Postcard from Aberfeldy

Staycation day to Aberfeldy- small market town in the Highlands of Perthshire.
Claim to fame – mentioned in the poem “ The Birks of Aberfeldy” by Robert Burns.
 
 
Photo: Sam and Gaby, two Jack Russell terriers at the next table where we sat to have lunch, except  the restaurant had run out of food, offering only cakes and tea/coffee because their chef was ill and there was no substitute. 
We watched streams of people being turned away.
 
Our reason for visiting the area today was to see some of the Perthshire Open Studios .But the highlight for us was not the objects in the studios, desirable though they were , but the opportunity to talk to people about the “new normal”.
 
 
·      One studio specialising in recycled metal sculptures was sold out. 
·      The property market is “hot”. The “ talk of the steamie” is a property that was on the market for £175,000 was bought unseen in four days for £400,000.
 
·      Shortage of goods. One shopkeeper told us she had just learnt that the container space on ships coming from the Far East had rocketed from £1,800 to £10,000. She expects this to be reflected in the goods she is buying from Indonesia.
 
·      Shortage of staff. Many shops were only open three days a week because of staff shortage.
·      A well known local hotel, a destination for many tourists, now does bed and breakfast only because it can’t get staff
·      B/b are reported to be booked up until Christmas in many areas.
·       
 
The cause? Covid and Brexit. And this is just a small market town in the Highlands.
 
Welcome to the “new normal”.