Abbey’s
Realistic Pilates
Want to improve your core strength and posture in 2014? Classes will be up and running again on Mondays at 6.15pm or 7.30pm and Wednesdays at 9.50am from 17th February in Balquhidder Hall. All new comers very welcome! No experience, fitness/strength/ flexibility necessary. For details please contact me at
abbeyarkotxa@gmail.com or call me on 0776 6407578
The St Fillans Bit
by John Murray
Here we go into another year of village life – and a Good New Year to anyone with nothing else to do but read this column. I’m delighted with the input I now receive from villagers with ideas and reports for the St Fillans Bit – in particular this month to Johnston Brown for the submission of an article about the new path and bridge works which you will find elsewhere in this issue. Keep the info coming and I might last another year in my role, and apologies if your idea/input is missing which will be because I ran out of space. (Ed’s Note: at least another ten years). Happily the village now has its own defibrillator thanks to the funding mentioned last month. To prepare members of the community Don Forrester organised a training session on 28th November in The Sandison which was fully attended. I must admit that I expected 2 hours of boredom, but far from it. The excellent tutor Stuart Ballantyne from The Scottish Ambulance Service instructed and entertained, both in the use of the defibrillator and in
Defibrillator kit
general CPR. The most sobering thought was that after cardiac arrest the following ten minutes are vital to the survival of the patient – and we in St Fillans are twenty minutes from the nearest ambulance if we are lucky! Hence the importance of a basic knowledge of CPR. The evening included individual hands on, literally, experience of CPR using realistic dummies designed for the purpose. Excellent Skills for Life videos from the BHF were shown and I think that most there learned a lot from the session. It is hoped that further training sessions with Stuart will be arranged and are well worthwhile. Those of us who thought that the defib was some massive machine were surprised to find it smaller than a briefcase, and its use really couldn’t be simpler since once you switch it on the machine talks you through the process of using it. The machine resides in the Church annex accessed by a coded lock – most villagers have the code by now and it is available in the Village Store. It is happy and sad news that Ulla Ross is departing St Fillans in February. Happy because her house is now sold and she can move on to a new life in Polmont closer to
Ulla and fellow ramblers
friends, but sad as Ulla has been so much a part of St Fillans life for so many years (25 I think). We will miss her striding across the hill tracks and along the village daily, shaming most of us with her fitness! Ulla has always enjoyed hill walking and she with 4 or 5 pals always used to finish up at The Achray, when I owned it, every Monday evening for sustenance after a day in the hills. Happy memories. More recently, in November last, her wee group enjoyed a day’s walking with Clare Balding of TV fame along the Forth coast by Hopetoun House. This is a regular event – the first one Ulla took part in was in 2004 – and part of the BBC 4 Radio programme Rambling. The November walk will featured in the programme during February (I don’t have the date yet) and listeners can be delighted by Ulla’s own particular brand of Swenglish. As most will know a new Planning Application has been submitted for 4 further houses in Dundurn Walk. Two public meetings have been held in January in The Sandison to allow the developer to explain the proposals and to get feedback from villagers. I think the word is ‘lively’ Continued overleaf
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