The Isle of Seil this week sees the start of construction of an £8 million public waste water system installed by Scottish Water. This will connect over one hundred and sixty homes on the east side to the island’s first mains sewage network. Up to now waste has largely been discharged into Clachan Sound with little or no treatment. Clachan Sound is the narrow waterway from the Atlantic separating Seil from the mainland. The Clachan Bridge which crosses it was built in 1792/93 by Robert Mylne, grandson of the then King’s masterbuilder at Holyrood. The bridge is known as ‘The Bridge over the Atlantic’ and, as such, is a popular tourist attraction. Improvements in the water quality in the Clachan Sound will support both this continuing interest and the shellfish industry, a key element in the local economy. It is worth noting that Argyll and Bute is the biggest investor with Scottish Water of any local authority in Scotland.
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Beaver re-introduction trial for Argyll in 2009
The Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland have announced that the Scottish Government has today granted conditional approval for up to four beaver families to be reintroduced on a trial basis in the Spring of 2009, to Knapdale in Mid-Argyll. Before their re-introduction the beavers will spend six months in quarantine. The scheme has been licensed for a five year period.
Allan Bantick, Chair of the Scottish Beaver Trial Steering Group said: “This is a historic moment for wildlife conservation. The Scottish Government has now given the go ahead for the first-ever formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild in the UK. Beavers have been extinct in Scotland for over 400 years and they are well known for their positive impact on habitats and conditions for other species. By bringing these useful creatures back to their native environment we will have the chance to restore a missing part of our wetland ecosystems and re-establish much needed natural processes.”
Photo above is of a Eurpoean Beaver, by Per Harald Olsen and made availabnle under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Serious security risk warning to Argyll subscribers to BT wifi Broadband
It has just been revealed that several hundred thousands of BT Broadband subscribers are vulnerable to hacking and personal data theft through the Home Hub boxes BT install for domestic wifi networking. BT has been aware of the problem for several months but has neglected to inform its customers either of the risk or of the simple fix that can resolve it. NCC Group, one of only three UK businesses accredited at the highest level, said that computer experts have been discussing this situation for months. BT admit to being aware of the problem but ‘don’t believe it is something that should affect the majority of BY customers’. On the other hand, NCC Group’s Technical Director, Paul Vlissidis, says that the teenage equivalent of a phone-box vandal could get into Home Hubs – ‘in the jargon of the hackers, this is a simple exploit’. He says that ‘a skilled hacker would have the opportunity to take total control over systems, including planting softare to steal passwords to bank accounts or capture credit card details.’
The problem is a fault in the password supplied to ‘secure’ the wifi network. All hackers need to do is try out a few permutations – rather than the billions that are desirable – to get into your system. BT describe this as a ‘theoretical’ attack, which Vlaissidis brushes aside, describing it as an ‘entirely practicable’ attack.
BT Broadband customers in Argyll with Home Hub boxes are advised to contact BT’s help service for advice on how better to protect their computer.
2008 Strachur Piping School
The Summer School will be held on June 30th to July 4th with the School Concert in Strachur Village Hall, Argyll, on the final evening.
2008 Strachur Piping Competition
The date of the Annual Piping Competition at Strachur, Argyll, this year is Saturday 21st June. (Programme and entry form via this link).
Great action shots from Friday’s racing in Argyll’s Bell Lawrie Series at Tarbert
Steve Arkley’s great shots capture just about every situation yachtsmen would rather avoid. Go see. All the shots are of from Friday’s (Day 1) racing off Tarbert on Loch Fyne in Argyll – where competitors met unexpected conditions – including SE winds to 18 knots.T
Argyll’s Isle of Kerrera to launch Development Plan on 29th May
The thirty four residents on the Isle of Kerrera in Oban Bay launch their twenty-year Development Plan at the Old School on 29th May. The plan addresses long term sustainability, building houses, a community wind turbine, a new single track road to link the two ends of the island and new pontoons near the ferry slip – all supporting the increased population the island seeks. Roddy MacEachern, Chair of the island’s Residents’ Association, said that the plan ‘shows how serious we are about our future and being in control of our own destiny’.
Argyll’s Seafari Adventures to run fast passenger RIB service from Easdale to Iona
Seafari Adventures are to start a new high-speed service between their operating base of Ellenabeich on the mainland at Easdale and the Isle of Iona. They will use an 11m rigid inflatable boat (RIB) with an added passenger cabin seating twelve and bought with a grant from Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The service will run, at varying frequencies, summer and winter. This will provide year round fast access to the mainland near Oban for islanders, an interesting sea passage and island tours for summer tourists and winter work for Seafari staff. The company have secured planning approval for a new berthing pontoon inside the harbour at Ellenabeich.
Mid Argyll Pipe Band off to Poland in August
Continuing its relationship with Poland, the Mid Argyll Pipe Band is off to Poland from 14 th to 21st August. They’ll be based at Crezko, down in the south west near the Czech border. Among a series of gigs, the band has been invited to play at Crezko’s Gala Day.
Argyll gets rare bearded seal visitor to Mull
Normally resident in the Arctic, a male bearded seal has been discovered visiting the Isle of Mull. Visitors are described as ‘flocking’ (should it be ‘shoaling’?) to Loch na Keal to see it hauled out, basking on the rocks and rolling in the water. Its spectacular whiskers and beard – long, strong and distinguishably single strands – are used as a set of ‘feelers’ to discover the presence of prey on the seabed. There have only been three or four sightings of the bearded seal in Scotland in the last twenty years and David Woodhouse, who runs Isle of Mull Wildlife Expeditions, says that he’s not seen one around Mull in twenty five years.