Christmas Greetings
December 2023
To all friends, members and volunteers of the Bailies of Bennachie, Christmas greetings!
It has been quite a year for the Bailies. A newsletter can be read here On Reaching 50 years giving more details but highlights including the adoption of our new logo and ethos – ‘A Voice for the Hill’, and the fantastic Open Day to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Bailies. This day had some 500 attend, and featured specially commissioned piano music, traditional music, a montage of our history and scenes from the play we commissioned from Alan Bissett, ‘A Hill that was a Home’. The play continued for a sell out run later in the year. Spin off publicity included an episode in BBC Radio Scotland’s series ‘Our Story’ on the Bailies and other articles. Details of all of this can be found on the website, www.bailiesofbennachie.co.uk.
The Bailies also won the RSPB Nature of Scotland ‘Community Initiative Award’ including a fine film about us by Hopscotch Films, and just this month, notification of our short listing for the Kings Award for Voluntary Service, which will be awarded next November, so fingers crossed!
Yes, it has been quite a year, but at no time did we take our eye off of the day job, the care of our iconic hill. The work parties continued all year, the archaeological digs enjoyed a summer season, as did a schedule of walks and talks in the Wildlife section.
Looking forward to next year, we have a number of projects in the pipeline which will be advertised and shared with members and friends, more details within the attachment.
So, exciting times to come. But all of the above has only happened due to the dedication and hard work of our teams of volunteers and members and we thank them profusely for their contributions.
It you would want to participate in our success at member, volunteer or trustee level, we would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at info@bailiesofbennachie.co.uk to open the discussion and hopefully your route to participation.
We hope many of you will be able to get out on Bennachie over the break. If you see any of the Trustees on the hill, please stop for a chat and tell us about your Bennachie experiences. We wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy and productive New Year.
The Trustees of the Bailies of Bennachie
