The St Fillans Bit Cassius said of Julius Caesar “Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about.” In St Fillans abides our own ‘colossus’ in the unlikely form of Angus Ross who, in April, completed a serious challenge in tackling a 74 mile trek along the Great Glen in aid of Maggies Cancer Centres. Angus completed the 30 mile mountain bike section through the forests and hills between Fort William and Fort Augustus and then a 40 mile hike on to Inverness – and all in 22 hours. Angus was part of the Scottish Prison Service team (let out for the day) who participate regularly in the challenge and to date have
Ian and Angus
raised over £80,000 for Maggies. Please form an orderly queue to ‘walk under his huge legs and peep about’. On second thoughts... Meantime the fairer sex (by some distance), namely three of St Fillans Golf Club ladies, were storming the Comrie Open on May 12 and scooping up the prizes. In the Silver Division Scratch, Ena Bennie took 1st place and Janis Whyte 3rd, while Rita Milburn won the Bronze Division and was overall winner of The Laggan Braes Trophy with 41 Stableford points. At the Mixed Open on June 12 fifty couples from around the area competed and the winners were again St Fillans Club duo Ali Ferguson and Mike Calder. Must be all down to the determined single minded inspiration of Club Manager Gordon ‘Fabio’ Hibbert (*) (* as I write England have just qualified for the knock out stages of some obscure competition in Africa which, I am told, Scotland did not enter. In the interests of Civil Order and good taste the Editor will probably strike this paragraph). The annual St Fillans Golf Club BBQ was enjoyed by 110 members and guests on June 19 after the Captain v Vice Captain
Two AA Red Rosettes for Fine Dining Winner of Good for the Soul Award
Open Daily for Bar Lunch 12-2.30pm Two courses from £9.99 Supper 6-9pm in the Tarken Bistro Dinner 7-9pm in the Meall Reamhar Restaurant Friday Night is Fish Night in the Tarken Bistro ‘Make Sunday Special’ Traditional Sunday Roast lunch 12-2.30pm Monthly Theme Night in the Tarken Bar 6-9pm.
St Fillans Ladies Golf Winners: Janis, Rita and Ena
team competition in which the Vice Captain’s team, lead by Ena Bennie (she’s back again) and Fraser Ballantyne, were clear victors. Various fundraising activities over the day raised some £900 for the purchase of new picnic tables – a far better way to enjoy the splendour of St Fillans Golf Course than belting way at a wee ball I’d have thought, far less stressful. Which flows nicely into the news that Four Seasons Chef Matthew Martins was shortlisted to take part in the Escoffier Challenge Ecosse 2010 in June and won the competition. He will now go forward to represent Scotland at the UK Finals in London later this year. The next theme night at The Four Seasons is on July 14 when it’s Chinese Night, a night which will get even a committed dieter like me out for a meal. Mary reminds me that their conference room is available to book for smaller parties of up to twenty and that they are happy to discuss ideas for your party if you pop in or phone them. On June 2 the Community Council hosted a presentation by RAF Squadron Leader (rtd) John Gilbert on low flying exercises in the local area. It seems that John has received hostile receptions when giving his presentation in other areas but in St Fillans the audience was receptive and interested in the history of the RAF and in an awe-inspiring video made by RAF crews of their day to day duties in Afghanistan, some involving Chinook helicopters and extremely precarious landing sites (like
Continued overleaf
This month: 14th July - Chinese Night!
The Four Seasons Hotel, St Fillans
01764 685 333 www.thefourseasonshotel.co.uk
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