TEN YEARS AGO
Friday March 14, 2014
Campbeltown hauliers insist something has to change if landslips and road closures are to be a regular occurrence on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful.
Relying on the new diversion route via the Old Military Road is not the long-term answer, they said this week, after the road was closed for the third time in a fortnight.
The Old Military Road was used for the first time after a landslip early last Thursday morning. This followed a landslide at Butterbridge on February 23 and an accident five days later.
Archie McMillan, managing director of AM Transport, said: “The Old Military Road is better than nothing, but if we’re seeing the effects of climate change, we need a permanent solution.
“The UK Government can find £130 million quickly enough for flood prevention in England – we have had this problem for 15 years.”
Peter McKerral, director of Peter McKerral and Co, which transports livestock, timber, general haulage, hay and straw on the A83 every day, said the diversion via the A82 added an hour onto journeys each way.
He added: “By the end of the week, you are struggling to give your customers a service.
“The Old Military Road is not ideal but it is another option and takes pressure off the A82.
“You really don’t want to be using the alternative road. It’s getting beyond a joke.”
Calum McFadyen, director of McFadyen Transport, said: “The current set-up and alternatives are not suitable, long-term solutions.”
Last Thursday’s closure saw a landslide south of the Rest and Be Thankful car park, closing the A83 until Monday night. A fallen power cable near Cairndow also closed the route most of Saturday.
Campbeltown councillor Donald Kelly told the Courier: “Argyll First’s petition was the catalyst for the proposed programme of improvements to the A83 including the work at the Rest and Be Thankful.
“Given the latest events, the Scottish Government has to look again at the preferred option of upgrading the forestry road adjacent to the Rest.
“We will be expecting that issue to be discussed along with updates and confirmed timescales for the removal of the pinch points and the installation of safe pedestrian crossing points at Tarbert and Ardrishaig when the taskforce meets on March 18.”
Campbeltown Grammar School third year pupils have been doing their bit for Fairtrade Fortnight by making a banana-based dessert.
Pupils studying home economics and religious education aimed to highlight the plight of banana farmers who receive very little money for their fruit because of cheap market prices in supermarkets.
Last Thursday, they made caramelised bananas with butterscotch sauce, which was offered to fellow students as a post-lunch pudding. Bananas were also handed out.
All the bananas used were provided by the Co-op which sells Fairtrade products.
TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO
Friday March 19, 1999
Bruce Strang of Glen Lussa, Drumore, Campbeltown, is faced with a £500-plus bill to fix his motorbike after he drove into one of the town’s dozens of potholes.
Last Friday lunchtime, Bruce was driving along Millknowe in the direction of town when both wheels of his bike went into the pothole. The front wheel spun but the rear wheel of his motorbike hit the edge of the pothole, causing the damage.
Bruce’s bike, an S-reg Suzuki GSXR 750ww, is only six months old and is worth about £9,500.
The bike went straight to the garage for a quote and Bruce was horrified to find that the damage caused by the pothole in the Argyll and Bute Council road is going to cost him more than £540 to repair.
Bruce told the Courier. “The state of the roads in town is ridiculous. What really annoys me is that the council were at MilIknowe just last week filling other holes just along from this one.
“I’ve got all this damage to pay for and I could have hurt myself. I pay my road tax and it’s not cheap to keep a vehicle on the roads, then something like this happens because of the state of the roads.”
Bruce has put a claim in to the council for the cost of his repairs.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Thursday March 21, 1974
A special meeting of the Burnside Citadel and Community Centre Advisory Board was held in Citadel House last Thursday, March 14th, when Captain Colin Tucker welcomed two new members of the board – Mrs Agnes Stewart and Mr Duncan Russell.
The purpose of the meeting was to consider a proposal by members of Campbeltown SA Citadel and their Divisional Commander, Major Bramwell Prince of Divisional HQ, Paisley, to launch a new building scheme to provide a much-needed extension to the present Citadel and Community Centre building in Burnside Street.
Board members who, in the past few years, have heard from commanding officers of the local corps and their many devoted workers that the existing building, opened in 1968, was now considered too small for the various branches of social work activities carried on regularly, welcomed the divisional commander’s proposal and accepted the challenge to launch a building scheme to provide funds to extend the main hall through to the boundary wall. This will result in double the present space available and an additional all-purpose room at the rear, all at an estimated cost of £10,000.
The proposed extension would provide extra space for other avenues of community service and cater for some of the larger city bands and Army sections visiting the town.
Since the opening of the new Citadel, there has been an ever-increasing demand for overnight accommodation by stranded travellers and attendance at the Citadel’s Weekly Luncheon Club for old people has increased.
Increased attendances and membership have also been recorded in the Harmony Hour Over Sixties Club, with its inherent branches of service including the Erskine Adoption Scheme.
The building extension scheme will follow a similar pattern to that of 1967/68 and details of fundraising projects have already been recorded at the meeting of the advisory board when several members accepted responsibility for organisation of special events.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Saturday March 15, 1924
The Campbeltown branch of the National Farmers Union of Scotland has released £30 from its funds to help relieve distress in the Highlands and Islands.
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The Girls Auxiliary of Longrow UF Church will hold a sale in the church hall next Wednesday afternoon in aid of Dr and Mrs Macdonald’s hospital at Calabar.
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It is a long time since we had such a long spell of dry weather as the present one. These are fine days for pushing ahead with fieldwork in the country while townsfolk have been transported to the delights of ‘clabber’ to the pleasures of ‘stoor’ (thick mud and dust).
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Mr H Newlands, who is employed at the local draft refinery, has been elected secretary to the Campbeltown branch of the Transport and General Workers Union. There were nine applicants and the selection was made by a ballot vote of the members.
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A meeting of St John’s Masonic Lodge will be held on Monday night at 8pm.
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The ladies’ return to the recent bachelors’ dance was given in the Town Hall last Friday night.
The function proved a great success. The company was a full one for the hall and the arrangements made by the committee left nothing to be desired.
Refreshments were served by Mrs M’Innes and Mr A Ritchie Greig’s band provided first class music.
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