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Forfar & District
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17 members attended. 4 cars were dropped off at the Clova end of the Minister's Path. One member started there for a shorter walk to the hotel. 15 others started from the car park in Glen Prosen and walked along the Airlie Ridge from the monument and descended by the Minister's Path into Glen Clova. We had fantastic views north into the snow covered higher tops. A leisurely 5 hour walk. One member started late from the finishing end and met us on the hill. The group drove to a packed Clova Hotel for refreshments before driving back to pick up the other cars.
9 members and a Brazilian guest attended in 4 cars. A beautiful still cold winter's day with fantastic visibility. The group climbed Carn an Tuirc and Cairn o' Claise descending by the Sron na Gaoithe ridge. A round trip of around 13km with 650m of ascent. 5.5 hours walking. Abortive trip to stop at Bridge of Cally hotel on way home, but closed.
7:30pm. Forfar Fire Station. 18 members attended. Meeting was followed by a talk on "Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance" by Ally Ballingall (aka Ally Bally from Radio Tay). The talk was enlightening, informative and entertaining. The SCAA acts as a supplement to the NHS in Scotland (who have 2 helicopters, and one we use for Roy H on Stob Coire Ardair in May 2008), and it is totally funded by charity. The club presented a donation to SCAA. and thanked the speaker.
Postponed from planned date of 29th November due to bad weather. 2 members attended. Met at Myre at 0815. Arrived at bourach around 1045, just above the snow line. Turfs were dug and all gaps were were well packed. The 2nd pole (donated by Bob R) which had been carried up was placed on the SE side to the other side of the path, where the ground was softer. Work finished by 1315. Not a bad day given the weather that had been bad before. Blue skies at times, cold wind and snow showers.
The club did not have a stand this year (after having one for last 2 years). Several members attended. Good reports.
9 members attended. Stayed at Glen Coe Ski Club Hut. Saturday had group of 5 on Stob Coire Odhair and Stob Ghabhar, and a group of 4 on Beinn Mhic Mhonaidh. Sunday saw a group of 4 on Ben Inverleigh and 3 in Glen Dochart, the remaining 2 eating their way home. A weather window in gloomy November - Saturday wasn't bad at all, but Sunday was gorgeous with snowy tops, blue skies and sunshine.
“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” by Mick Tighe 7:30pm Dalhousie Lecture Theatre 2 in Dundee University, DD1 4HN at 7.30pm. Several members attended.
Brown Cow Hill was next up. It is becoming the club’s bogey man of a hill, the second time we’ve had to reschedule due to inclement weather, some day we will get there, I promise! A look at the weather forecast resulted in a morning’s dash up and down Ben Tirran before the rain came down at lunchtime, five optimistic members turned out.
18 members attended. 7:30pm. Forfar Fire Station. Open Meeting, followed by annual quiz night. 4 teams were drawn randomly. Quiz master Colin presented 50 questions mainly based on the local Angus Glens. The team led by Graham B won narrowly (though later proven to be a tie due to dodgy addition)
19 members attended. 2015 Boules Championships was contested and won by Rita and Janet. The annual banquet and Halloween Party followed, arranged by Carolyn and Nicola. Lovely meal, then games and fireworks. No one stayed over in the hut.
10 members and 2 guests attended. By car from the Myre car park at 07:00.
7:30pm. Forfar Fire Station. Open Meeting, followed by talk. "Camino de Santiago" by Nicola Hay. Well attended.
11 members attended. Stayed at Kinlochewe bunkhouse. The first weekend of the 2015/16 season was back to an old favourite, Kinlochewe, although by all accounts the club might not be in a hurry to return to that particular bunkhouse. Eleven members attended. On Saturday, 4 completed a 17 mile round trip into Maoile Lunndaidh in West Monar; 3 slogged up Slioch and around the horseshoe; 2 went exploring to Meall a’Ghiubhais, with one continuing to Ruadh stac Beag; 2 covered 9 and a half miles of woodland walks in Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. Some had a good dinner in the hotel, while others enjoyed first class catering in the bunkhouse. All gathered there later for nonsense and hilarity. Sunday – most members headed home after breakfast, recognising the big-scale nature, and timeconsuming demands of the Torridon/Kinlochewe hills and the looming “work on Monday” after a 4 hour drive back. Four members made the most of even better weather conditions and set off for a half day on Sgurr Dubh, a Corbett opposite Liathach and Beinn Eighe.
Cancelled.
3 members and 2 guests attended. The weather was really good with the cloud staying clear of the tops all day and a cooling breeze most of the time. Creag Mhor climbed first. Dropped to bealach to Beinn Sheasgarnaich then baled out. Miles of deer fences encountered. Late finish. New car park in Glen Lochay is 1km east of the end of road and no parking beyond that. Back in Forfar at 21:30.
Good attendance. Unfortunately the planned speaker (Jim Brown) called off. Instead the Mountain Mind Quiz 2015 slides were shown briefly.
It was decided to postpone this walk. It is hoped that this outing will will take place at a later date.
5 committee members attended. Various ongoing issues were discussed.
By bus from the Myre car park at 07:00. 11 members and 2 guests attended. Good day's walking in fine dry weather. Cloudy, but summits all clear. Bus back via Ballater and Cairn o' Mount.
13 members and 2 guests attended. We met at NO447626 (Map 44). A Landrover and a car took the heavy gear to NO451630 (Map 44). Then it was a 1km walk to the falls of Drumly Harry along a muddy track. 2 ropes were set up for abseil. 11 members abseiled to the falls, some in the gloom as darkness started to fall. Nicola dropped her phone, which she recovered. However, her battery is in the water. Back to the cars just before 10pm. An enjoyable evening. Thanks to Bob.
This was a resounding success and the select group of six members who turned out for it voted it the best walk in the meet calendar so far! The esteemed Meet Secretary decreed that we visit Carn Dearg Mor in Glen Feshie and we were blessed with lovely summer weather with the majority of the party walking in shorts all day! Great views were enjoyed to all parts and the day was rounded off perfectly with a fish tea at Blair Atholl chippy.
15 members attended. 14 stayed at an old favourite location - the National Trust of Scotland's centre at Morvich. Saturday saw groups on the Five Sisters, the South Cluanie Ridge, Sgurr Goarsaic, and low level at Ratagan and Glen Elg. Weather was mixed to begin with, but turned into a lovely afternoon and evening. Sunday saw most folk heading home as overnight rain continued most of the morning. Weather cleared on the drive south.
3 members attended. This meet was rearranged with 24-hour notice. The original trigpoint tramp to Beinn Vuirich was not possible because of the weather (the whitewash would be washed off). Instead the 10km walk left from Midtown, up to the ruined watermill at Buckies, over to Glen Moy, and then back via a forest trail to Horniehaugh and then a track back to the car at Midtown. Lots of wild life :- 6 black grouse, a pair of long eared owls, a kite as well as roe deer, lapwing, curlew, mistle thrush and cuckoo. Some heavy showers.
8 members attended. By shared car from the Myre car park at 07:00. Good day weather-wise. Lots of big snow fields. Ben Alder and Beinn Bheoil ascended. No bike mishaps reported.
Colin and Janey took roles as leaders on various walks.
13 members (and Clare's parents) met at the Myre car park at 7:30pm, on a dreadful night of wind and rain. Sarah (Mel's sister) was the organiser and was
ready with her team (consisting of her partner, her friend and both of her parents). We decided to go ahead, despite possible flooding on the roads.
What followed was an extemely interesting and challenging hunt - several A4 pages of challenges, questions. The route took us out to
the east and north-east of Forfar and ended up in the Stag Inn. The event was won by "Debbie's Nightmares". A great night. Thanks to Sarah and her team. We think
it's the 3rd treasure hunt that she's organised for us.
10 members and 2 guests attended. Left Forfar ar 06:00 to catch 08:46 train to Courror. There were 3 walks. A group of 2 climbed Beinn na Lap. A group of 3 climbed Beinn na Lap, Chno Dearg and Stob Coire Sgriodain (missed the 18:26 train by 5 minutes) and walked back out to the cars, reaching them at 23:00. The remaining group of 7 climbed Carn Dearg, Sgor Gaibhre and Beinn Pharlagain, and walked out to the cars by 17:00.
12 members attended. Held at Graham's Farm, Reidhall near Edzell. Graham demonstrated basic maintenance of a bike. He said most mountain bikes are "hauled oot o' the nettles" just before they are used. i.e. not very well maintained. The bike maintenance night had been planned to take place just before the annual cycle meet. (this year 14th June to Culra) This is because of various mishaps in the past, some due to poor maintenance of members' bikes. Graham started by showing the tools and spares that he takes on a trip. He then moved onto transmission, cleaning up a chain with a cleaning tool and cleaning fluid. Later he showed how to lubricate a chain. Next was puncture repair - how to remove from front and back. The back wheeel is tricker to remove. Unfortunately the president's spare tube also had a puncture itself. Then onto brakes :- caliper (older), V-brakes and disc brakes. Various adjustments were demonstrated. Tightening cables was demonstrated (brakes and gears). Graham reckoned fine-tuning of gear adjustment should be left to the bike-shop. Lastly chain splitting was shown with a tool. If going out in a party, at least one should carry a chain splitter tool. The evening was completed with a cup of tea/coffee and one of Carolyn's fabulous cakes. Thanks to Graham for hosting and demonstrating. And to Carolyn for the lovely cake.
11 members and 2 guests attended. Set out in 4 cars from Edzell Muir car park at 10.00 for the short drive
up the Dalbog road to the quarry at the bridge. Then an anti-clockwise round of the the Wirrens (16km, 725m ascent), via Craigangower,
Hill of Wirren, East Wirren, Hill of Coratho and The Crannel. Rather windy and chilly on top, but dry and clear with excellent views.
On return at 17:30, the group were met by one other member for a most enjoyable meal at the Panmure Arms Hotel, Edzell.
14 members attended this meeting in the Reid Park Forfar at 19:30. Before starting, Colin presented
Willie Mather and Nicola Hay with the plaque for "Incident of the Year" for their "Brief Encounter".
13 competed for the girds competition on a knock-out basis. Neil and Linda reached the final which Neil won 2-0, and
becomes champion again - 4 years in a row! Well done.
This was followed by a 7 a side game of cricket (with a tennis ball, 6 balls each) won by Steve's team 24 to 17. Thanks to Steve
and Graham for organising equipment and the match itself.
The night was rounded off with a game of French cricket.
19 members attended, with 14 in the bunkhouse (excellent accomodation), 2 in a camper van, one in a tent and 2 in
Bed and Breakfast. Saturday was breezy, but sunny with high cloud and great visibility. 6 different groups were out:-
2 walked locally near Lochinver, 4 on Beinn More Assynt and Conival, 4 on Quinag (all 3 tops), 3 on Cul Mhor, 1 on Canisp (from the west!),
2 on Stac Pollaidh (with 1 cycling back), 3 wandered near Suilven.
Sunday was very windy so no-one on the tops:- 15 went to Sandwood Bay for a sand-blast, 2 went to Inverkirkaig and Achmelvich, 2 went to Achmelvich.
Monday was equally windy and wet to start with - 2 walked into Glendhu bothy. 2 walked some way along that track. Others went home.
A good weekend with good accomodation, good food, good company.
19:30 Osnaburg, Forfar. 5 of the committee attended. Tasks allocated at the last meeting (booking of weekend meets and speakers) were reviewed, All was in order. Just one weekend meet to confirm. The day meets were set. There will be 3 bus meets and possibly a shared meet with Blairgowrie HWC.
19:30 Fort Hotel, Broughty Ferry. 9 members attended to support this event to raise funds for their new hut (which we hope to use in October). The Norries and the Simpsons formed one team. The Sinclairs, Carolyn, Graham and Nicola formed a team, that managed to finished 3rd our of 13. No bad! If only we watched more soaps!
19:30 Osnaburg, Forfar. The whole committee turned up. The weekend meets, social meets and meetings were provisionally arranged. Each of the committee members was tasked with organising one or more events. A 2nd meeting was arranged to follow up and set day meets. Provisionally Monday 27th April.
11 members attended in 4 cars. Snowing on the way up to Loch Moraig, with snow lying on the road. The whole group climbed Carn Liath, then split up. The leading group of 6 climbed Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain then went onto Carn nan Gabhar, then dropped to the path from the bealach before Airgiod Bheinn. The remaining group climbed Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain then retraced their steps over Carn Liath. There was low cloud to begin with, bit by 1pm the weather changed with clear skies, but a strong and chilly NW wind. Good views. The group ended up in the cafe at the museum in Blair Atholl, some having food, some having a coffee or tea. Gone are the days when we had a pint!
19:30m Fire Station. Open Meeting followed by our 3rd annual Members Night.
At the Open meeting, Clare Stewart was adopted as treasurer.
10 members presented photographs, and one member presented a soundtrack of frogs at the
pond at the entrance to Glen Prosen. An enjoyable evening.
Cancelled, due to an insufficient number of interested members from both clubs (Carnoustie Panbride Badminton club and us).
Based in the Railway Carriage. Nine members and two guests attended. On the Saturday a party of 8 were on the Corryhully horseshoe, one biker and two on a low level walk up Glenfinnan. On the Sunday 2 members went to the Ice Factor and some people went exploring.
Held in the Plough Inn, Forfar at 7:30pm. 2015 was our turn on the rota to organise the event, so there was no chance for 4 victories in a row, after our wins in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The club committee had the job of arranging this and looked for help from members both in preparing for the event and running the event. We decided to take the event away from Dundee to Forfar to try to encourage some of the Aberdeenshire clubs to enter a team – Forfar is only an hour from Aberdeen. However no one came from the north. The committee were joined by Carolyn, Linda, Ray, Brian C, John N, and Mel in preparing the quiz. It took 5 meetings to get to a final version. Then further folk helped on the night, as we had various jobs to do from collecting entrance money, running the raffle, registering teams, showing slides, being the quizmaster, handling out and collecting sheets, marking and collating answers and scores, and presenting the answers. Well done to all. I think it was the following. The old committee (Colin, Graham, Ray, Steve, Neil, Mel) plus Linda, Carolyn, Nicola, Aileen, Debbie, Willie, John D, Brian C, Clare, John N, Rita, Bob. If I missed anyone, sorry, but your help was appreciated. It all ran smoothly, apart from a little glitch with the slides at the start. We received several compliments from various folk about the slick organisation and the varied content of the questions. They all greatly enjoyed it. It was hard work to organise and run, but I think you have done the club proud. Thanks to everyone who supplied raffle prizes. The entrance fees and the raffle money were presented to Tayside Mountain Rescue Association.
Eight members turned out on a fairly mixed day of weather, culminating in an abandonment of our intended route after we had gained the summit due to strong winds and poor visibility. The day was redeemed by a visit to the Highland Chocolatier for coffee and cake.
Forfar Fire Station, Strang Road at 19:30
Open meeting followed by the Annual General Meeting. No time for the short film show.
New committee is President: Colin Sinclair, Secretary: Carolyn Smith, Treasurer: Steve Wilson
Meet Secretary: Graham Brown, Assistant Meet Secretary: Neil Sangster, Ordinary Member: Debbie Kenward
Slight change to constitution was accepted to have a second award for best 3 photographs in a submitted collection.
Planning for Mountain Mind Quiz - session 5. Run-through of final version of quiz. Chez Sinclair 19:30.
Done. Just small details to sort out now.
8 attended (9 on Friday night). Stayed at the Scout Association's Lochgoilhead Outdoor Centre (12 places). Saturday : 1 cycled down near Carrick Castle. The other 7 climbed "The Brack" from the Centre. Climbed up through the forest into a snowy world. Deep at times, but soft ground underneath. Strong wind, a couple of showers, and lots of spindrift on top. Good views. Dropped to the bealach below Beinn Donich and returned to the centre via a forestry track. Sunday: Everyone headed home in dreadful weather.
Planning for Mountain Mind Quiz - session 4. Run-through of first version of quiz. Chez Sinclair 19:30.
Done - all 3 rounds completed.
Attendance 15, by shared car. A clear winter's day, but with a strong wind. Hard snow in places, so crampons used.
Queen Street Tavern, 7:30pm. 40 questions for each of rounds 1 to 3 selected from the short list.
Forfar Fire Station, Strang Road at 19:30
Open meeting followed by the annual photographic competition, judged by Graham Wilkinson,
Carnoustie Camera Club. 12 members entered a total of 57 photos. The winner was David Sinclair.
The winning photo and all 60 entries can be viewed here
Queen Street Tavern at 19:30. Planning for Mountain Mind Quiz - session 2. 3 committee members were joined by 4 others to select questions from our own quizes 2012, 2013 and 2014. Now just to select the final bunch!
18 travelled by bus to Glen Tanar Lodge and walked over the Firmounth Path, in real wintry conditions of snow and a strong north wind, to be met by 2 others on their descent. They left Sauchieburn Hotel at 07:00. 6 folk took a walk from Edzell to the Falls of Solitide and back (swelled to 8 on the return). 4 other members did part of the Brechin walks network. In total 38 members and guests attended high tea at Sauchieburn Hotel, Luthermuir at 07:00, including young Briar at 5 weeks old.
23 members and 2 guests attended. The meeting was followed by an excellent presentation by Blair Wilkie, Tayside Wildlife Officer, Police Scotland, Blair presented the role of her job and the various areas that her role tackled, in a illustrative manner, involving lots of interaction with the audience. An excellent talk.
Queen Street Tavern at 19:30. introductory meeting for planning for Mountain Mind Quiz 2015.
12 out. 10 climbed to Little Glas Maol, with 2 others reaching Monega Hill. Cloud with sunshine coming and going in the strong wind. Snow underfoot. Coffees in Glen Isla Hotel afterwards. A group of 3 long-liers climbed Cat Law from Balintore.