Yesterday Phil and I walked by the Tay to the Hilton, where we joined a few friends. We were there to see the commemorative bench and newly planted tree from family and friends of Gordon McNeill-Wilkie. It’s a wonderful time of the year to be walking alongside the river Tay, and if you fancy trying out the new bench it’s by the swimming pool.

Here’s a few photos I took on the day.

I am writing to you about my concerns with the junction at the bottom of Station Road. I stay at the top of Station Road and use the junction daily as do the rest of my family. The amount of times we drive down the road to be faced by vehicles parked at the junction blocking the left hand lane – you then have to sit in middle of the road to get past and you have difficulty to see the traffic. If the junction is busy then you have people turning up the road who can’t get in because you are in the middle of the junction. The large tarred pavement area seems to be handy for some people to park on, making your visibility even worse.

To me they have constructed a very unsafe area but of course it has a lot to do with the inconsiderate people who park there.

Towards the end of last school term, my eleven-year-old son came home from school with an application form for a Young Scot card.

According to the application, this is a voluntary card for 11–25 year olds, allowing them discounts on various facilities and travel – it may also be used as an ID card. I was asked at the school if I had completed the application and I pointed out that since it was voluntary I had decided not to. I was then told that without the card, my son would not be able to use the school dinner facilities or the school LRC when he started at Blairgowrie High School in August.

I have been left feeling this is not a voluntary card at all, merely a deceitful way of forcing ID cards on young people.

Both Genie and I love the large-scale wood sculptures made by Nigel Ross. Many of them are functional such as benches designed for indoor (as well as outdoor) use, although you’d need a large living room for some of his stuff.

When I decided to make a series of short documentaries about Perthshire artists I admired, Nigel was naturally on my shortlist. The only planning was to arrange a convenient date and time when we could visit him at his studio. Genie helped out with one of the cameras.

We are hoping to make a further movie with Nigel when he starts a new piece from scratch, carving a massive tree trunk with a chainsaw, but that will be a longer term project. This one was filmed during one short visit – a couple of hours including time for tea. Enjoy!