A Banchory church elder has celebrated 50 years in the position.
Rob Watt was feted in Hanover Court by more than 40 members of the Banchory West Church congregation.
Reverend Tony Stephen thanked Mr Watt for his long service, which included 20 years as session clerk, and presented him with a framed certificate signed by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
Mr Watt joined the church at Strachan in the late 1940s, aged 20, and became an elder in 1967.
Soon afterwards, he was invited to become session clerk by Rev Frank Dey, a role he carried out until 1987.
When Strachan Church closed in 2002, Mr Watt and his wife, Bette, transferred to Banchory and maintained their connection.
After leaving school, aged 14, to work in the farming industry, Mr Watt had the opportunity to take on a farm at Bogendreip, near Strachan, in 1953 where he lived with his wife and four children – Hazel, Ruby, Shirley and Lindsay.
His daughters now live nearby in Aberdeen but his son, Lindsay was killed in a tragic accident on a timber harvesting machine.
Mr Watt, who has been a widower for several years, is still an elder and reminisces about how kirk sessions used to be run by men only.
