothes Day Annie always considered herself to be an ordinary per- Centre in the High Street. son, but to all her family and friends she was someone This service will be on Friday 8th October from special, who even through her last illness was still cracking jokes with never a complaint. 10:30—12:30. Even though she spent the greater part of her life away Although you don’t need an appointment, we can from Rothes, she always had fond memories of it and arrange one if you wish, and see you in private. her childhood there, still visiting as often as she could To arrange an appointment, call 01463 663564. to see the place. Once a Rothesian, always a Rothe- sian! Annie died on 3 May 2004 at grand age of 85 years and her family decided it would be a fitting tribute to scatter her ashes on the Castle Hill where she spent so many happy times in her youth, I am sure she ap- proved.

12 This issue sponsored by Ian Anderson