Blog: Celebrating our love of stories and storytelling

We are a nation of storytellers.

A big part of our lives is devoted to telling or writing stories about what we did, where we went, and who we spent time with. The love of stories is hardwired into us all. It is one of the strongest ways we connect with one another and share our experiences.

So, it’s not surprising that 2022 has been designated Scotland’s Year of Stories by Visit Scotland. Activities are being held across the country to celebrate stories inspired by, created, or written in Scotland.

We know many Age Scotland members have wonderful stories to tell and we would love to hear from members who have a story to share or are running activities to enable older people to tell their stories. We hope to run some Age Scotland Storytelling gatherings for members ourselves later in the year.

We hope you enjoy this story from Ian Grant, former Gardening Correspondent with Daily Record who during World War II travelled the length and breadth of Scotland to encourage and advise people on growing their own food.

Sausages

"My “Dig for Victory” activities took me all over Scotland. Once, in Skye, my film show came to an abrupt halt because the local butcher started making sausages. It was before the Hydro-Electrical people were in operation. Current in many places was supplied by small generators, often run by a garage.

"Arriving at the hall for my talk I was unable to find a power outlet but, discovering that a local man ran films on Saturday evenings, I set out to find him. He was most helpful. At the back of the hall, he explained, there was a small window, behind that he had a small structure as a projection room. I was to feed my cable through the window and he would connect it to his socket.

"Fixing up equipment I asked about the current, the voltage etc. It was DC the voltage being anything from 180 to 220. That suited me. I switched on and found the screen quite bright. My local pal, however, warned me that in the evening when various places were using the juice, the voltage might be well down, and, he added, if the butcher starts making sausages I was sunk.

"I had a good turnout of people, everything was going nicely when suddenly the projector gave a groan and the light faded. My pal, sitting just in front of my machine, turned and whispered, “Sausages”."

For further information about Scotland’s Year of Stories: https://www.visitscotland.com/about/themed-years/stories 

Share your story with Age Scotland Email: members@agescotland.org.uk Tel: 0333 323 2400.