Sporty kids to be games baton bearers
Three teenagers from Lochgilphead High School jumped for joy on Monday as they learned they will carry the Queen’s baton in Mid Argyll ahead of the Commonwealth Games in July.
Megan Yuill, Emily Brown and Ryan McCuaig will be at the heart of the baton relay when it reaches Argyll on July 13.
The youngsters’ sporting achievements, volunteering and leadership skills saw them selected by a panel of experts for the honour.
Emily, 16, a shinty player with Dunadd Ladies, has for the past year been promoting women’s shinty as a volunteer with the club’s primary school age group.
She was also this year selected by her peers at Lochgilphead High School to become one of the school’s young ambassadors and, through her role, has organised a five-a-side football league and helped organise a sports competition to raise awareness of World Aids Day.
Fellow Dunadd ladies’ player Megan was named South Division Two League player of the year at the 2013 Marine Harvest National Shinty Awards aged just 15.
She was also picked to represent South Scotland in the senior annual north v south shinty game in which she was a stand-out player.
Ryan meanwhile is a dedicated sports coach at the primary school badminton club.
The S6 student was this year selected to become a young sports leader and has volunteered at many events, aimed at boosting opportunities for young people in Mid Argyll.
Innes Paterson, Active Schools co-ordinator for Mid Argyll, said: "I’m delighted for these pupils who are getting a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"All three nominees are very active in sport and inspire others with their performances and leadership skills and thoroughly deserve this opportunity."
Record breaking music festival
"A resounding success" was how Sheila McCallum, festival administrator, summed up the 25th Mid Argyll Music Festival which took place last week.
The festival broke several records with the largest number of competitors, more than 800; a rise in audiences at all sessions; an increased number of venues throughout Mid Argyll were used and the number of performers who achieved honour certificates was also significantly up on previous years.
The very high standard of solo brass playing was reflected in the record number of 14 honour certificates awarded by adjudicator Bryan Allen, who is currently head of brass at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music.
He described the standard of playing as "remarkably high and exceptional".
The speech classes proved a marathon for adjudicator Jane Mowat, who listened to more than 200 recitations but yet managed to keep on schedule with her timing of the various classes.
Throughout the week Ardrishaig was the place to be with various classes held in two halls, the public and the north church hall.
On Wednesday evening there was a capacity audience in the public hall for the Songs from the Shows.
Lochgilphead was a hive of activity on Saturday with crowds thronging the high school for action songs, choir competitions, as well as chanter and piping classes.
Due to the increasing size of the festival, Lochgilphead Primary School and Whitegates Learning Centre were used for the first time to hear instrumental classes. Festival organisers said this worked well.
The festival closed on Saturday evening with the ever-popular bands competitions which took place for the second year in the sports centre, the walls of which were recently refurbished with magnificent red curtains to help the overall acoustic and resonance; new portable stage with ‘risers’, and comfortable seating, helped to create a spacious concert hall effect and was pleasing to the eye.
Three junior bands competed in the first call of the evening with Cowal Schools’ Wind Band gaining first place with 93 marks.
The senior class saw Dunoon Grammar snatch victory by one mark from Campbeltown Grammar and the open class, or ‘Battle of the Giants’ as it is jokingly referred to, was won by Campbeltown Brass with 95 marks, followed very closely by Dalriada Community Concert Band with 94 marks.
The evening, which is recognised as the highlight of the festival, attracted an audience of more than 300 with festival chairwoman Jane MacLeod as compère.
Bringing the festival to a close the adjudicators collectively agreed that the CWS Scottish Co-op Premier Festival Award for the most promising performer in the 2004 festival should go to Chelsea McLean of Campbeltown, who gained first place in four vocal competitions held on various days throughout the week.
All the adjudicators were full of praise and admiration for the work being done in schools and paid tribute to the teachers and parents for supporting the festival.
The festival began as a one-day event with a session in the morning and another in the afternoon. This was followed by a gala concert.
Since then it has expanded until now it is a week-long event held in the four major communities of Mid Argyll, Lochgilphead, Inveraray, Tarbert and Ardrishaig. Next year sees the Silver Jubilee of the festival and it is hoped to mark this in a special way.
Factory gets go ahead
The plan to build a new fish processing factory at Tarbert came a step nearer last week, with the granting of planning permission for the scheme in spite of a number of objections from local residents.
A number of objections have been received by Argyll and Bute District Council to the plan, which is for the construction of a factory on the industrial estate off the Campbeltown Road, the site encroaching partly on the former football pitch.
The objections are based generally on two aspects of the factory; the potential effect on nearby residents and the claim that there is no need for such a factory in Tarbert.
However, the council’s director of planning, Mr Mike Oliver, discounted all these objections and recommended to the planning committee that the application be approved - recommendation was accepted by members.
The application from the Scottish Development Agency, which will build the factory and lease it to the operators (as yet unnamed), is for an 1,100-square metre factory, providing, it is hoped, between 40 and 50 jobs.
However, at the time that the proposal was first announced, there were strong doubts locally about the ability of Tarbert to support such a new move.
There are already two fish processing plants in the village, although on a smaller scale, and these have not been operating on anything like full production for some time.
This point was raised by objectors, who also questioned whether the local fishing fleet could provide adequate supplies of the required type of fish for such a factory.
A total of eight letters of objection were received by the council when the proposal was advertised, various aspects of the plan.
Objectors felt that problems of environmental health - notably noise, smell and vermin - as well as the resultant detrimental effect on the surrounding residential property were grounds for refusing the application.
However, the council’s director of environmental health, Mr John Smart, in a report to the committee, refuted any major problems in this area, provided sufficient controls were contained in the planning conditions.
He felt that the modern design of the factory would minimise smell problems, while waste disposal and noise levels could all be strictly controlled by the council as planning authority.
He also felt that if these controls were adhered strictly to then the problem of vermin - whether rodents, gulls or insects - would not arise.
Mr Oliver commented: ‘The only contentious aspect of this proposal is the likely effect of the proposal on the amenities of the nearby houses.
‘Fish processing has an unfortunate name for being detrimental to the amenity of nearby houses, but as confirmed by the director of environmental health, the problems appear to have been overcome and safeguarding conditions recommended.’
Winnie in town
Winnie Ewing, Highlands and Islands Euro MP, visited Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig on Monday, and called in at the Forestry Commission office where she discussed the current state of the industry.
Mrs Ewing was met by South Scotland conservator Mr Atterson and by Mr Stirling and Mr Stevenson, district officers.
Later she expressed concern that the number of people employed in the industry had reached a new low - 2,858 in 1984 whereas as far back as 1960 over 5,000 people had been in employment.
But, she said, there was an air of optimism in the conversation because the drop in the number of those employed could in part be attributed to those workers who had had the enterprise to become contractors.
On the mill side, Mrs Ewing gained assurances that mills would be needed in the future and said that the commission favoured the setting up of a number of small mills.
She commented: ‘With the amount of timber we have we must have mills in Scotland.’
All in all, said Mrs Ewing, the outlook for the industry was not so gloomy and she was firm in the belief that the Forestry Commission remained committed to employment and development in the Highlands.
Later in the day Mrs Ewing visited the Crinan Canal to see the damaged section of the 180-year-old wall.
She met with Mr Fisher, canal manager at Ardrishaig, and promised to find out what EEC funding might be available for repair work.
Crarae and Ardkinglas Gardens in new film extolling Scotland’s beauty
A new film about Scotland taking as its theme the formality of Scottish architecture in contrast to the wild beauty of its countryside, depicts in colour some of Argyll’s most exotic gardens, among them Crarae and Ardkinglas, which are both open to the public under Scotland’s Gardens Scheme.
Sponsored by the National Benzole Company, the film which shows the work of the National Trust for Scotland was presented to Mr Michael Noble, Secretary of State for Scotland after the film’s premiere at the Odeon Cinema, Edinburgh, on Monday.
Made to show the work of the Trust, the film includes sequences on Falkland Palace: Culzean Castle; Brodick Castle and Crathes Castle.
The film, which has a running time of 30 minutes, also looks at Glencoe, while the commentary spoken by Alec Clunes, describes the massacre which took place there.
Other places shown include Iona, Kintail and three exotic gardens on Scotland’s west coast, among them Crarae and Ardkinglas. The third, Inverewe, is owned by the Trust.
Making the presentation, Mr Sydney Tindale, director of general manager of the National Benzole Company, said that the film and others which the company had made, were meant to be but a small contribution towards a better appreciation of some aspects of the country’s heritage, and a better appreciation of the work being carried out by the National Trust for Scotland.
Mr Noble was accompanied by his wife at the premiere which was attended by over 600.
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