Antler 224 July A4

THE SECRETARY IS MARGARET RICHARDSON,2 OLD SCHOOLHOUSE, CARRADALE

PA28 6QJ. TEL: 01583 431788FURTHER INFORMATION IS ON PAGES 7 & 11.

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IN THIS ISSUEP.2 James Cook, ice streams, McIntosh plaque & BT.P.3 Niarchos, Thalassa and a letter to the Editor.P.4 Food for thought and thoughtful language.P.5 More thoughtful language and Torrisdale memories.P.6 Shore Road celebrities, EKCC minutes & a scam.P.7 Bank, animal, creditor and school attacks, GolfP.8 Alien plant invasion: knotweed and hogweed.P.9 Alien plant invasion: balsam and ragwort.P.10 Carradale Camera Club AGM minutes.P.11 Teeth, roads, Grogport rainfall, pictures and Pool.P.12 Sturm und drang - weather and vehicle problems.

CHUG-ING TOWARDS THE FUTURETHE PUBLIC MEETING ON MAY 20TH 2011 ABOUT CARRADALE HARBOUR

Around sixty members of the Carradale com-munity tacitly acknowledged that CarradaleHarbour was no longer solely a facility fortraditional fishing practices, and that fishfarming, leisure yachting and tourist facilitiesneeded to be accommodated alongside provi-sion for the present fleet. Following an introduction by Allan Walker,who admitted that his only reason for beingChairman was that he didn’t attend an earliermeeting, he went on to give a potted historyof the harbour for those who had only recentlybecome members of the community or hadonly a vague understanding of the politicsinvolved. Claiming to be an equally reluctantspokesperson, Mike Hurst thanked MatthewMacMillan for his efforts to keep the Harbourtidy, and tried valiantly to persuade a comput-er with a mind of its own to display views ofthe present facilities, diagrams of the earlierCraignish proposals, a less formalised updateand a series of high and low lights of develop-ments at Tarbert, Tobermory, Tewkesburyand Galveston.

Warming to a subject which had interest-ed him intensely for many years, Mike wenton to describe the changes affecting remotehighland fishing villages and the requirementfor a new assessment of tourist need. Heassured listeners that the purpose of themeeting was to seek local views and to rallysupport for intensive fund raising. He com-pared the present initiative with the highlysuccessful efforts made to improve the Vil-lage Hall, and in his enthusiasm for communi-ty involvement asked residents to assistCHUG in obtaining Council permission for alocal committee to operate the harbour. He stressed that rejuvenating the harbourenvironment was a long-term project and thata staged development would provide a moreassured method of progress rather than anall-out effort to do everything within a shortperiod of time. Specific comments were made about theexisting toilet facilities which were describedas ‘good, but 400 years old’ although theywould definitely need to be upgraded to offershowers and possibly changing facilities. In summing up both Mike and Allan werekeen to insist that the target was to make theharbour and its related facilities ‘Small butPerfect’ .

Opening the meeting to questionsproved to be an invitation for an effi-cient coterie of Hotel staff to servecoffee and tea; José was thanked forher quality Network baking. Refreshed, questions were askedabout where fish-farm craft will go in anorth-east gale, would dredging berequired, the likelihood of fixed moor-ings for visiting boats between Mayand September and the possibility ofreclaiming land on the side of the har-bour. These and other questions aboutthe existing ramp, the pontoons on oneor both sides of the harbour, the diffi-cult step ladders, the necessary provi-sion of inclined companion ways, andunlikely developments at Waterfootgradually expanded the scope of un-derstanding and seemed to dispelmost of what remained of the fishingreluctance to consider even modestchanges to the status quo. In drawing the meeting to a closeAllan Walker asked for the suppliedquestionnaire to be completed and re-turned to the post offices so that aclearer idea of community desirescould be formalised and prepared forsubmission to authorities and fundingbodies. Both speakers emphasisedthe need for everyone to make theirviews known; without effective com-munity agreement and support littlewould be achieved and further deterio-ration could occur. G.P.

CARRADALE DRAMA CLUB presents a Play Evening at 7.30pm on

SATURDAY 25th JUNE inCARRADALE VILLAGE HALL

On Saturday 25th June, Carradale Drama Club willpresent their winning play ‘A Little Box of Oblivion’by Stephen Bean in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.This ‘absurd’ play has been great fun to do. It’sset in a park, where a strange woman leaves astrange box. Various equally strange charactersappear and there is great speculation as to whatis in the box. Eventually the owner of the boxreturns and all is revealed! We won in Campbel-town with this play and came third in Ardrishaig.We weren’t placed at the Divisional Final in Kil-marnock where we were up against the ‘professionals’ but it was a wonderful experience.Supporting us on this evening will be Jane Dunbardoing one of her legendary one woman plays,‘The Mother’ by Lynne Truss. This play is aboutJaney - bright, posh, brittle, with lots of delusionsabout her life, her daughter, her daughter’s boy-friend and the staff at her favourite health farmwhere she has become addicted to treatments.This story, both comic and tragic, is beautifullywritten and has something for everyone. Thisevening of plays will finish off a very successfuldrama season for us and we look forward toentertaining an enthusiastic Carradale audience! Mary Macalister Hall.

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2 The ANTLER 2

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RRS JAMES COOKUPDATE FOLLOWING MARTIN’S ENQUIRY

Dear Mr Mears,In response to your telephone query this morning Ihave found some information for you about what theRRS James Cook was doing at the Mull of Kintyrerecently when you were able to take photos of her inaction. Between the 21st April and the 4th May theprincipal scientist was Dr Joana Gafeira from theBritish Geological Survey and she was doing thework on behalf of Dr Alan Stevenson from the BritishGeological Survey who devised the actual researchprogramme. The work being undertaken was onmarine geology. Here is a brief summary (in ratherscientific language I'm afraid!) about what the re-search was:

SOUTH-WEST SCOTTISHICE-STREAMS

SHALLOW SAMPLING THE SW HEBRIDEAN REGIONOur understanding of the continental shelf flow sig-nature and subsequent deglacial footprint associat-ed with the last British/Irish Ice Sheet has beenaided, in recent years, by high-quality remote sens-ing data-sets, such as multi-beam swath bathymetry.In combination with the BGS legacy seismic reflec-tion data-set we are establishing a position wherebywe are able to provide an increasingly powerful setof empirical observations in order to test and refineestablished numerically driven ice sheet models.However, whilst we are better able to reconstruct theglacial geomorphology of the former extent and con-figuration of the British/Irish Ice Sheet, we retain adearth of chronological information that precludes adefinitive age assessment for the timing of expan-sion and subsequent retreat of the ice sheet. The primary objective of this cruise is to targetkey stratigraphic sites along the known ice-sheetflow lines in the SW Hebrides region - an area whereseveral palaeo-ice streams are known to have coa-lesced - in order to address the key issue of chronol-ogy. The proposed area of study is illustrated in theattached figure, and focuses on the southern Hebri-des Shelf incorporating the Sea of theHebrides/Malin Sea/North Channel region, but ex-tending landwards into several of the sea lochs,including those of the Knoydart/Moidart region, LochLinnhe, and the Argyll/Firth of Clyde region. In orderto achieve our cruise objective, we will design aseries of sampling corridors that follow the flow linesof the former ice margins as they decayed back intothe glaciated hinterland of northern Ireland, andcentral and southwestern Scotland. It is our intentionto fully integrate the offshore results with the adja-cent terrestrial information to produce a linked modelof deglaciation, and establish, for the first time, achronology of events from the onset of ice sheetcollapse to the ultimate demise of individual outletglaciers. It is also intended to sample previously unknownmorphological elements preserved on the sea bed,as identified from our new work on multi-beam swathbathymetry in this region, in a bid to better define thenature of the former glacial land-system, and theevolving marine landscape since the ice disap-peared. Essentially they were taking soundings andmeasurements along the sea floor to better under-stand how the glacial ice sheet retreated and gettimings for how this happened. We call these re-search activities 'cruises' - but having heard howhard everyone on the ships work its certainly not acruise in that sense!

The charts of all our ships activities can be seenat http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/nmf/mfp /programmechart2011-12.php and through this you can select

the dates of the work and find out who the leadscientist is and what their work is. So herehttp://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/nmf/mfp/displayprofile.php?pid=479 you can see more details of what thecruise was doing and can access reports of thecruise, the work they actually did (the weather doesnot always play fair!) and other interesting informa-tion like that. I hope this satisfies your curiosity about what shewas doing in the area - she's a very busy ship and itis quite incredible to see the amount of planning andlogistics that go on to get all the researchers andresearch equipment into the right places for embar-kation all over the world. Thanks very much for yourquery as it has made me find out more informationabout our ships and the work they do which is incred-ibly interesting. Here is a link to a clip of her beingunloaded (speeded up) at the docks at Southamptonafter one of her cruises - this is not the best video ofthis I have ever seen but gives an idea just howmuch equipment she carries - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szgr1pcT9gw& feature=related

Kind regards, Poppy Leeder,External Communications Manager,

Natural Environment Research Council,Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN21EU Office: 01793 411974 Mobile: 07917 456694Environmental research news, features, podcasts,blogs www.planetearth.nerc.ac.uk.

NO BT DIRECTORY?Once again, Waterfoot residents failed to receive aBT telephone directory in May. The independentdelivery agency did not visit in May 2009 or 2010and the 2010/2011 issue is still awaited. Althoughthe new directory doesn’t match the Kintyre Index inquality and type size, it is essential for numbersoutside Kintyre. If you haven’t received your2011/2012 directory ring the very helpful Brian Corc-oran on BT’s phone book freefone number - 0800833 400 - he will instruct the agency to deliver.

Matthew Ramsay and the RNMDSF Chaplain,the Reverend Andrew Wright, at Carradale Harbour

with the newly installed McIntosh family plaque.

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STAVROS S. NIARCHOSThe Tall Ships Youth Trust’s ship, Stavros S Niar-chos is one of the world's most magnificent brigs. Itwas seen and photographed by Martin Mears, inKilbrannan Sound proceeding north in the secondweek of May. A member of the The Tall Ships YouthTrust, the Stavros S Niarchos is a 60 metre square-rigged ship. There are four 22 metre ChallengerYachts and a 19 metre Catamaran in the Trust’sfleet, operated by Tall Ships Ltd., one of the charity'ssubsidiaries. The craft are in use 12 months of theyear both around the UK and abroad, offering adven-ture sailing voyages.

ANOTHER THALASSAThe imposing tree-masted barquentine Thalassawas in Kintyre in mid-May. She was built in 1980 andunderwent a major refurbishment in 1995. She has alarge deck house saloon and bar area capable ofseating up to 30 guests for dinner and a secondsaloon on the lower deck with seating for a further 36guests. There is a large open deck that can becovered with an awning to give a great outdoorspace protected from the elements. The Thalassaalso has 18 comfortable twin cabins with en-suiteshowers making her a great venue for team buildingevent and residential training programmes. With anoveral length of 47m a width of 8m, a draft of 3.90m,a mast height of 38m she can carry 800sq.m of sail.

LETTER TO THE EDITORFAILURE TO REPORT THE McINTOSH UNVEILINGI was amazed and somewhat disappointed, thatthere was no report in the June edition of the Antleron the unveiling of the McIntosh commemorativeplaque at C/dale harbour on 7th May. These men were local fishermen who lost theirlives in a harrowing disaster 100 years ago, conse-quently decimating a family. The Service held at theharbour, was a quiet, dignified and poignant one. Many McIntosh descendants had travelled aconsiderable to attend. One family had driven upfrom Appleby. Surely this was a piece of local newsworthy of publication, especially since you had pub-lished details of the disaster some years back. May I express grateful thanks to Duncan andGail McIntosh who had organised this event and toMatthew Ramsay who conducted the Service. Edith McIntosh.Dear Edith, Many thanks for your e-mail - I agree. Unfortu-nately I was not told of the date of the ceremony norinvited; Johnny Durnan and the ‘Carradale Goat’were in the same position. The first I heard of it waswhen it appeared in the ‘Courier’. If we are notinformed of events, meetings or minutes there is littlewe can do. In the final analysis I assumed that (a) itwas a private family affair, (b) that only fishing fami-lies were invited, or (c) they preferred not to have itreported. Some village organisations also have a reluc-tance to advertise their activities and this may wellaccount for their inability to attract adherents orsurvive without wind-farm handouts. Others take theview that kudos can only be gained by restrictingtheir publicity to the ‘Courier’. At times this lack ofinterest in free local reporting makes it seem hardlyworth continuing with the publication of the Antler. I am aware that my comments, about local au-thorities and other public bodies not doing their jobs,and criticism of local groups failing to keep residentsinformed, are not appreciated by those affected, butmy policy as Editor has always been to report eventsand include minutes without comment - remarks byGP are a different matter! Subscribers seem to appreciate the coverage ofnews and lively comment and many loyal advertisersand reporters have supported the format throughoutits life. The Antler’s unpaid postal officer does amagnificent job and local distributors offer a firstclass service, often competing to get their copies outfirst. While this continues, so will the Antler. With kind regards and best wishes The Editor.

‘I SAW TWO SHIPS COMESAILING BY’ .........IN MAY!

WATERFOOT BOATING‘NOT A CHUG IN HELL’ OF BEING CONSIDERED

This photo of Waterfoot, with its acquired protectivebar, is not a place being considered by the CarradaleHarbour Users Group to relieve pressure on Car-radale Harbour. Mooring in the bay continues.

4 THE ANTLER 4

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FOOD FOR THOUGHTGROCERY PROVISION FOR THE ELDERLY AND

FOR THOSE WITH HANDICAPSThe common expectation that good health will lastfor ever and death will come quickly and quietly atnight, is as unlikely as winning the pools or seeinginterest rises above 0.5%. For most of us in nuclearfamilies spread all over Scotland, the UK or theWorld, the likelihood of family help in times of difficul-ty is as remote as St Kilda or even London. How we deal with the inevitable is a matter ofplanning, neighborliness and trying to stay within thenet of social services. All too frequently hitches oc-cur, information is difficult or impossible to obtain and‘passing the buck’ becomes a game in which serviceproviders seem to have the upper hand. For someone who has an increasing interest inwhat lies ahead, it seemed to be the time to takestock of what is on offer and start to make arrange-ments for outwitting the grim reaper. Shopping is essential for those still able to caterfor themselves but concern over the distance be-tween home and the nearest shop is not lessened bythe expected loss of personal transport and possiblewithdrawal of free or subsidised travel. Even visitingthe doctor may become impossible if the Red Crosssupport is withdrawn. Kind friends are often as rare as sympatheticcouncillors outside election times, so an investiga-tion into what other services are available in the localarea seemed to be the first step in sourcing help. After nearly twenty years in Carradale and thirtyin Scotland, memories of school canteens cateringfor pensioners meals seemed as illusory in the localcatchment. However, as usual, it was not so much an ab-sence of the service but rather a lack of advertising. It seems that on Tuesday and Thursday mealsare available, at a price thought to be around £3 fora two-course meal. They are cooked in the Car-radale School canteen under the Head Cook SheenaRamsay and distributed by affiliates of the Women'sRoyal Voluntary Service through the agency of Argyll& Bute Council Social Work Department. Outsidethis arrangement care workers are involved in pre-paring or helping to prepare meals for those whoreceive in-home services. Further afield, commercial companies like Wilt-shire Farm Foods offer a wide range of frozen singlemini-meals from £1.85, normal main courses £2.85to £4.85 and desserts from 90p, all delivered free ofcharge in bulk once a month or once every twomonths. (phone 01371 876970). Patersons carry a range of frozen foods andhave often delivered essentials to those who havetemporarily been unable to leave their homes, andthe Omans deliver papers on request. Supermarkets on the other hand have a verywide range of meals and foodstuffs which they arenormally prepared to deliver for a fee of £5 within 20miles of their stores. Unfortunately these servicesappear not to be available at either Tesco or theCoop in Campbeltown -

CO-OP: Preliminary contact with the Co-op wasencouraging in that I was advised to await a call fromtheir head office - it never came.TESCO asked me to ring their customer servicedepartment - a series of invitations to press 1, 2, or3 took me through four different operators withoutonce talking to an Indian gentleman named JohnBrown - but the outcome was the same - no serviceavailable from the Campbeltown store and no cer-tainty that the new store will invite Internet or tele-phone ordering or deliver to local customers. Where do hungry pensioners and the disabledgo from here? Do they move to a ground-floor flatbetween a hospital, a crematorium and a supermar-ket, or do they continue to age disgracefully in theirown homes until social services are blamed inappro-priately for not keeping track of the elderly and theirneeds? G.P.

THOUGHTFUL LANGUAGETESCO TACKLES WELSH LANGUAGE PROBLEMSWith the rash of multi-colour bi-language road signsspreading in areas of Argyll where Gaelic was oncethe most-spoken language and where only someprimary schools and Gaelic choirs maintain the tradi-tion, it is interesting to read on the Internet that Tescois doing its best to cater for the Welsh speakers,confuse continentals and mislead English speakers.The following item shows that meaning is not asimportant as speaking with forked tongues. Ed.‘Ever felt so confused when shopping that you don'tknow which way to turn? Spare a thought for visitorsto one Swansea Tesco, where signs tell them to exitleft in the Welsh language - allanfa - and on the rightin English. But the store said that while there is acontradiction between the signs, both directions arein fact exits, although one of them is via the petrolstation. "We'd like to reassure all customers that theyare welcome to exit the car park in either direction”.’

‘The supermarket giant said it had consultedwidely on all their bilingual sign-age. It is vital that theWelsh text is given the same attention as the EnglishIt insisted that the confusion was an issue of posi-tioning and layout, rather than one of translation orgrammar.’ ‘The Welsh Language Board, charged with ad-vising on and promoting the use of Welsh in busi-nesses and public bodies, says in its guidelines:"Where there is a relationship between a number ofsigns - for example at the same location - theyshould all use the same method of distinguishingbetween Welsh and English."

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It is not the first time that road signs have leftWelsh-speaking Swansea shoppers scratching theirheads.’ ‘In 2008 officials from the city's council e-mailedcolleagues to get a translation of a road sign atMorriston, which read in English: "No entry for heavygoods vehicles. Residential site only".They thenreceived an automated reply, which they assumedwas the translation into Welsh, and put it on the signat Tesco, Fforestfach, Swansea." Tesco says thesign confusion relates to positioning and layout, nottranslation But it actually said in Welsh: "I am not inthe office at the moment. Send any work to betranslated”.’ ‘While the Tesco sign has raised a few chucklesamong Swansea shoppers, Meinir Jones of theWelsh Language Board said there was a moreserious issue."Our advice for businesses and publicbodies is to treat the two languages at the samelevel from the beginning and to plan how both lan-guages will be used at the same time. It is vital thatthe Welsh text is given the same attention as theEnglish text when it is edited and proofread. Thereis a huge surge in the use of Welsh by businessesand most companies are by now adopting the lan-guage to some degree or other. Most are aware thatthey need to use an accredited translator for the bigjobs - refurbishment, entire store signage, automat-ed Welsh answer-phone systems and so on - butwhat to do if they have a niggling twenty somethingwords to translate in a hurry"?’ ‘She went on to explain that the WLB would, viatheir web-site, provide translations of up to 75words, free of charge to businesses who wish topromote their use of the language and attractWelsh-speaking customers. Other notableEnglish/Welsh translation howlers in recent yearsinclude - Cyclists between Cardiff and Penarth in 2006were left confused by a bilingual road sign tellingthem they had problems with an "inflamed bladder".In the same year, a sign for pedestrians in Cardiffreading 'Look Right' in English read 'Look Left' inWelsh. In 2006, a shared-faith school in Wrexhamremoved a sign which translated the Welsh for staffas "wooden stave". Football fans at a FA Cup tiebetween Oldham and Chasetown - two Englishteams - in 2005 were left scratching their heads aftera Welsh-language hoarding was put up along thepitch. It should have gone to a match in MerthyrTydfil. Not to be left behind Scots living near anAberdeenshire building site in 2006 were mystifiedwhen a sign apologising for the inconvenience waswritten in Welsh as well as English’.

So where does this leave Argyll & Bute Council’spolicy of trying to encourage tourists when there areperhaps more Germans, French, Spanish, Portug-ese, Italians and eastern Europeans using thecounty’s roads than native Gaelic speakers. If theCouncil continues down this unfriendly-to-visitor pol-icy would it not make equally illogical sense to goback to Ogham and enjoy the rather more ‘pict’-orialforms of the period before Scotland became im-mersed in the decorative Celtic script - an indelibleform which, fortunately, the Council sign makersdecided would not be as clear as modern non-seriffonts. or G.P.

TORRISDALE MEMORIESIn their time the Lodges at Torrisdale have houseda number of estate employees, holiday-makers andsome longer-term residents. Locals will rememberwith affection Major Andrew Arthur - Mary MacalisterHall’s father, and the unforgettable Margaret Ma-clean - a nanny to the Estate, Campbeltown’s firstpolicewoman and who for, many years, enjoyedfarming with her husband Johnny at Brackley. Amongst some of the lesser known occupants ofof the South Lodge were the Patons who lived at theLodge and South Dippen (now Inyanga) on and offduring the 1970s. Hester and Dennis were an elder-ly couple who had travelled the world. Dennis, amember of a South Wales industrial family, rejectedthe opportunity to carry on the family business andfarmed on his own account in Scotland, Devon, theChannel Isles and France. Hester was an Appin andColonsay McNeill and spent much of her early life inChina with her barrister father but returned to Argyllbefore the First World War. Later Hester’s brother, also a barrister, workedin Shanghai, but after the Japanese invaded Chinain 1937 Hester’s sister-in-law returned to Scotlandwith her daughter Jane, who spent many of herschool holidays with Hester and Dennis. EventuallyJane ‘did the season’ and became a model workingfor a number of well-known designers includingNorman Hartnell. In 1953 Jane married LordDalkeith at a service in St Giles Cathedral attendedby members of the Royal Family; Lord Dalkeith hadpreviously been romantically linked with PrincessMargaret. Unfortunately Dalkeith broke his back in ariding accident so Jane dedicated her life to hisneeds and to the Buccleuch Estate. He died in 2007and she followed as the Dowager Duchess of Buc-cleuch and Queensbury on April 18th this year. Hester was essentially a country-woman atheart and an enthusiastic gardener. In 1975 Dennisand Hester left for Bude to live on the ground floorof a house owned by a friendly Asian landlord,leaving the Torrisdale air bereft of friendly competi-tive assertions. They are now happily reunited in thegraveyard of the Catholic Church at Holdsworthy,near where they farmed many years before. G.P.

PLANNING APPLICATIONProposal: Change of use from forestry land to pri-vate garden ground and erection of 15.6m high (toblade tip) wind turbine. Location: Creag Lodge,Torrisdale, Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute, PA28 6QTApplicant: Mr & Mrs James & Celia Holgate, CreagLodge, Torrisdale, Campbeltown, PA28 6QT Devel-opment Type: 10B - Other developments – LocalGrid Ref: 179884 – 635376 13/5/

6 THE ANTLER 6

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Margaret McBride, much-loved retired post-lady,greets well-wishers on her 90th birthday on Sunday15th May. 2011. Photo courtesy of Martin Mears.

SHORE ROAD CELEBRITIESMARGARET McBRIDE AT 90

‘The Herald’ motoring correspondent, Dominic Ryan,adds a further touch of class to Shore Road by

bringing a distinguished £40,000 Audi TT test-drivevisitor to the village. Photo courtesy of Martin Mears.

Not to be outdone Johnny Durnan came up witha third beauty - an Aston Martin Rapide - also spot-

ted on Shore Road.

E.K.C.C MAY MINUTESPRESENT: Shelagh Cameron, Andrea Hopkins,Ronnie Brownie, Stuart Irvine, Elizabeth McMillan,Councillors Robin Currie, and John McAlpine,Apologies Lachie Paterson and Tom Adams.Convenor Shelagh Cameron welcomed everyone.MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Proposed by RonnieBrownie seconded by Elizabeth McMillan.MATTERS ARISING FROM LAST MINUTES:• Goat management - no update• Julian Green (roads) - next Community Council

meeting• Red Cross bus - no update• Treasurers report - closing balance £1866.00.

Cheque paid for rent of hall £100• Planning - none• Village survey update - survey to be put in next

month’s Antler, please fill in and return.• Rhododendrons - a talk and short video clip by Dr

Stephen Murphy, Forestry Commission. 1.Affected - rhododendron ponticum; 2. Disease -phytophthora species; 3. Can jump species tomainly Japanese larch; 4. All rhododendrons within100 metre area of infected bush have to be clearedand burnt; 5. In Carradale area mostrhododendrons have to be cleared to containspread of disease; 6. Video clip showed before andafter views of Carradale area. More informationcan be obtained from Stephen murphyforestry.qsi.qov.uk. or www.forestresearch. gov. uk

CORRESPONDENCE: noneEmail - Audrey Baird - Community Planning.ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS:• Road down to Carradale bay - needs mending• Alan Parker to see Scottish Water about above• Convenor Shelagh Cameron to get a quote for

above• Could be funded by Community Council Convenor Shelagh Cameron to contact MalcolmMcFadyen to confirm if any local buses fromCampbeltown to Carradale are being cut.Convenor Shelagh Cameron thanked everyone forattending and closed the meeting

COMPUTER SCAM.Strathclyde Police have received several reports of afraud being carried out across the whole Argyll andBute area. This takes the format of the public receiv-ing a cold telephone call from an individual claimingto represent Microsoft (or other company such asAOL), and that the individuals computer, or partner/husband/wife, has reported a fault and that theyrequire remote access to solve the problem. After access is given it is explained that therelevant upgrades will cost money at which pointbank details or credit card details are obtained andmonies taken. The people making the calls are veryplausible, and we have received reports from everyarea of Argyll and Bute, and although the majorityhave taken the appropriate action, there have beenseveral members of the community who have lostseveral hundreds of pounds. If you receive such acall, please decline the offer and hang up.If you have been the victim of such an incident please1) contact your bank or credit card company 2)Contact your local Police Office to report the incident.3) It is advisable to run any anti-virus/spyware etcsoftware to ensure nothing has been left or had theopportunity to insert itself in your computer. 4)Change any security passwords or usernames, es-pecially if these are used for several features or sites.Mark Wilson, Community Safety Sergeant and LocalAuthority Liaison Officer to Argyll & Bute Council07708012489 or [email protected]@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk

A WEBBED ANTLERWhile the black, grey and white Antler continues tobe issued free of charge to Kintyre’s east coastresidents and is available at certain public facilities inCampbeltown, just under a hundred subscribers stillenjoy their copies for a posted rate of £10 a year. For those more familiar with IT, thanks to thekindness of Johnny Durnan, the online colour versionof the Antler can be read on the Carradale Goatweb-site through the agency of SCRIBD. Additionallyin June, thanks to Kenny Craig of the Hardware shopin Campbeltown, it can be accessed on the KintyreCommunity Forum web-site, again via SCRIBD. For those who like finding their own route enter-ing the joined up word ‘TheAntler’ on SCRIBD shouldgive the current issue, and with ‘Carradale Antler’,much earlier versions put on SCRIBD by the lateDonald Kelly.

7 THE ANTLER 7

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The Oban Co-op ‘hole in the wall’ after someonetried to ‘skim’ the ‘milk’ from the Co-op Bank.

Sent in by Peter Morrison.

ATTACKED BY PHEASANTSWith the B842 beset by official hazards, caution isthe watchword. Although in the past pumas werein evidence, now-a-days although deer frequentlycross the road and lambs sometimes stray awayfrom their mothers, the latest problem is a changefrom the casual loitering with intent to one ofpositive aggression. Having carefully avoided con-tact with a male pheasant and his spouse, a localdriver started to increase speed only to be fol-lowed by the male eager to attack tyres in themanner usually the province of the Council. Un-able to keep up he decided the threat to his part-ner was over and courtship resumed.

ATTACKING STATISTICSON AVERAGE....

How many times have we heard an apparentlywell educated TV presenter making the most obvi-ous mathematical mistake when giving details of aresearch topic - missing out the words ‘on aver-age’? If road accidents deaths are said to occurevery 30 seconds, but no one died while you arereading this page - who was the victim?

ATTACKED BY CREDITORSANOTHER CHANGE IN WIND DIRECTION

The closure-threatened factory at Machrihanishwhich manufactures towers for wind-farms hasbeen saved - four months after going into adminis-tration. The plant has been bought by Wind Tow-ers Limited, a joint venture between Scottish andSouthern Energy (SSE) and Marsh Wind Technol-ogy. The factory at Machrihanish employs morethan 100 people. Its future had been in doubt since Danishparent company, Skykon, filed for bankruptcy.Skykon took over the operation in Spring 2009after the previous owners - another Danish com-pany Vestas - decided to close it. When it wentinto administration, Ernst and Young agreed adeal with engineering firm Siemens to resumeproduction while attempts were made to sell thebusiness. (Internet source)

CARRADALE GOLF CLUBLADIES GOLF

Carradale Ladies held their annual Open Day on Sun-day 5 June, with a significant number of players compet-ing from Arran, Tarbert, Campbeltown and Glasgow.Despite a poor weather forecast, the majority of ladieshad reasonable conditions, and thoroughly enjoyedtheir game. Thanks to Green-keeper, Robert Strangwho had worked very hard to ensure the course was inexcellent condition. The winner of the Scratch trophy was : LauraMcGeachy (Windyhill). Runner-up was Lindsay Ramsay(Carradale) and third was Sheena Murchie (Lamlash)The winner of the Handicap trophy was Anne Storm(Carradale). Runner-up was Jeannie Astill (Carradale)and third was Shona Martin (Tarbert). For the Silver Division, the longest drive at the 18thwas awarded to Lindsay Ramsay (Carradale) and near-est the pin in 2 on the 2nd was awarded to LauraMcGeachy (Windyhill). For the Bronze Division, the longest drive at the 4thwas awarded to Liz Inglis (Shiskine). For both divisions,nearest the pin at the 8th was awarded to JenniferMcArthur (Lamlash) Magic 2’s: Margaret Campbell atthe 17th (Carradale); Jean Barclay at the 17th(Lamlash) Thanks to everyone who helped in any wayincluding the ball spotters and ladies who provided thecatering. M.R.

MEN’S COMPETITIONS SO FARWinter League Tankard R. J. Abernethy 40 ptsMarch Medal D. Dunlop 66 b.i.h.Winter League Shield I. Dunlop 40 pts BL6Tennant Caledonian Trophy J. Paterson 39 ptsClub Tankard J. Paterson 64 b.i.h.April Medal R. McConnachie 54May Medal I. Dunlop 62In the team match against Machrihanish at Home, Car-radale lost 6-1. J.S.I

NEILSON ROSEBOWL MIXEDGREENSOME GOLF

Carradale Golf Club held its annual Neilson Rosebowl,Mixed Greensome competition on Sunday 29 May.Despite playing in extremely windy conditions, MargaretCampbell and Hamish McCaig came out on top in theScratch with a score of 32.8. Second was Anne Stormand Dr Abernethy with 35.3. First in the Handicap com-petition was Elizabeth McCaig and Ian Robb, scoring30.4, whilst Barbara Hughes and Alan Walker camesecond with 36.0. Margaret Richardson.

ATTACKING SCHOOLSWith SNP Councillor Semple prepared to seek inde-pendent legal advice on Argyll and Bute Council’s planto close some schools in Kintyre, schools not affectedseem to be keeping a low profile and no longer advertis-ing their successes and achievements. Is this wise when more radical proposals may wellbe in the offing. Southend went all-out to defend itselfagainst a merger with Drumlemble, but could Carradalebe under consideration if the proposed combinedprimary/secondary school is built in Campbeltown. Nowis the time to advertise what a good job Carradale isdoing not only in the ‘Courier’ but also on the more local‘Goat’ web-site, on the pages of the ‘Antler’, the ‘Scribd’host and the Kintyre Community Forum web-site.

SURGERY SAUNTERSIt was encouraging to read in the ‘Courier’ that membersof the local surgery team have raised money by walkinground Saddell village to help support the retention of theThursday Red Cross bus collection service, but werethey also looking for a building to house a satellitesurgery if the rescue attempt fails. The Antler com-mends their efforts and looks forward to welcomingmore surgery news, information and pictures in thefuture.

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ALIEN PLANT INVASION IN ARGYLL AND BUTE?THE COUNCIL OFFERS ADVICE ON LONG TERM BIO-DIVERSITY ISSUES

With an increasing threat from Phytophthora ramorum (P.ramorum), a fungus-like diseaseaffecting plants and shrubs, especially rhododendron, viburnum, camellia, and morerecently larch, East Kintyre Community Council members were addressed at their Maymeeting by an expert on the subject. At the same time Argyll and Bute Council arereminding gardeners and the concerned public of a continuing threat from non-indigenousspecies -‘Argyll and Bute has been invaded by several new species – of plants! Many of our gardenshave been greatly enriched by the introduction of plants from abroad, but a small numberlike rhododendron ponticum, Japanese knotweed, Skunk Cabbage, Gold Deadnettle,Himalayan or Indian balsam and Parrot feather are highly invasive’. ‘They are a big problem in the wider environment threatening our habitats and nativespecies and they can be an issue in the garden too. It’s difficult and expensive to controlthese species but many are widely available with little indication of the damage they cando if they are allowed to escape into the countryside or disposed of carelessly. The threatto our bio-diversity, native species and habitats from these plants is very serious’. ‘You should always be aware of what you are buying and growing and make sure youavoid using plants know to be invasive. There are always alternative plants better suitedto gardens. If a plant is unfamiliar to you make sure you do some research. Be wary of anylabels which use terms like ‘vigorous’, ‘spreading’, ‘fast-growing’, ‘self –seeds’ and ‘goodground cover.’‘If you are exchanging plants with friends you should think about how whatyou are offering could spread. Much of the problem with Himalayan balsam is down togardeners donating seeds. Watch out for introducing an alien species as a ‘hitch – hiker’as many invasive pondweeds in particular are introduced to gardens this way. It’s a goodidea to quarantine newly bought pond plants to see what else might come with it. Gardenwaste should be composted to provide organic matter to feed your plants and cut down oncosts. If you’re buying topsoil it’s always a good idea to try and see it before you buy it asthis is how many alien species make it into our gardens’.

JAPANESE KNOTWEED‘Japanese Knotweed was introduced in the UK in the1850's as an ornamental plant and as a fodder plant. It isa very invasive weed though not harmful if consumed. Itis generally found along rivers and streams, road verges,in gardens and on waste ground. Careless disposal ofcuttings and soil containing root fragments are thought tobe the most common cause of the spread of JapaneseKnotweed. It is an offence under the Wildlife and Country-side Act to plant or otherwise cause the plant to grow inthe wild. The main problems caused by growth of Japa-nese Knotweed fall into the following categories: Natureconservation where its aggressive growth smothers allother vegetation. Recreation and landscape where itsgrowth can restrict visibility on roads, cause litter traps,

and lead to soil erosion the winter after foliage dies off. Flood defence where growth mayimpede free flow of water. The cost of maintenance of grounds and river banks is greatlyincreased. Built environment where the strong growing shoots of the plant can pushthrough asphalt damaging road surfaces and penetrating foundations of buildings, landdrainage and lifting interlocking blocks.IDENTIFICATION: Stem Grows to 2-3 metres, green with red/purple speckles, hollow withdistinct nodes like bamboo, forms dense clumps, plant dies back in winter but stemspersist as upright brown hollow stalks. Leaves alternate, green heart shaped leaves120mm long, flowers delicate creamy sprays August to OctoberACTION TO TAKE: Regular cutting or pulling will, after a number of years, eventuallyexhaust the rhizome and kill the plant. Cut material must not be removed from site andcannot be composted. Herbicide control: Dense stands of Japanese Knotweed can betreated with a glyphosate-based herbicide. If the Japanese Knotweed is sparselydistributed, spot-treat or use 2, 4-D amine, which is specific to broadleaved plants and willnot harm the grasses. It may take two or three years to completely kill the entire plant. Mosteffective control can be achieved if Japanese Knotweed is cut or sprayed in early summer,and then sprayed again in late summer, just before the plant dies back in winter. SEPA

must be informed about the use of herbicides and adviceshould be sought from them on restrictions for herbicideuse near water’.

GIANT HOGWEED‘IDENTIFICATION Stems start growing March/Aprilreaching up to 5 metres tall, green with dark purple spotsor blotches, furrowed or ribbed with sparse spiky hairs,hollow, up to 100mm across. Leaves emerge dark greenin a rosette in the spring, lower leaves up to 2.5metreslong in summer, leaf lobes deeply cut and spiked at theends. Flowers: white, appear June to September, up to500mm across forming one large umbrella like flower headHAZARD TO HEALTH: Sap is an irritant which can causesevere burns on skin

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ACTION TO TAKE Chemical control spraying can only be carried out during the growingseason (March to August), when there is green, leafy material present. In order to beeffective, spraying must be carried out before the plant flowers and sets seed, otherwisethere will be thousands of additional seeds on the ground ready to grow at some point inthe future. Never use a strimmer or chipper on Giant Hogweed material as this can causesap to become airborne, resulting in injury.

HIMALAYAN BALSAMIDENTIFICATION Stems: Pinky red colour up to 3 metrestall, hollow and jointed, sappy and brittle, Leaves spearshaped, shiny and dark green with a dark red midrib, upto 150mm long, arranged opposite on stems or in whorlsof three. Flowers, purplish pink to pale pinks, slippershaped on long stalks, appear June-OctoberACTION TO TAKE: Chemical control: use glyphosate or2, 4-D amine, needs to be used while plant is activelygrowing in early spring for best effect.Cutting/mowing/strimming: Cut at ground level using ascythe, before the flowering stage in June. Do not cutearlier as this promotes greater seed production in anyplants that re-grow. Cutting should be repeated annuallyuntil no more growth occurs. Pulling: shallow rootedplants can be pulled up very easily and disposed of byburning or composting, unless seeds are present.

Grazing: grazing by cattle and sheep is effective from April throughout the growing season.It should be continued until no new growth occurs. RAGWORT

Ragwort is classified as a native species in the new Atlasof British and Irish Flora. It is one of five injurious weedscovered by the provision of the Weeds Act 1959. Ragwortis poisonous to horses, ponies, donkeys and other live-stock and causes liver damage that has fatal conse-quences. Animals die a slow and very painful death fromRagwort poisoning. Under the Weeds Act, Scottish Minis-ters may serve a notice on the occupier of land on whichinjurious weeds are growing, requiring the occupier totake action to prevent the spread of these weeds.The Control of Ragwort can be achieved in one of threeways: Cutting, which reduces seed production but doesnot kill the plant. Cut plants left lying are a serious risk tograzing animals and may still set seed. Plants should beremoved and burned. Pulling and digging, which willprevent seed spread but may not give long term control.

Plants should be removed and burned. Herbicides, no single treatment with herbicide willcompletely eliminate ragwort infestation due to continued germination of seed. Treatmentof plant rosettes in late spring and early autumn proves the most effectiveIDENTIFICATION Stem: upright, tough and often tinged with red near base, brighter greenand branched above the middle. Leaves deeply dissected with irregular jagged edgedlobes. Flowers large flat topped head of flowers June-OctoberHAZARD TO HEALTH Plant poisonous to mammals particularly horses Action If FoundCutting, which reduces seed production but does not kill the plant. Cut plants left lying area serious risk to grazing animals and may still set seed. Plants should be removed andburned. Pulling and digging, which will prevent seed spread but may not give long termcontrol. Plants should be removed and burned. Herbicides, no single treatment withherbicide will completely eliminate ragwort infestation due to continued germination ofseed. Treatment of plant rosettes in late spring and early autumn proves the most effective.Do not compost’. On the wider issues of regulative and voluntary action, the drive to cull some plants andcombat diseases among others gives the national and local authorities a problem. Perhapsthe Forestry Commission should welcome a disease affecting R.ponticum, which accord-ing to the bio-diversity lobby is ‘an invasive non-native plant’. However a move to take noaction over P.ramorum would lead the larch to join the southern elm and the oak in thecategory of protective species. For Argyll & Bute Council itself the issue of bio-diversity brings up a number of otherproblems, not least on the date from which species are said to be native to Scotland. Apartfrom seed in the soil and others brought in by migrating birds, the last ice age gave a newstarting point, but what about plants which thrived in the earlier swamps of a much hotterUK - are they still native? From the climatic point of view plants which thrive in the newconditions are surely correctly described as native. Certainly it would be difficult, if notillegal, to adopt policies over human immigration similar to those promulgated by some ofthe extreme protagonists of the plant bio-diversity lobby; there is indeed a wide philosoph-ical gap between control and eradication. Councils and their bio-diversity agencies woulddo well to consider carefully what actions they take to outlaw plants which flourish and adddiversity to an area overburdened by a state imposed mono-culture. The Alaskan sitkaspruce, brought in by the Forestry Commission to increase the productivity of local forests,illustrates the dilemma - a ‘non-native’ tree flourishing in Kintyre but capable of giving morethan a spiky two-fingered salute to the bio-diversity lobby. G.P.

10 THE ANTLER 10

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CARRADALE CAMERA CLUBAGM HELD ON 9TH OF MAY 2011 AT

THE NETWORK CENTREPresent Rachel Grant, Dave Mercer, Allan McLay,Anne Boulton, Ian McDougall, Margaret Richard-son, Johnny Durnan, Steve Partridge, Martin Mears,and David Currie. Apologies David Byford, KirstyBlack, Laura Black,CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT1 Chairperson, Rachel Grant welcomed all to our

AGM, at the end of our Tenth year. She gave abrief synopsis of the current year’s activities,including the exhibition in the school with thechildren producing excellent photographs, andthe winners of this year’s ‘print of the year com-petition’ (to David Byford, and Rachel Grant,Steve partridge also winning the Natural LightCompetition). Other nights of note were Eliza-beth and John’s farewell, and the Night PhotoShoot at the pier.

2 Rachel reminded us of the constitution on theweb-site. It has been on the site for two years,so everyone should be familiar with it.

3 Camera Club dinner is being held at the Ashbankon Saturday the 14th of May at 7.30 PM.

4 There were no minutes available from last year’sAGM.

The Chairperson’s Report was proposed by DavidMercer and seconded by Anne Boulton.

TREASURER’S REPORT1 18 current members including 16 members and 2

country members. The account has balancedbut has not yet been audited. Income included£24.00 from the raffle and £5.00 from the exhibi-tion last year, (£70.00 was taken in, but thewhole cost £60.00 and the outstanding £10.00was split between the Craft Guild and the Cam-era Club) and money from club meetings.

2 Expenditure includes £35.00 to Tony Leighton formending the laptop, but this money will be with-held until the problem had been completelysolved. Also paid out this year - money for giftvouchers, engraving the cups and rent of theNetwork Centre.

3 The account has £639 at present which is anincrease from last year.

4 Dave Mercer will publish the accounts once audit-ed.

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS1 Rachel announced that the committee had

stepped down but they had been no nomina-tions apart from Kirsty Black as Secretary.

2 Dave Mercer proposed by Rachel to be re-electedas Chairperson. Johnny Durnan seconded this.Stephen partridge nominated Allan McLay, buthe declined. Rachel accepted the office.

3 Margaret Richardson proposed Dave Mercer asTreasurer. Steve Partridge seconded this. Noother nominations were forthcoming David ac-cepted the offer.

4 Margaret is an already proposed Kirsty Black asSecretary and this had been seconded byRachel Grant. Kirsty had indicated she waswilling to take on this office and as there were noother nominations, Kirsty is now the Secretary.

5 Rachel grant proposed Allan McLay as Competi-tion Secretary. This was seconded by JohnnyDurnan. No other nominations, Allan McLayaccepted the office.

6 Two committee members, Margaret Richardsonwas proposed by Rachel Grant and secondedby Dave Mercer, Steve Partridge was proposedby Margaret Richardson and seconded by AllanMcLay. Steve Partridge proposed Johnny Dur-nan which would have necessitated a vote forthe two candidates, but Johnny withdrew. The

two committee members nominated were ac-cepted.

THE COMMITTEE FOR 2011/2012Chairperson Rachel Grant, Treasurer Dave Mercer,Secretary Kirsty Black, Competition Secretary AllanMcLay, two committee members - Steve Partridgeand Margaret Richardson.

IDEAS FOR NEW RECRUITS.Allan McLay made the point that this item and thenext one (ideas for next year’s programme) wenttogether, as a good program may well encouragemore interest and attendance. Anne Boulton madethe suggestion that the club pay the £20.00 annualsubscription to Argyll FM for regular advertising onair. David Mercer proposed that this suggestion iscarried out and he was seconded by Allan McLay.Martin Mears suggested bringing a print every clubnight which would be briefly discussed whilst theevening programme was being set up. This wasconsidered a good idea. Ann Boulton suggested wecould make our name more widely known by offer-ing to speak to other organizations. Steve Partridgesuggested we move to Peninver on a club night sothat it would be nearer to Campbeltown and it mightencourage more people to attend. A vote was takenbut the membership vetoed this idea. Johnny Durn-an suggested the possibility of having a meeting inthe town once a month, but again this was notagreed by the members. Margaret Richardson andAnne Boulton brought up the idea of having a juniorsection - this is an idea for future discussion. AnneBoulton and Steve Partridge suggested ways ofadvertising more actively in the Antler, rather thanjust a notice that the club is meeting on such andsuch a night. Johnny Durnan reminded everyone ofthe Carradale Goat web-site which has a largenumber of hits each per month. He keeps this up todate and is happy to put Camera club information onit.

IDEAS FOR NEXT YEAR’S PROGRAMME.Ideas were discussed which included more printnights, more outings and more practical meetings.Everyone agreed with Allan McLay’s point that onthe nights where we were discussing prints orslides, there should be an external commentator(not judge) who could make some constructive com-ments. Steve Partridge suggested an evening learn-ing about Light Painting. The programme will bediscussed at the first committee meeting.

ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS.The Exhibition is being held on the 13th/14th Au-gust, from 11am - 4pm, with setting up on the Fridaybetween 7 and 9pm in the Hall at a cost of £88.00for two days. Johnny Durnan suggested that theClub use the Fire Station to hold the exhibition(providing a donation). He is going to speak toRobert Strang and to ask him to contact the Club.There is a possibility we could combine it with theFire Station’s Open Day. The School is exhibiting aswell.Change of evening - the members were asked ifthey would consider charging the club night toWednesday at 7pm including committee nights.This is to allow a few members who are not able toattend on Monday. This was agreed unanimously.Change to the constitution. He was unclear as towhether it had been decided to change the start ofthe year from September finishing at the AGM at lastyear’s AGM. The meeting agreed unanimously thiswas a good move. The constitution has to bechanged to reflect this.

The AGM closed at 9.00 PM.A committee meeting is to be held on Wednesday,the 1st of June at 7pm in the Network Centre.These minutes were not sent to the Antler, but withwith some difficulty, were taken from the CarradaleGoat web-site, courtesy of Johnny Durnan.

11 THE ANTLER 11

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GOVERNMENT ROAD AUDITREPORTED QUOTES OF THE MONTH

‘The poorest roads are to be found in Argyll and Bute,where 18.4 per cent are in need of urgent repair, followedby 15 per cent in East Renfrewshire and 14.7 per cent inInverclyde. Orkney boasts the best maintained roads inScotland, with just 3.3 per cent requiring immediate work,while roads in Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian andClackmannanshire have all improved’.‘Some areas are significantly worse, with nearly one in fivecouncil-owned roads in Argyll and Bute, the worst-perform-ing local authority, placed in the “red” category, requiringurgent repair. The data comes from a survey undertakenlast year, prior to the onset of December’s record coldtemperatures, suggesting the problems could now be farworse’.

THE KILDONAN CHICANESWIFT ACTION TO SMOOTH A BUMPY ROAD?

Hi GeoffreyThanks for the copy of Antler, reference B842 see corre-spondence below. Regards, Rory Colville.(1) 26TH APRIL 12.46To: Brown, Neil SUBJECT: B842.Hi Neil,Having recently travelled to Carradale on the B842 I wasrather shocked at the condition of this road particularly theC/town to Saddell stretch, obviously the winter has doneserious damage to some sections many of which have hadtemporary repairs. Can you indicate when more permanentrepairs are likely to be instructedRegards, Councillor Rory Colville.

(2) 27TH APRIL 16.11To: Colville, Rory SUBJECT: FW: B842.See below detailed response from Julian Green.Regards, Neil Brown, Network and Environment ManagerArgyll & Bute Council, Roads & Amenity Services

(3) 27TH APRIL 16.01To: Brown, Neil, SUBJECT: RE: B842.We have two capital sites on the B842 Carradale road. TheKildonan surfacing site is in the section Rory is particularlyconcerned about. The contract for these works should beawarded in the next couple of weeks. Only after this can aprogramme be agreed with our contractor. At the momentwe have started surveying for the permanent patchingprogramme. When the surveys are complete I’ll have aprogramme available. As a rough guide for Kintyre, I’dexpect to start a patching programme towards the end ofMay. Regards Julian Green.

MULTIPLEX MOMENTS‘TRUE GRIT’ FOR SEVEN WEE PICTURE CLIENTS

It could only happen in Campbeltown.Two Southend residents, Derek and Doreen, decided thatthey hadn’t been to the cinema for years and thought theyought to support the showing of ‘True Grit’ and efforts beingmade to take Campbeltown’s ‘Wee Picture House’ into itssecond century. They arrived to find what appeared to be a queue in thefoyer, but familiar with cinema queues elsewhere in Britain,they waited patiently. After a few more joined the ‘queue’ itwas explained that the film would not be run until therewere at least seven eager film-goers. This accomplished they were shown upstairs and intrue Western style Derek approached the only other patronsitting on the front row and said in a rough Reuben J.‘Rooster’ Cogburn voice -”You’re sitting in my seat” - allthree smiled, sat down together and thoroughly enjoyedthe film.

.

......TO THE BACK TEETHA visit to the dentist can be a daunting affair.In childhood the practice of sitting on yourown hands while in the chair, the smell ofrubber and the suffocating effect of the gaslives long in the memory. After leaving school,like many others, I avoided the dentist like theplague, but on reaching the age of 40 needsmust. One or two extractions, some fillingsand regular visits to a number of dentistsensured that nothing further was required. Thirty seven years later and confused bythe absence of two six month reminders, Ienquired and was told that reminders were nolonger sent out and that it was necessary tomake an appointment each year to remain onthe list. This I did and am still happily relatedto the surgery, its dentists and its staff. Oth-ers, it seems, are less than happy. Accordingto the almost anonymous contributors to theKintyre Community Forum web-site, manyfailed to pickup on the change in administra-tion, didn’t make an appointment and havenow to travel to faraway places with strange-sounding names. Particular sympathy goes to new arrivalswho have no option but to go elsewhere forattention. Salvation in the shape of the new -but yet to be used - joint facility with theGlasgow University, has still to be earnedsince treatment by young professionals isonly for immediate problems; being taken on‘the list’ is not a possibility. Had those whofailed to visit while they were on the list, madethe effort, the pressure would have been onfor an extra dentist to be employed. The old saying of ‘use it or lose it’ hassome resonance particularly amongst thosewhose gums are vibrating with pain. They canattend as emergency cases, write to theHealth Board in protest, or wait until the newsurgery opens its doors. To use a Yorkshireexpression - by gum it hurts.

GROGPORT RAINFALLThe first four days in May were dry, but thereafter, rain was recorded on all but a coupleof days. May was as wet as April had beendry. The saying "It never rain but it pours"certainly turned out to be the reality. The total rainfall was 196mm (nearly 8inches). That figure is the highest May rainfalltotal since we have been keeping records.The total for the year so far, is 691mm. Thisnow represents more average rainfall where-as previously, 2011 had appeared a dry year. More unusual even than the rainfall thismonth was the exceptionally windy weatherwe got. Severe and damaging gale forcewinds are more likely in the Autumn andwinter and not at this time of year.What willthe summer bring is the question everyone isasking. M.L.

POOL TROPHYDUGALD JOHN CAMPBELL TROPHY 2011

Last Saturday night, (May 28th),saw the annu-al pool competition for the Dugald John Camp-bell trophy 22 entrants competed with thecontest being played till "the wee small hours"the winner was Robert Bennett. The nightraised funds for the RNMDSF and included alarge raffle. A signed Rangers top was alsoraffled and was won by Roger Sargeant fromCampbeltown. Thanks as usual to Dougie &Jean, Charles, Andrew and Jennifer and allwho supported the night in any way. M.R.

FREE GAS FIREA well-maintained calor or propane glass-fronted fire

with electrical flicker effect and piezo ignition is availablefree of charge.

Please ring 01583 431207 or 01555 773362

12 THE ANTLER 12

CAMPBELTOWN MOTOR COMPANY Snipefield Industrial Estate, CampbeltownTelephone 01586 553200

Storm force winds hammer the country.‘Some local ladies had a close shave when a tree demolished their car.Mrs. Janeta King of Waterfoot, Carradale and her three lady friends hada lucky escape, on the 23rd of May. Having just finished coffee andsnacks in the local Network tearoom, and were about to go out to the carwhen there was an almighty crash as a large branch of an tree adjacent

fell on and demolished her car’.‘The photo shows the car afterthe heavy branches were cutback, but the damage was done,windscreen, sunroof and rearwindow smashed and roof buck-led, passenger side door andwindow mangled. Thankfullychatting a little bit longer in thetearoom saved someone or all ofthem from serious injuries as

glass was everywhere, with a large branch sticking through the passen-ger door. Talking to Janeta afterwards, still a bit shocked, she said itwas like seeing it in slow motion as it dropped on the car’.

‘On the following day an articulat-ed lorry closed the road at AlltCruach to all for two and a halfhours. Trying to climb the steephill this lorry got stuck andblocked the road from about 5.00pm to 7.30 pm. Police were inattendance and commuters hadto leave vehicles on the Camp-beltown side and had to get a lifthome from friends, returning later

when it was cleared. The lorry contained a test transformer which hadbeen in use at the local power sub station. Lachie Black came to therescue with his big tractor and helped tow the lorry up round the hill’.Photo credit: Steve. Report: Johnny Durnan (Carradale Goat web-site).

McCORMICK’S MOBILE FISHFresh fish delivered to your door

Haddock, Whiting, Sole, Cod Fillets, Fresh Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Smoked & Peppered Mackerel, Kippers.

TELEPHONE: 01586 554338

15 LONGROWCAMPBELTOWN

Cleaningmaterials

HousewaresIronmongery& hardwareHand toolsPower toolsKey cutting

LocksWooden

mouldings

01586552954

KENNEDY’SSHOE SHOP

50-52Longrow

CampbeltownWalking ShoesDress Shoes

Walking BootsDress Boots

All yourfootwear needsunder one roofLadies & Gents

Wide fittingspecialists

Children’s fittingservice

‘K’ ‘CLARKS’ ‘LOTUS’‘ROHDE’

Shoes,Shoes, Shoes

STURM UND DRANG (STORM & URGE)NO SCHILLERING ABOUT - VERY MUCH A GOETHE AND GO ISSUE

Servicing Motor and Commercial vehicles,Repairing & Servicing Garden machinery & Outboards

Garden maintenance, Grass cuttingHedge trimming & Fencing,

Small building work undertaken,

JOHNNY DURNAN

GIVE ME A CALL ON 431365CARRADALE’S ODD JOB MAN

The Editor welcomes contributors, advertisers & subscribers. Contact him at Benbecula, Waterfoot, Carradale, Campbeltown, Argyll PA28 6QX, by ‘phone 01583 431281 or e-mail [email protected]

WEE PICTURESSat 18 June for 6 days

at 8.00pmPIRATES OF THE

CARIBBEAN:ON STRANGER

TIDES (12A)Sat 25 June for 6 days

at 8.00pmHANNA (12A)

Sat 2 July for 6 days at8.00pm

THE HANGOVER PART II(15)

Antler 224 July A4

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Transcript of Antler 224 July A4