News & Resources for the community of Kippen in Scotland
Several of our pupils were awarded rosettes in the Gargunnock Show Art competition. The themes for this year’s paintings were:
P1-3 – Starfish
P4 and P5 – Shells
P6 and P7 -???
Well done to all our pupils who entered the competition and to this year’s rosette winners.
I love gardening, but probably more the idea of it than the sweaty, dirty reality. I love the fruits of the labour, rather than the labour of love itself. I’m not the best gardener or overzealous about garden perfection. I simply enjoy being outdoors and being a part of the wonders of the fragile, yet fierce, flourishing of the natural world.
Some of my favourite stories of Jesus about God, and God’s ways, were about seeds, planting, growing and harvesting. Mustard seeds growing into large plants, seeds growing or not in various types of soil, and the mystery of seeds growing bit by bit are all in Mark chapter 4. One of my favourite hymns from childhood is “This is My Father’s World”, that has the line ‘All nature sings…the music of the spheres.’ And while I love the music of nature, I do NOT appreciate the buzz of the midge. I’m sure they have a place in the balance of life, but I fail to understand it, yet.
I enjoy conversations with keen gardeners about the delicate balance of nutrients and water that help grow giant onions or bounteous tomatoes or the sweetest ever strawberries. Humans have taken such an interest and endeavour in being fruitful and providing an abundance in what we produce. We are not just consumers at our heart but are co-creators within our environment.
Yet, we cannot control everything. We cannot make the rains come in the exact amount we want. We cannot climate control the heat of summer or the humidity or the wind. There are times and places (indoors) where we seek to climate control, nutrient control, and sunlight control the growing. Most of our food is still grown by ways and means of a delicate balance of what we can control and what we cannot. While we understand so much nowadays, there is just as much we do not know. Creation causes me to pause and wonder at how everything is so intricately woven and balanced together.
God bless the farmers and producers who work tirelessly and faithfully all around the world to provide nourishment and tasty delights amid the unpredictability of nature.
As we move through the days of summer and the year cycles on, I am ever grateful for the labours of others for my benefit. I am thankful for the fragile flourishing that provides for our life. I am mindful of the dangers of greed, injustice, and careless pollution. May we in awe and wonder be good stewards of what is ours to do and share in this precious world where we live. May we all flourish where we are planted or transplanted. – Ellen
Summer Worship in Kippen Kirk is at 11 am most weeks in July and August. Joint services with Norrieston Church are on last Sunday in July at 10 am in Kippen Kirk and last Sunday of August at 10 am in Norrieston Church in Thornhill.
Messy Church Summer BBQ at Gartmore Village Hall on Sunday 19th August from 3pm to 5 pm. All welcome.
The first grant rounds have gone very well and Kippen Reading rooms, which are to be extensively upgraded, join Kippen Street Fayre (new gazebos), Kippen Playgroup and Toddlers (continuity of playleaders) and Kippen Elderly Folks Association (Diamond anniversary celebrations in December 2018) as recipients of Windfarm funding.
The deadline for applications for round 3 is 28th September 2018.
Please contact Margaret Beaton on 870536 for application forms.
If you are interested in becoming involved in managing the distribution of the Kippen Community Fund, there are places available on the Board of the Kippen Community Trust.
To find out more about what the Board does
contact Martin on 871274, Margaret on 870536 or Jon on 870446”.
We on the panel and board all look forward to receiving your applications in round 3!
Caroline Thompson 03/07/18
Under Scotland’s Garden Scheme, 6 gardens opened in Kippen on Sunday 17th June. They were Glentirran, Dun Eaglais, Farringford, Stone Lea, Woodstone House and Arnmoulin. We were lucky with a dry day with blinks of sunshine, and crowds of people both from the village and further afield. £2,796 was raised for two charities, Alzheimer’s Scotland and Start Up Stirling.
Teas were a huge success in the Reading Rooms, with the chance to walk round the community garden at the rear of the building.
All the hard work of the owners of the gardens was well rewarded with many comments about the different styles of planting, the structure of the gardens and of course, our spectacular views. One visitor said with real feeling, “You are very blessed” and I think we are.
Naomi
The next “Classics at Kippen” event will be a “summer Serenade” to be held in Kippen Parish Church on Friday 27 July at 7.30 pm. This will be a fun evening of “light’ classical music given by “local” singing students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Please tell your friends, spread the word, come along if you can. These concerts give the students a much-needed performance platform to gain more performing experience. The proceeds of this evening will be going towards funding our own staging for these events. We have to raise £5000!
For tickets please email me at fergusonk@btinternet.com.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Kathleen
The Kippen Burns Supper will take place on Saturday 26 January 2019 in the Village Hall, hosted by the Friends of Kippen Kirk Trust.
Tickets, priced £20, will be available from early December onwards from any of the FKKT trustees, Micky Hirst (870283), Mary Lawson (870202), David Jenkins (870443), Barry Topping (870090) and Julie McEachern (870635).
The line-up of speakers and performers will be announced in the next edition of The Wee Vine.
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has received assurances from First Bus that busses based in Balfron are to be upgraded in coming months.
Around 8 First Bus vehicles are to be “substantially refreshed” – with around £6,000 per vehicle to be spent on average.
The refreshed busses will have a new two-tone appearance, some of which have already arrived and are in operation.
Mr Crawford met with James Harvey of First Bus last week to discuss the changes, following concerns that had been raised by members of the local community about vandalism and damage caused to a number of vehicles on the fleet.
Mr Harvey assured Mr Crawford that all vehicles operating Balfron routes had received a 100% MOT pass rate and were maintained to the same standard as busses operating in urban areas.
Commenting, Bruce Crawford said:
“Over a period of time, busses can begin to look tired and can sustain damage – it is clear that this has happened with a number of the fleet based in Balfron.
“I am pleased that First Bus has responded directly to the complaints raised with me, and I am confident from the discussion I had that this is a matter they take seriously.
“An average of £6,000 per bus on refreshing 8 vehicles is a considerable investment from the company, and will make a substantial difference.
“As much as I’d like to see a brand new fleet of busses for the Balfron area, I have to be realistic about what’s achievable. This investment in the current fleet will go some way in addressing the concerns that have been raised with me.
“I look forward to seeing more of the refreshed and two-toned branded busses in the area over the next few months.”
48% of Kippen residents say their mobile tariff is not good value for money
A recent survey of Kippen on 4G coverage from Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has shown that there is widespread dissatisfaction about what local people are paying for in mobile phone tariffs when they are unable to connect to the most up-to-date mobile internet services.
Mr Crawford received hundreds of responses which also showed that 59% of local people are unable to connect to 4G in their own home, and 65% could not connect elsewhere in Kippen.
48% of people in Kippen said that their mobile phone tariff was not good value for money as a result of the inability to connect to these services.
Commenting, Bruce Crawford said:
“Firstly, I’m grateful to everyone who took time to fill out and return my survey on 4G in the area. The large number of responses that I received alone tells a story about how important this issue is.
“There are obvious challenges within rural communities in terms of mobile internet coverage – however, I do not think enough has been done to connect rural Stirling communities such as Kippen.
“The fact that 48% of local people here do not feel that their mobile phone tariff is good value for money because of an inability to connect to the most up to date services is a very serious matter and one that I will be raising with individual mobile network providers in coming weeks.
“4G access is an important way of modern life, both socially and economically and, as I pursue this issue, I hope to see better coverage of 4G across the whole rural Stirling area, including in Kippen.”
Notes to the Editor:
Photograph attached: Bruce Crawford MSP
SB/PR
A vintage Rice horsebox has been recently, and lovingly, converted into The Gin Thing “mobile gin experience” by Kippen residents Sue and Cliff Hewett.
Sue had the idea towards the end of 2017, and within days the couple had travelled to the borders to buy a rather well-worn horsebox of unknown antiquity and provenance…
Although the respray should really have come last, in fact it came first as they were impatient to see the vision taking shape (and the exterior photos came in handy for marketing even at this early stage!)
Next came a few months of work, in what turned out to be a very long, cold winter. Indeed during the installation of the copper roof panels the box began to fill with snow from the open rear door! Cliff says he was very fortunate to have guidance and plenty of hard work from local resident Andy Gordon (“it was very handy to have the village handy-man, Andy, on hand to lend a hand. Very handy.”)
Aiming for the highest standards, “Senior Management” (Sue) dictated that the wooden work surfaces weren’t going to be just any old work surface. Rather, an overnight dash in thick snow to the wilds of Aberdeenshire to Cliff’s wood-working friend, Alan Smith, who supplied some raw oak boards. Days of sanding and re-sanding followed, which Cliff says he is trying hard to forget.
Eventually, however, the worktops were installed, closely followed by full electrics and then gas for hot water and the brand new coffee machine – another capability of The Gin Thing!
With the help of Stirling STEP, a professional photo shoot took place in early May, closely followed by the launch party where a certain member of The Wee Vine’s editorial team became The Gin Thing’s very first customer!
The Gin Thing is available for hire at weddings, parties and events, and further details can be found at:
Let The Gin Thing begin.
The Wee Vine 