BLAS Concert (September 2007)
On Friday 7th September Torridon Village Hall was the venue for a Concert of Gaelic
songs and music which will remain in the memory of all present for years to come.
This was part of the Blas Festival and was sustained by a group of some of the finest
Gaelic singers of today. There were seven men and one lady and they enthralled us
with solos, duets, quartettes and as a group, as well as playing bagpipes, northumbrian
pipes, guitars, accordions, tin whistle, jew's harp and clarsach. The songs were a
selection of well known favourites and others not so well known, but all performed to
a very high standard of professionalism.
Mary Ann Kennedy, the only lady in the group, was Bean an Tighe and also sang.
She gave her usual immaculate performance and kept the whole concert running smoothly
from beginning to end.
Those taking part were Calum Alex. MacMillan, Norman MacArthur, Gillebride MacMillan,
James Graham, Norrie MacIver, Angus MacPhail and Griogair Labhruidh.
The audience were enthralled and gave the performers a resounding ovation at the end. This was indeed a memorable evening and it is to be hoped that we will have similar evenings in the future.
The ladies of the Arts and Culture group provided tea, coffee and a wonderful
spread of home baking goodies at the interval. Once again our thanks to this hard
working group.
Ceilidh (June 2007)
On May 25th nearly 150 people attended a superb ceilidh dance in the Torridon hall.
The Bean an Tigh Morag Dhomhnullach introduced the performers and entertained us all
evening with jokes and stories while the Strathpeffer Scottish Dance Band gave us the
opportunity to 'work off' the excellent food provided by the Torridon ladies. The
evening was enhanced by the superb vocal performances of Alison Rapson, Kirsteen
Menzies, Raymond Bremner and Don R Maciver accompanied by Hamish Menzies. We were
also privileged to have two demonstrations during the evening from The Torridon
Country Dance Group. The whole evening was orchestrated by Alistair and Jean MacLean
and we would like to say a very big thank you to them and all the people who helped
to make it such a memorable evening.
Caledonian Challenge marshalling (June 2007)
The weekend of June 16th saw 17 volunteers going away on the marshalling weekend
for the Caledonian Challenge. It was again an exhausting but worthwhile experience
and we made over £2,000 for the Community Hall. Well done and many thanks to all
those who took part.
Feis Rois (June 2007)
We are fortunate to have the Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail coming to Torridon again
on Wednesday 25th July from 8 - 11pm. These young performers attracted a huge audience
last year and gave us one of the best ceilidhs we had seen for years. We are
delighted they are returning and will give them a warm welcome.
Sirens (June 2007)
On Friday August 3rd at 8pm the 'Sirens' will perform in Torridon. This exciting all
female band is becoming very well known for their superb instrumentals and powerful
vocalists. They feature BBC Radio Scotland's young Traditional Musician of the year
2006 Shona Mooney and BBC Fame Academy winner in 2004 Shona Kipling.
Singing group (June 2007)
The local singing group continues to attract people who want to sing for pleasure
and meets on alternate Thursday mornings in Torridon Hall. If anyone would like to
join the group it is for all abilities and really is just for pleasure so do ring
Avril on 01445 791216.
Painting lessons (June 2007)
If you have a desire to learn or improve your landscape drawing and painting
skills then you might be interested in Torridon Arts and Culture Group's one day
workshops on July 9th or 12th. Sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council and run by
professional artist Michael Mulready these workshops cost £12, have limited places
and are suitable for all abilities. For more information tel Glyn 01445 791270.
Gaining ground at Torridon (June 2007)
The community of Torridon have received a SCHRI grant towards installing a
ground source heating system in their village hall. The hall is used regularly
by some 25 different groups including playgroups, sports and senior citizens'
clubs and the mountain rescue services. This type of system typically reduces
heating bills by up to 75% and carbon emissions by 50%. The system is set to be
installed by Earthwise Scotland Ltd with support of local contractors for groundwork
and drilling. Donald Macdonald, chair of Torridon Village Hall Extension Committee
said "This heating system is an integral part of our plans to extend the hall and
we are very grateful to the funders and those in the local community who have so
generously supported this initiative". (http://www.hie.co.uk/community-energy.html)
Torridon Arts & Culture (20 April 2007)
The last week in March saw a flurry of activity in Torridon when the Arts and
Culture Group staged an ambitious Food Week. The events were spread over six days
and attracted many visitors as well as local people. Assisted by Highland 2007,
Highland Council and Healthways the group organised events to celebrate Highland
cuisine and culture.
The week began with a superb evening with food writer Catherine
Brown who told us how she learnt to cook traditional dishes thanks to local people
when she worked at the Torridon Hotel many years ago. References to parents and
grandparents of local people brought tears to a few eyes and it was generally
agreed, by those who know, that the herring and lamb she provided for tastings
evoked 'the good old days'.
The second day saw the hall packed with stalls for the food fair. Stall holders
had tastings and Sandra and Dorothy produced a huge healthy eating display that is
still being talked about! Amazingly lots of seafood platters were sold even though
people had an abundance of free tastings.
Wednesday was a regular lunch club day and we had a visit from BBC Radio Scotland
who got a taste of kitchen banter and some verdicts on the meal from the diners. A
cheese and wine evening later gave us all the chance to enjoy the wonderful cheeses
from West Highland Dairies and learn a little about cheese making whilst enjoying a
variety of wines from Romanet Wines.
Thursday was the day Lady Claire MacDonald had kindly agreed to come for the day
to demonstrate some of her wonderful recipes. Sixty people were held spellbound by
Claire's delightful repartee and skilful cooking.
Friday was the children's opportunity to show their culinary skills when the local
primary schools and playgroup decorated Easter eggs and made a variety of Easter
related goodies. Much fun was had by all even if it did feel chaotic at the time!
Torridon school's Spring Fair on Saturday was well supported and provided an
opportunity for children to show the things they had made.
The final event was a Highland meal at the Torridon Inn where the success of the
week was rightly celebrated.
None of this superb event would have been possible without an army of willing
helpers - they know who they are - so a huge thank you if you were involved in any
way at all.
The Torridon Arts and Culture Group have been awarded a grant from the Lottery
'Awards For All' to put on events over the coming year. This will include the Ceilidh
Dance on Friday May 25th and a classical concert by The North Star Wind Trio on
Monday 25th June as well as many other exciting events over the coming months. Full
details can be found on the Hall website.
LADY CLAIRE'S COOKERY DEMONSTRATION (29 March 2007)
On Thursday 29th March all roads led to Torridon. They came from a' the airts -
north, south, east and west to Lady Claire Macdonald's cookery demonstrations in
Torridon Village Hall. What a lovely lady - charming, bubbly, passionate, funny, but
above all very down to earth in her approach to cooking. She demonstrated 5 recipes
in the morning and 5 in the afternoon - potted cheese, seared scallops, lamb shank,
braised venison, praline & vanilla crepes, chocolate, raisin & rum ice cream - to name
but a few, making everything look so easy. In between there was a break for a
delicious lunch prepared by the ladies of the Arts & Crafts Committee and a chance
to have a chat with friends. At the end of the afternoon demonstration we just had
to have a wee sample of everything and the 'oos' and 'aas' of everyone spoke volumes. Quite a number took advantage of the occasion to ask Lady Claire's advice on their cookery problems.
I am a sucker for cookery books, I simply cannot resist them, so despite already
groaning shelves, I just had to buy one of Lady Claire's; after watching the Master
Chef at work, I am full of confidence that even I can produce one or two of the
recipes demonstrated - time will tell!
To make everything look so easy of course takes hours of preparation and we must
not forget the backroom girls and Jo - Lady Claire's "Girl Friday"- who so
unobtrusively kept everything running smoothly.
A big "THANK YOU" to the ladies of the Torridon Arts & Crafts Committee for all
the hard work they put in to give us an unforgettable day out - roll on the next one!
JMM
More news...
