The Away Weekend

For more than 30 years we took our 3rd and 4th year students for a weekend to Tarradale House on the Black Isle, or in a few years to The Burn at Edzell in Kincardine. In recent years the event has moved to the Braemar Youth Hostel, which we have rented out in the close season. The weekend has centred around group activity, perhaps relating to broadening our horizons, to practical skills, problem solving or business related games. We have had visiting speakers and presenters on a wide variety of topics from Archeoastronomy, Art History, Chaos theory and Forensic Medicine to the Upper Atmosphere and many other subjects. More recently we have altered the format of the weekend and brought it forward to early in the session. The primary aim is for three groups, namely level 3 students, level 4 students and staff who teach them, to get to know each other better.

The Braemar Youth Hostel is splendidly situated in the upper reaches of Royal Deeside. Countryside walks in the hills or along the Dee are easily accessible. Our activities centre on group participation and are equally social and educational.

The following pictures are from 1999 - 2002, 2004 - 2008.. You hardly need to guess what the special topics of interest were in these years!

Tarradale

1999

group; on the lawn; Norval shows how it's done; a long one

2000

group; in the library; team A; making it; team B; making it; team C; making it; staff team; making it; finale

courtesy Gordon Miller: eating; pushing; contemplating; knitting?; wondering; watching

2001

group; lost in Greenland; discussing it; team 1 planning; team3 planning; calculating and making; dividing the quadrant; team 2 siting; team 1 siting; testing the compass; plotting the location; team 1; team 2, listening to their crystal set; team 3

courtesy Lucy Macnay: relaxing; chilling out; posing

Braemar

2002

group; a; b; c; d; e; f; g; h; i; k;

2004

group;briefing; reflecting; pondering; planning; testing; there; demonstrating; woodworking; measuring; could be something big under here; lookingback; calculating; laughing; steadying; watching; checking; cooking; chess; music; trying; kitchen; moronne; hostel; colourcoding; guiding; aligning; connecting; puzzling; imaging; working1; working2; working3; finale; burnofvat; dinnet

2005

group;group1; group2; group3; group4; briefing1; thinking2; briefing3; briefing4; thought; entertaining; entertaining2; chilling; decisiontime; pool; atwork; satisfaction; happiness; the Andies; dreaming; nice photo Donnie; hillwalk; Braemar; wrappedup; sparkler; to a sparkler; firework1; firework2; firework3; firework4 (fireworks courtesy Gordon Buchan); lunch; waterclock; compass; sighting; radios; hear no evil; winners; prize; Burnofvat; Burnofvat2; Dinnet

2006

upperDeeside1; upperDeeside2; punchbowl; quoichwalk; quoich; geophysics?; Linnofdee; quiz; team1; team2 (quiz winners); team3; team4; team5; team5b; I have an idea; listening; on the wall; planning; planning2; planA; planB; planC; getting serious; tools of the trade; a start; benchwork; eyes on the job?; really?; on the make; steady; chiseling; measuring; Alessandro; Charles; Geoff; John; Norval; like this; A; B; D; H; J1; J2; J3; L; R1; R2; overtime; galley1; galley2; dinner1; dinner2; dinner3; washing up; fireworks (courtesy Gordon Buchan); fwork2; fwork3; fwork4; all action; assembling; exactly; at your service; woodworking; finishing; it's different; posing; preparing; priming; testrange; testing; failure; team1 (winners); action1; team2; action2; team3; action3; team4; action4; team5; action5; about 36 m; winding up; Burn of Vat; Dinnet Moor; Queens View; coming home

2007

Group; building; assembling; thinking; explaining; finished product; rotating; constructing; Team 1; Team "5"; Team 2; Team 3

2008 - Building a trebuchet

Click here for the Braemar 08 web page

2008 - More pictures courtesy of Carolyn Thomas

On the bus; Friday night - in the common room; Friday night 1; Friday night 2; Friday night 3; Friday night 4; Friday night 5; Friday night 6; Friday night 7; Friday night 8; Friday night 9; Friday night 10; Friday night 11; Friday night 12; Friday night 13; Friday night 14; Friday night 15; Friday night 16; Friday night 17; Friday night 18; Friday night 19; Friday night 20; Friday night 21; Building 1; Building 2; In the Kitchen 1; In the Kitchen 2; In the Kitchen 3; In the Kitchen 4; In the Kitchen 5; In the Kitchen 6; Saturday Night 1; Saturday Night 2; Saturday Night 3; Saturday Night 4; Saturday Night 5; Saturday Night 6; Saturday Night 7; Saturday Night 8; Saturday Night 9; Saturday Night 10; Saturday Night 11; Test Firing 1; Test Firing 2; Test Firing 3; Test Firing 4; Test Firing 5; Test Firing 6; Test Firing 7; Test Firing 8; Test Firing 9; Test Firing 10; Test Firing 11; Test Firing 12; Test Firing 13; Test Firing 14; Test Firing 15; Test Firing 16; Test Firing 17; Test Firing 18; Test Firing 19; Test Firing 20; The Group ; Destruction! 1 ; Destruction! 2 ; Destruction! 3 ; The hostel 1 ; The hostel 2 ; The hostel 3 ; The hostel 4 ; The hostel 5 ; The hostel 6 ; You missed a bit! ; And again! ; Waiting for the bus ; Time for a nap ; Gambling? ; On the bus, going home 1; going home 2 ;

2009 - Building a radio transmitter and receiver

Click here for the Braemar 09 web page

 

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Content John Reid j.s.reid@abdn.ac.uk
Last updated August 2010