Bailies of Bennachie Council Meeting 3rd Dec 2012
December 2012
There was a festive air about the Bailies of Bennachie council meeting near Burnhervie earlier this week.
For a start members were greeted with a magnificent Norwegian spruce tree which occupied a large part of the hall and was a-glow with Christmas lights. The tree had been provided by Bailies consultant Nick Ananin from his own garden at the Lord’s Throat.He explained: “It has been growing in our hedge for about 20years and had become so big it was threatening to break through the fence so it had to go.” But he was very happy that the 17 foot tree had found such a welcome home with council member Ann Baillie. Much of the evening’s proceedings were taken up with discussions of plans and projects for 2013. A ‘BOB’ (Bailies of Bennachie ) business brainstorming session took place at the last meeting.Ideas included a hill warden training scheme with more talks and guided walks, a junior rangers group to engage more young folk with activities such as map-reading, star-gazing and bird-watching with a message board to record sightings and competitions for photography, artwork and poetry and the continuation of practical conservation of the hill in general.
New and exciting ideas were voiced to celebrate the Bailies of Bennachie 40th anniversary during 2013. It was suggested inviting founders to give talks on the Bailies history, planting a tree remembrance wood whereby people could sponsor a tree linked to a loved one and holding bear Gryllis-style adventure weekends.Planting 40 native trees was another idea enthusiastically received. A new Guide to Bennachie book will also be published early next year.
Business concluded host and hostess David and Ann Baillie provided a sumptuous spread of a buffet with seasonal mulled wine to ward off the chill of the night.