Ann MacKenzie, former travelling PE teacher, known for taking a portable swimming pool around the primary schools of Wester Ross, has died aged 83.
A passionate badminton player and the first female commodore of Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club, Ann trained to be a physical education teacher in Aberdeen.
Teaching in her blood
Born on January 12 1939 in Bathgate, West Lothian, Ann was the daughter of PE teacher Agnes and John Hunter, who was a draper.
After primary school in the town, she attended Bathgate Academy then went to Dunfermline College of Physical Education in Aberdeen.
She spent four years in the Granite City before returning home to begin her first post at her old school, Bathgate Academy.
For just over three years, Ann lived with her family while she taught. However, her sights were firmly set on a move to the Highlands.
Following a childhood holiday to the idyllic village near Loch Carron, Ann had dreamt of a future in the north-west. When the opportunity arose to work at Plockton High School she jumped at the chance.
A new life in Plockton
As a young, unmarried woman Ann moved in with the MacKenzie family, who had five children. She enjoyed her work and became a passionate member of the local badminton club.
It was there she met a relative of the MacKenzies, crofter Murdo Donald MacKenzie, who later became her husband.
Ann married Murdo – always known as Dolan – in 1966. However, plans to build a new family home on the croft land weren’t met with unanimous support.
A newspaper article from the time states that half the residents of Plockton flocked to the village hall to hear a public inquiry. The report noted that the central figure was a young joiner, Murdo MacKenzie, 27, tenant of a two-acre croft.
The county planners turned him down as did the National Trust for Scotland. However, Murdo stated his case that of the very few young men in the village, only three had been able buy a house, and his intention was to work the croft.
Living there, therefore, would be an advantage. In the end, a very protracted struggle ensued but Ann and Dolan did build their home, and called it Heron’s Flight.
Travelling PE teacher
The couple enjoyed badminton and through Dolan, Ann became involved with Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club. In 1985 she made history becoming their first female commodore.
Ann and Dolan had two children, Moira and John, and Ann continued teaching until she retired. Though she began in secondary education, the last 20 years of her career were spent travelling around primary schools. Often with her portable swimming pool, she taught PE to children all over the Highlands.
Ann and Dolan were married for 38 years when he died in 2004. Their son John also passed away in 2015 following a heart attack.
As she had done intermittently over the years, Ann offered bed and breakfast from Heron’s Flight when she retired.
She was a proud grandmother to Sam, Catriona, Sean and Daniel – who all called her Lally.
Until recently she attended Plockton Free Church where her funeral service was to take place on November 5.
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