January Events in Highland Perthshire

January 2012 Events in Highland Perthshire

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Full info for January 2012 What's On for Highland Perthshire 

5th November to 25th March 2012
Blair Castle Winter Opening Times
Blair Castle Blair Atholl
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm (Free admission to gardens, grounds, restaurant and shop.)
Sunday Lunch in the ballroom 12noon - 3pm
Festive Opening from 28th December to 31st December 2011 10am to 4pm (Last admission to castle 3pm)
Closed from 21st December to 20th January 2012 (except for Festive Opening days)
email: 01796 481207 e.mail office@blair-castle.co.uk         www.atholl-estates.co.uk

November to March 2012
Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre
A923 off A9 2mls from Dunkeld PH8 0HH
Open Friday Saturday and Sunday 10.30am to 4pm
Red squirrels are now considered endangered, but here on the reserve families of red squirrels visit our feeders, much to the delight of our visitors. You’ll also be able to see woodland birds such as treecreepers, siskins and great spotted woodpeckers that all make great use of our feeders.  Enjoy seeing beautiful waterbirds including wigeon, moorhen to mallards from the observation hides with the help of powerful telescopes.  The four star Visitor Centre provides you with a place to birdwatch in style and all in the comfort of a cozy centre. Sit back and relax with a cup of fair trade coffee while you marvel at red squirrels playing right in front of you from the viewing window. further info contact Caroline Hendry 01350 727337 e.mail lochofthelowes@swt.org.uk

7TH November – 28th February
WINTER WATCH SAFARIS LAND ROVER SPOTLIGHT SAFARIS
Highland Safaris By Aberfeldy PH15 2JQ
As dusk turns into night, climb aboard your Land Rover and use the spotlight as a window into this mysterious night-time world.
Web or Call 01887 820071 www.highlandsafaris.net

7th November – 28th February
ALPINE SAFARIS
Highland Safaris By Aberfeldy PH15 2JQ
Head into the hills to experience the sub arctic wilderness and search for elusive White Hares, Ptarmigan and Red Deer. Enjoy refreshments in our cosy Mountain Bothy.
Web or Call 01887 820071 www.highlandsafaris.net

Sunday 1st January 1pm - 4pm
Pitlochry New Year Street Party.
Atholl Road Pitlochry
Eddie Rose and the Jack Delaney's Ceilidh Band, the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band, Silly McB the Clown, will all be at the street party.  Dancing raffle, food & refreshments. Contact Graham Holmes 01796 473 153 or e.mail graham@homeshome.plus.com

Monday 2nd January 8pm
Fiddle Tree New Year Ceilidh Dance
The Birnam House Hotel
The hugely popular annual Fiddle Tree New Year Ceilidh Dance takes place at The Birnam House Hotel on Monday January 2nd. Sticking with tradition, the band on the night will once again be the ever-popular BELLA McNAB'S DANCE BAND from Edinburgh. Doors will open at 8.00 p.m and the birlin' will start soon after that.
Tickets cost £10 (full price); £8 (usual concessions) and £5 (under-18s). Available to buy by cash or cheque from Birnam CD and Zigzags (details above). Card bookings are available ONLINE ONLY at www.thebooth.co.uk .

Monday 16th January 9am
65th Salmon Season Opening Celebrations
The Kenmore Hotel The Square Kenmore PH15 2NU
The official opening of the 2012 Salmon Season at the Kenmore Hotel, come along from 9am.  March from the hotel to the River Tay, accompanied by celebrities and the Vale of Atholl Junior Pipe Band, for the official opening ceremony.  Permits available from the hotel £25 per person.

Friday 20th January
Music in Rannoch
The Old Church of Rannoch
Scott Mitchell (piano), Natalie Montakhab (soprano), Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (mezzo soprano), Mahler, Schurbert, Vaughan-Williams songs and Chopin Noctuires.  £7.50 at the door, Children Free.

Friday 20th January 7pm
Burns Supper & Ceilidh
Westlands Hotel Atholl Rd Pitlochry
Toasts, Poems, Singing & Dancing Tickets £15 available from Robertson's Pitlochry.

Friday 20th January 8pm
Burns The Songwriter
Birnam Arts & Conference Centre Station Road Birnam Dunkeld PH8 0DS
This fascinating talk by Dr Fred Freeman, an historian of Scottish song, as well as a renowned bagpiper, is designed to introduce a wholly unknown Robert Burns to the general public. Eight years ago Fred persuaded Linn Records to produce a box set of 13 CDs, featuring over 360 of Burns’ songs, with various, notable Scots musicians. For over 200 years Burns has been misrepresented as Scotland’s national ‘poet’, yet he was primarily a song-writer, composing with impeccable musicianship upwards of 400 songs. Tickets: £8 / £6 Tel 01350 727 674 www.birnamarts.com

Friday 20th January 7.30pm and Sat 21st Jan, 2.00pm
The Cemetery Club
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Just Do It Theatre - Three Women in search of a life . . .
Three Jewish, New York widows meet once a month for tea before visiting their husband’s graves . . . Lucille and Ida in their own very different ways are ready for a new life and perhaps a new man - or in Lucille’s case, ‘men’! However when Ida meets Sam and romance starts to blossom . . . Lucille and Doris go into action! They know what’s best for Ida . . . or think they do!
Tickets: £12.00 - £14.00 Concessions available. Please book concession tickets by phone (01796 484626) or in person.  Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 21st January
Traditional Burns Night
Atholl Palace Hotel Atholl Rd Pitlochry PH16 5LY
Burns Nicht wi' a difference! 
A superb night of traditional and humorous verse and song, featuring renowned Burns specialists Cammy Goodall and Michael Philip, world class piper Brian Lamond plus Paul Clancy and Elaine Green of the Conundrum Dance Band. Fabulous traditional food.  Non residents £20 per person Tel 01796 472400 info:athollpalace.com www.athollpalace.co.uk

Tuesday 24th Jan, 7.30pm
Burns Nicht
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
with Linda Ormiston, James and Andrew Nicol
With a traditional supper and piper in the Festival Restaurant, the evening follows the time-honoured form: traditional Scottish fare (warm-reekin’, rich!) will be served with local whisky, all washed down with a performance of Burns songs and poems in the cosy surroundings of the Foyer. Tickets: £30.00 Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27th January - 5th February
Winter Words Festival
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Get Together with Great Minds at the eighth successive Winter Words Festival - the best possible start to Scotland’s Literary Year! This year, we’ll bring you even more of the special elements that make this celebration of the written and the spoken word unique - from stories of Scotland’s landscape, its history and its people, to tales of adventure, exploration and discovery, all shared by a dazzling array of authors, wordsmiths and broadcasters from across Scotland and beyond.  Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 10.30am – 11.30am
Patrick Richardson Reports from Beyond - A Journey Through Life to Remote Places
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Offering a glimpse into a colourful and adventurous personality, Patrick Richardson`s extraordinary travel memoir recalls a lifetime of unusual journeys to remote and fascinating cultures. His accounts range from the highly dramatic - falling through the ice in Lake Baikal; being attacked by a pack of dogs in Vanuatu in the Pacific to the more descriptive and lyrical depictions of travelling up the Amazon, climbing the sacred Mount Emei in western China, or sailing down the River Niger to Timbucktu.  Luring the reader into a rich sensory world of foreign sights, sounds and smells, reflecting his desire for adventure both in his life and his travels, Patrick takes his audience on a journey in this opening event - and goes ‘beyond’ . . .£6.50
Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 11.45am – 12.45pm
Anne Barker Remembered Remedies Sponsored by The Highland Soap Company®
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Anne Barker has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland to gather insights into the way plants have featured in our lives for generations.  Based on the recollections of hundreds of people from every corner of Scotland, Remembered Remedies is a fascinating insight into the way plants have featured in Scottish life - from collecting seaweed from island shores and bottling cordials, to making heather beds and chaff mattresses and using plants for medicinal purposes.  Anne’s talk will be beautifully illustrated with images of the many plants she remembers from her journey.  Anne is an author, a part-time lecturer in ethnobotany at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and a member of Council of the Botanical Society of Scotland.
 £6.50 Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 1.00pm – 2.15pm
Colin Liddell - Literary Lunch In Celebration of a Diamond Jubilee!
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
(Free for Festival Circle and John Stewart Society members?
The fascinating history of Scotland's Theatre in the Hills is told by local historian Colin Liddell, the third member of his family to be a Trustee of the Theatre.
This event will offer a unique opportunity to see rare and unusual images from recent and bygone days, including well-kent faces from the Pitlochry stage, the erection of the tented structure before the first season opening in 1951, the Queen Mother’s visit in 1960 and Prince Charles’s visits in 1981 and 2002 – and that’s in addition to hearing the intriguing stories of the directors and designers, actors and managers, and sixty years of plays!
Colin’s enthralling narrative will be interspersed with a host of interesting PFT facts, such as the top ten most performed playwrights at PFT and the most often performed plays, together with a roll call of the actors who have appeared most often on the renowned Pitlochry stage  £16.50 Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Alex Gray and Caro Ramsay Women and Crime
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Two of Scotland’s top crime writers come together to discuss their work, their lives and how they find the inspiration for their dark, disturbing books.  Caro started writing when an unexplained spinal injury left her bedridden for a year. Her first two books, Atonement and Singing To The Dead propelled her from relative obscurity to one of the top 20 crime writers of 2010.
Alex has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers' Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing. Her previous novels include Five Ways to Kill a Man, Glasgow Kiss, Pitch Black, The Riverman and Never Somewhere Else.   £8.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 4.30pm - 5.30pm
G. J. Moffatt and Craig Robertson Men and Crime
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Scottish crime isn’t all about the ladies - the men of Caledonia have produced some stonking crime fiction, too. Robertson and Moffat are coming to read from their work, convincing us that they can outwrite their female literary counterparts any day!
Blindside, by Moffat, is the third in his series of dark, explosive novels set in Scotland and Denver, and is set to be another bestseller. Moffat says he has always had the urge to write thrillers, to portray the good guys and the bad guys in glorious technicolour.
Robertson has spent 20 years as a journalist, covering 9/11, Dunblane, and the Omagh bombing amongst other significant events. His first novel, Random, was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA New Blood Dagger and longlisted for the 2011 Crime Novel of the Year. His second novel, Snapshot, is released in paperback in February 2012 and his third novel will be published in June.  £8.50 Spend an afternoon in the company of two great crime writers for the price of one! Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27th January
Burns Night at the Black Watch Restaurant Aberfeldy
Special Guests John Swinney MSP, Alan Brown, Alan Telfer.  Enjoy a 3 course meal and a wee dram.  Everyone welcome £15 Tickets from June Manning 01887 829730

Friday 27 Jan 7.30pm
Inside Natures Giants with Simon Watt 
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Simon Watt sprang onto our TV screens in the Bafta-winning Channel 4 series, Inside Nature’s Giants, which gets under the skin of the largest animals on the planet. Most wildlife documentaries show how animals behave, but by exploring their anatomy, Inside Nature's Giants reveals how these creatures really work.  Simon, an evolutionary biologist, takes us behind the scenes of the programme to examine some of the worlds most fascinating animals. What is a dinosaur bird and where can you find one? How did the shell of a turtle develop? And why do whale carcasses explode? Simon will even bring along some previously unseen footage, that didn’t make it to screen!  Simon’s unusual career path hasn’t always pointed towards TV. Though he has spent the vast majority of his working life as an educator in one form or another, he has always favoured jobs which allow him to dress up funny and flit through the centuries with reckless abandon. To date, he has pretended professionally to be a plague victim, a World War One soldier, a Viking slave trader, a medieval monk, a Tudor rake and a Victorian scamp . . .
Funny, fascinating and thrilling, don’t miss this opportunity to go behind the scenes of a hit TV show! £16.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Friday 27 Jan 9.30pm - 10.30pm / Free
FEARIE TALES
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Gather together in the cosy, informal atmosphere of the Ben-y-Vrackie Bar, as we once again round off the day’s events with tales of the macabre and the supernatural, read by some familiar faces from the Pitlochry stage.   Hear original tales that recount unnerving co-incidences, strange encounters at remote lochs, chance sightings on remote hillsides, before plunging into the depths of black, dank woods or taking flight into the “other” world of phantoms, bogles and wraiths.
Each evening will feature a selection of different hair-raising tales, but a dram (or two) should help to keep the chills at bay . . . Every one of this year’s tales of the ghostly and the mysterious will be an entirely new story, created just for Winter Words by writers eager to take part in our annual Fearie Tales Competition. If you think you’ve got what it takes to write a Fearie Tale, then why not turn to p. XX for full details of the 2012 competition.  Go on. Get writing. Scare us – and yourself. If you dare . . .Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 10.30am -11.30am
Mairi Hedderwick  Katie Morag’s Island Stories
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Come and meet sensational Scottish children's author and illustrator Mairi Hedderwick, who will bring to life her much loved stories about Katie Morag and her friends in their magical Hebridean home!  Mairi will also introduce her new picture book character, a wee mischievous little boy - Peedie Peebles! This promises to be a new favourite and is, as ever, beautifully illustrated.
These stories are perfect for sharing and reading aloud. What can you expect? A few tales of mischievous behaviour and cheeky happenings of course!  Family event for 4-8 year olds  £5 adult, £3 child, £12 family  Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 10.30 – 11.30am
Dr. David Rae The Living Collection sponsored by Explorers and The Scottish Rock Garden Club
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Like priceless objects in a national museum or library, the plants growing in the four gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) form a great collection: a dynamic display of living specimens held in safekeeping for all to enjoy. Here are nature’s works of art gathered from across the world, carefully curated, meticulously maintained and beautifully presented. But there is much more to the collection than the beauty that meets the eye . . .
Join Dr David Rae, Director of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, for an illustrated journey behind the scenes at the Botanic Garden and an explanation of the skilled work involved in caring for a world-famous Living Collection - and why this work matters.   £6.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 11.45am – 12.45pm
Jim Crumley The Ancient Forest of Caledon
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
The Great Wood of Caledon is the historic native forest of Highland Scotland: an impassable place, a Highlands-wide jungle, infested by wolf, lynx, bear and beaver – and painted men. Or was it?   Jim Crumley, author and documentary maker, threads a path among relict strongholds of native woodland, beginning with a soliloquy by the Fortingall Yew, the one tree in Scotland that can say of the hey-day of the Great Wood 5,000 years ago: “I was there”.
Enriched by vivid wildlife encounters, this is a passionate and poetic account that binds the slow dereliction of the past to an optimistic future.   Described by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as ‘the best nature writer working in Britain today’, Jim Crumley (born and bred in Dundee) has written 23 books to date and has made numerous documentaries for BBC Radio 4, Radio Scotland and Wildlife on One.   Jim is a wonderful speaker, who makes a welcome return to Winter Words following last year’s very popular event.   £6.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 1.00pm – 2.15pm
Literary Lunch - Mairi Hedderwick  Shetland Rambles
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Mairi Hedderwick began her rambles in 1992 in the Highlands, combining her exquisite illustrations with the original travelogue of Victorian artist John T. Reid. She then moved on to Shetland, where she continued her love affair with Reid, with island life and with walking, by drawing the most beautiful scenery in the world. Join Mairi, one of Scotland’s best loved authors, on a beautifully illustrated ramble through Shetland, including examples of the engravings that so drew her to Reid all those years ago. Mairi Hedderwick is the acclaimed author of books for adults and children, including the Katie Morag series. She lives on Coll.   £16.50  Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 2pm – 2.30pm
Poetry Please Free Event in Café Bar
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Share a much loved poem in this unique event. See page X for details! Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 3.00pm - 4.00pm
Stuart Clark The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Stuart Clark loves the stars. As well as being an acclaimed science writer and editor of Astronomy Now, Stuart has studied, gazed upon and thought about stars for all his life. Now he turns that knowledge and intensity to his first of three novels, penning fictional portraits of giants in astronomy, exploring pivotal turning points in man’s understanding of the cosmos.
The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth is set at the dawn of the 17th century, when most believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth - yet some began to suspect otherwise. It’s the fascinating, fictionalized story of Kepler and Galileo, two men who struggled to change our world forever.
Come and hear Stuart talk about the stars, the men who formed our common knowledge of the sky and how they suffered for their beliefs.  £8.50  Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28 Jan 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Colin Prior High Light
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Anyone with a passion for mountains and wild places cannot fail to have enjoyed Colin’s breathtaking panoramic images on calendars, posters and prints.
In 2006 he established the Colin Prior Photography School, which offers inspiration and tuition to a new generation of photographers, helping them to become conversant with the visual language of photography. Trips in Scotland, Bhutan, Namibia, Pakistan and Greenland offer clients unique photographic experiences in wild places, whilst fostering a strong connection with the environment.  Colin will be talking about his work including his latest book, High Light - the culmination of the last five years work in the Scottish highlands and islands   £10.00 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28th January 7pm
Traditional Burns Night
Pitlochry Golf, Golf Course Road Pitlochry PH16 5QY
4 courses £20 booking essential on 01796 472334 manager@pitlochrygolf.co.uk

Saturday 28th January
Burns Supper & Ceilidh
Kenmore Hotel, The Square Kenmore PH15 2NU
Celebrate Burns' night in style at Scotland's Oldest Inn with our traditional feast and Ceilidh.  £29.95 per person book now as places are limited.  Tel 01887 830205 reception@kenmorehotel.cu.uk  www.kemorehotel.com

Saturday 28th January 7.30pm
Sir Chris Bonington - Triumph and Tragedy on the Eiger
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Of all the great challenges of the Alps, the North Wall of Eiger stands supreme, both for the richness of its history and the dramas, many of them all too tragic, that have taken place from the early attempts in the 1930s to the present day.
Chris Bonington experienced this directly in his various attempts and final success in making the first British ascen,t and in his involvement in the dramatic story of extreme climbing and the extraordinary media circus that accompanied the first ascent of the Eiger Direct in the winter of 1966 made by Dougal Haston and four German climbers.
Mountaineer, writer, photographer and lecturer, Chris Bonington started climbing at 16 in 1951 and it has been his passion ever since. He has made some of the most historic ascents of the worlds most challenging mountains: the North Wall of the Eiger, the South Face of Annapurna (the biggest and most difficult climb in the Himalaya at the time) and the first ascent of the South West face of Everest in 1975, reaching the summit himself in 1985 at the age of 50.
He has written 17 books, fronted numerous TV programmes and lectures all over the world, receiving a knighthood in1996 for services to mountaineering.
Following a sell out appearance in 2006, Winter Words is thrilled to welcome back one of the most popular and iconic adventurers of our times.
Tickets: £18.50 Tel Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Saturday 28th January 9.30pm – 10.30pm / Free
Fearie Tales
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
If the lights flicker and then dim, don’t worry - it’s just the beginning of the second night’s scare-you-tainment! Huddle with other fearless souls as we bring you tales of unwelcome apparitions, unexpected visions and unnerving occurrences. And as your eyes adjust to the gloom, if you should happen to see out of the corner of your eye a cowled figure with sightless eyes gliding past, don’t worry . . . the blind monk’s here every night . . .Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Sunday 29 January 10.30am – 11.30am
Gary Sutherland Golf on the Rocks
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Gary Sutherland was a lapsed golfer, until he acquired his late dad's putter. After studying a crumpled golf map of Scotland, Gary decided to embark on a journey to play 18 rounds of golf on 18 Scottish islands in honour of his dad, a ship's captain who, when he wasn't at sea, was never off the golf course.   From the Northern Isles to the Outer Hebrides, playing in the Harris hail and Arran sunshine, he would encounter an odd variety of golfing hazards, including sheep on the tees, cows on the fairways - and electric fences round the greens!  Come and hear his life-affirming tale of remembrance and discovery. It's about having a laugh and holding on to what's dear. And it's about a putter with magical properties. You can believe what you choose - but it all happened . . .  This is golf in the raw - a million miles from St Andrews!  £6.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Sunday 29 January 11.45am – 12.45pm
Andy Wightman The Poor Had No Lawyers?
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Who owns Scotland – and how on earth did they get it?
Andy Wightman takes us on a voyage of discovery into Scotland’s past to find out why and how landowners got hold of millions of acres of land that were once held in common. In doing so, he tells the untold story of how Scotland’s legal establishment and politicians managed to appropriate land through legal fixes.   From Robert the Bruce to Willie Ross, and from James V to Donald Dewar, land has conferred political and economic power. Have attempts to redistribute this power more equitably made any difference and what are the full implications of the recent debt-fuelled housing bubble?   For all those with an interest in urban and rural land in Scotland, this event provides a fascinating and illuminating analysis of one the most important political questions in Scotland – who owns Scotland and how did they get it?  £6.50 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Sunday 29 January 1.00pm – 2.15pm
Literary Lunch Dennis Canavan  Let The People Decide
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Dennis is a much admired and hugely popular Scottish politician (he gained the highest ever majority in elections in Scotland – twice!) and is a keen supporter of devolution. He has attracted both praise and controversy throughout his career and is recognised as one of the most colourful politicians ever to have graced Holyrood. In this book, which covers some 30 years in politics, Dennis bares his soul about his life as a socialist orator, and how his public life was touched with the private tragedy of the early loss of three sons he loved.  Thought provoking, moving and speaking with breathtaking candour, this will be a memorable afternoon in the company of a lively and fascinating personality.  £22.50  Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Sunday 29 January 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Sue Lawrence Eating In  Includes a Cooking Demonstration
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Described by The Times as one of the best recipe writers in the land, TV chef Sue Lawrence is proud of the food that Scotland produces. From Ayrshire bacon to Arbroath Smokies, Scottish fare forms the raw material for her latest book, Eating In.
As Scotland's 'squeezed middle' finds that cooking at home is a necessary measure, Lawrence argues that we can turn austerity into a virtue. Come and see Sue make a couple of her favourite recipes live on stage and pick up some tips to make your mealtimes a more exciting place to eat!
£10.00 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Sunday 29 January 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Tom Devine To the Ends of the Earth
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
The Scots are one of the world's greatest nations of emigrants. For centuries, untold numbers of men, women and children have sought their fortunes in every conceivable walk of life and in every imaginable climate across the British Empire, the United States and elsewhere, from finance to industry, philosophy to politics.   Tom Devine, one of Scotland’s foremost historians, will bring the story of these emigrants centre stage, taking many famous stories and removing layers of myth and sentiment to reveal the no less startling truth, paying particular attention to the exceptional Scottish role as traders, missionaries and soldiers.   Filled with fascinating stories and with an acute awareness of the poverty and social inequality that provoked so much emigration, To the Ends of the Earth will make you think about the world in quite a different way.
This will be a lively and fascinating afternoon of engagement and entertainment with plenty of food of thought.   £10.00 Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com

Monday 30th January 7.30pm
"An arresting story.  A history of policing in Perthshire"
Moulin & Pitlochry History Circle The Tryst Pitlochry.
Sgt Willie Macfarlane is a former Tayside Police Officer and now Curator of the Tayside Police Museum.  He has published the book covering the period 1836 - late 1970s which sets out how the three police forces were formed, and later became one.

Tuesday 31 January 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Schools event - Victoria Campbell Viking Gold
Winter Words Festival Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Fascinated by history (especially the gory bits), Victoria believes everyone else should be too! She thinks the Vikings and their achievements – discovering America, for one – are hugely underrated.  Her latest book, Viking Gold, is aimed at 12-16 year olds. Whilst being a faced-paced action adventure, it also looks at a Dark Age Europe on the cusp of the early medieval renaissance, especially culture clashes (between Norse, Native American, and Christian Irish/English) and the nascent rise in literacy and the material culture of the book.
Victoria will read excerpts from Viking Gold and use replica Viking arms, costumes, everyday objects and multi-media to instigate discussions about what life would be like for young people in Dark Age Europe, with audience interaction and participation, and questions on her books, on history and on her writing process.   Ideal for children in (S1-S3) and adults alike!  £2.50 (u-18, £4.50 for adults) Box Office 01796 484626 www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
 

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