Wayside Cottage

It may be winter in Perthshire but there’s still plenty to do.  At the weekend I took the 25 minute trip from Moneydie to Pitlochry to two events at the Winter Words Festival at the theatre.  The first was Andy Wightman introducing his new book ‘The Poor had no Lawyers’ followed by lively discussion on land ownership in Scotland, and the second, Tom Devine giving a new slant on the Scottish Diaspora.  Both thought provoking – another two books to add to the collection.

And there’s more next week.  History is my thing and looking forward to the sell out talk by Neil Oliver on the 4th, but there’s something for most from poetry and cookery offerings to politics, wildlife and adventure.

The range of events at this year’s Wild Connections Festival, running from 8 – 16 October, will feature animals that live within Perthshire ranging from badgers, red squirrels, pine martens, birds of prey, wild cat and red deer.  On 9 October there’s a free viewing of wildlife films focussing on local wildlife which were premiered in New York earlier in the year.

Nearby are the Loch of the Lowes nature reserve and RSPB’s Loch Leven reserve, both within a 20 minute drive from Moneydie.  Geese will be starting to arrive in October and pine martens are a regular visitor at Loch of the Lowes.

It’s all change this year with the Royal Hotel in Dunkeld being the hub for the ten day Festival running from 28 October – 6 November.  Concerts and other activities will take place in towns and villages around Perthshire including Perth, Dunkeld, Birnam, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Blairgowrie.  To receive advance notice of concerts on 22 April subscribe to Dougie’s newsletter then book Wayside Cottage, just 15 mins from Dunkeld, and you’re all set for a great ten days of folk music.

Romance is in the air – Lady, Britain’s oldest breeding female returned to the reserve near Dunkeld at the weekend after her 6,000 mile journey from Africa and has been joined by last year’s mate.  At 26, Lady has lived 3 times longer than average and reared 48 chicks.  All eyes will be on the nest in early April.  Just 15 minutes from Wayside, its easy to visit Loch of the Lowes.