Monthly Archives: February 2009

Strachur’s Swamp Soccer makes shortlist of Sony World Photography Sports Award with Julie Howden of The Herald

Posted on by

Julie Howden, a photographer who has been working for The Herald for only eighteen months, has been shortlisted from thousands of entries for the prestigious Sony World Photoggraphy Awards.

Her photograph of a player in the 2008 Strachur Swamp Soccer World Championship is one of nine in the professional sport category.

This is the second year of the competition and it has attracted over 36,000 entries from professional photographers all over the world. The three entries selected as finalists from the nine shortlisted will be announced on 17th March and the Awards will be presented at the Sony Photography Awards Festival in Cannes in April.

Julie Howden’s photograph is tactile in the extreme. You can almost feel the damp chill and slime of the mud. The player it features is so mired it could almost be a photograph from World War I trenches. It’s hard enough to see the ball in the photograph. Hard to imagine what it was like in the mud at the time, blinded by flying gobs of the stuff.

See today’s Herald, 25th February, Page 7.

Home to Glenorchy: the story of Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir (Duncan Ban MacIntyre)

Posted on by

DBs Birthplace CairnAnyone who has listened to Gaelic song will almost certainly have heard of Duncan Bàn MacIntyre. Those who have studied Celtic literature or even only occasionally dipped into the richness of its poetry will be in no doubt as to the high regard for this simple, illiterate man of the hills and the vast contribution he made over his very long life to the culture of the Highlands. Continue reading →

Will Brown now introduce the stocks as the latest PR decoy from his management of the economy?

Posted on by

The UK Government announced last night – wait for it – that it is to print leaflets with details of minor court judgments and then bombard localities with these things to name and shame the culprits. Presumably this is to provide guaranteed income for the private sector businesses to whom 30% of the Post Office is to be sold?

The argument is that local newspapres have largely stopped printing the details of local court reports – not in Argyll – and that petty criminals respond more to this naming and shaming in their home areas than they do to imprisonment. That argument however, is not backed up by what would have been a logical parallel move – to cut jail sentences whose ineffectiveness would be replaced by state-controlled naming and shaming.

No mention of the enviromental costs of paper production for this stunt. No mention of the cost to the taxpayer of distribution costs – at a time when we’re in hock to the tune of £2 trillion thanks to the unregulated banks. And no mention of using the Internet – which is the obvious option in today’s communications: fast, cheap, universally available.

It’s a short hop from papering the country with more junk mail to next week’s whizzy announcement that naming and shaming is to be upgraded by the reinroduction of the stocks – vinegar-soaked sponges provided free, courtesy of you and me.

But hey, as we clear the junk mail from our halls it won’t half take our minds off that £2 trillion debt Prudence (did we ever seriously call him that?) has got us into. Not.

Now Ennstone’s wholly-owned American subsidiary files for protection under Bankruptcy Code

Posted on by

Ennstone Group has just announced that the Board of Ennstone plc was informed today (25th February) by the directors of Ennstone Inc, the Group’s wholly-owned US subsidiary, that Ennstone Inc has now filed for protection from its creditors. This has been done under Chapter 11 of the United States Code (the ‘Bankruptcy Code’). The affairs of Ennstone Inc will therefore now be managed in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.

Although the holding company of the group, Ennstone plc, has some contingent liabilities in relation to the business of Ennstone Inc, neither of the Group’s UK nor Polish businesses – Ennstone Johnston and Ennstone Thistle with its Polish subsidiary Ennstone Sp. z o.o – have any such liabilities or any trading relationship with the Group’s US operations. Both of these businesses continue to operate normally and to perform satisfactorily in the difficult trading environment.

These operations are expected to have sufficient cash headroom through to the end of March 2009, on the basis of the continuing support of their UK and Polish lenders and finance lease providers.

The Group continues to work towards an agreed restructuring with its UK lenders within a timeframe expected to secure the future of the UK and Polish trading companies.

Ennstone Group will make a further announcement in due course.

EU Ombudsman finds in favour of Scottish Fishermen’s Federation in mistake over allowable days at sea off west coast

Posted on by

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) spotted an administrative error in 2007 EU legislation which cut 28 days from the time authorised vessels could spend off the west of Scotland.The SFF lodged a complaint last year which has now been upheld by the EU ombudsman. The Commission has to respond by the end of April.The mistake cut the west of Scotland allocation from 280 to 250 days and was part of the final Council ruling for 2007.

As is the way in such matters, when the SFF first made its complaint the Commission stood by its ruling. The ombudsman has now found that administrators at the Commission ‘mistakenly interchanged the data in two columns of a document’ regulating days at sea. He urged the Commission to correct its error now, pointing out that the mistake could have a knock-on effect in future years.

Patrick Stewart from the Clyde Fishermen’s Association – which is a constituent member of the SFF – welcomed the Ombudsman’s decision and raised the standard for all minnows: ‘The determination of our fishermen, against the advice of some and the indifference of many, has proved that it is still possible for a David to right the wrongs of a Goliath’.

And so say all of us.

Glendaruel Hotel is Sold (Nearly)!

Posted on by

The community of Colintraive and Glendaruel has been holding its breath these last few months, wondering what on earth will happen to the hotel. Well, it looks as if the situation might shortly be resolved: the estate agents Blair and Bryden were, of course, tight-lipped about who the purchasers were, however in response to the question, what is the purchaser’s intention, they said that ” … the hotel would be run as a business.” This is a very welcome indication for a community who at one time thought they would lose the hotel to developers or worse.

At the time the property came on the market the Colintraive and Glendaruel Community Council wrote to the vendor’s agents stating that it was essential for there to be and remain a licensed premises in the Clachan of Glendaruel, and that any withdrawal of such a facility would be strongly opposed by the community.

With the discovery of the UK’s tallest tree, the Strondardron Douglas Fir, in Glendaruel, this community in the heart of Cowal looks as if it might be turning a corner, and that the visitors who have been declining over recent years might return.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Story of Torosay Castle Laird’s serial wartime escapes republished

Posted on by

Royal Navy Lieutenant David James, in civilian life the Laird of Torosay Castle in Mull – whose son Chris has opened it to visitors – was a resourceful serial escapee from wartime Germany after being taken prisoner.

He served in Motor Gun Boats (MGBs) and was captured in 1943 after abandoning ship at the end of a fierce firefight with armed German trawlers in the North Sea.

He was imprisoned as a POW at Dulag Marinelager (Marlag for short) a POW camp for Navy captives near Bremen in northern Germany – and made his first escape attempt there. This went pear shaped when the camp guards found the tunnel dug by POWs in preparation for a breakout.

But David James made it out of the camp at the end that year, in December, slipping away in a Bulgarian Navy uniform under the pretext of a visit to the Bath House. He got as far as the Baltic port of Lubeck where he was recaptured.

Not one to be discouraged by his first knockback, he got hold of another uniform – this time that of a Swedish Sailor (sounds like they had a theatrical wardrobe at Dulag Markag) – and got out the bathroom window for the second time.

This time he hid in a nearby forest until it was dark and then began a seris of train journeys – from Bremen to Hamburg, Lubeck, Rostock and finally to Danzig where he took ship to Stockholm, hiding under the floor above the boiler room.

He made it home and in 1947 wrote about his experiences which were published in a magazine series as ‘Prisoner’s Progress’. Three years after this, the collection of stories was published as ‘Escaper’s Progress’ – obviously a popular buy by visitors to Torosay.

He died in 1986, succeeded by his son Chris who had read his father;s stories as a child and was understandably thrilled by them He says his father: ‘loved to tell a good story’ and describes the tale as ‘Boys’ Own stuff’.

Before the war David James had sailed round the world on one of the last windjammers and then went to Antarctica to work with dogs on an early scientific expedition there. After the war he was also a member of several Polar expeditions which were featured on This is Your Life in 1962. In 1962, with Naturalist Sir Peter Scott, he founded the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau.

From 1959-1964 he was Conservatve MP for Brighton Kemptown and then represented North Dorset from 1970-1979. At that point he retired to Torosay.

His book, Escaper’s Progress, has now been reprinted by Pen and Sword Books, the military history speciaists, with photographs and copies of original documents – so you can catch up with this Argyll hero without going to Torosay, at least for the moment.

‘Biggest deal in history of marine energy’ for Airtricity, prospective operator of Kintyre and Islay offshore windfarms

Posted on by

Danish Wind TurbinesEdinburgh-based Aquamarine Power has just completed a deal with Airtricity to develop 1GW of wave and tidal power off the Coast of the UK and Ireland by 2020. The deal is described as ‘the biggest deal in the history of marine energy’. Airtricity has recently been announced as the prospective operator of offshore windfarm developments at Machrihanish in Kintyre and Islay, with exclusivity development agreements offered by the Crown Estate.

Airtricity, now owned by Scottish and Southern Energy (itself of recent – but no longer – acquisition interest to Vattenfall, an early operator in carbon capture) and Aquamarine will enter into a 50:50 joint venture using devices and site identification software from Aquamarine and capital – undisclosed amount – from Airtricity.

Aquamarine says that work on the first two sites has already begun but is not disclosing the locations. Their CEO, Martin McAdam says: ‘Fully consented offshore windfarm sites are selling to owner-operators at between £150k and £400k per megawatt, giving a strong indication of the large potential of this deal if all 1,000MW of sites receive full consents and grid connections.

This is another move underlining the vital need for Argyll’s subsea grid upgrade interconnector from Hunterston to Carradale, if Argyll is  not to be left behind in an area of energe development where it should be in the vanguard.

Aquamarine has designed software to identify and evaluate marie energy sites anywhere in the world suitable for its Oyster hydro-electric wave power converter and its Neptune tidal energ device. It has identified several Gigawatts of potential power in sites around the UK and Ireland but the gaining of cosents will be a sensitive process.

Its Oyster wave power converter is to start testing later this year at the cutting edge European Marine Energy Centre at Stromness in Orkney.

The photograph above – of an offshore wind farm off Copenhagen – is reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Freumhan – Cothrom ùr do dh’ òigridh na Gàidhlig (translation below if you’re not quite there yet)

Posted on by

‘S e Fèis tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig airson clann ann an clasaichean 1-4 anns an Àrd-sgoil a th’ ann am Freumhan. Bidh an Fhèis, a tha air a ruith le Sgioba Leasachaidh Fèisean nan Gàidheal, a’ gabhail àite 6-10 Giblean ann an Ionad Spòrs Cheann Loch Goibhle ann an Earra-Ghàidheil agus gheibh com-pàirtichean bùthan-obrach ciùil agus cur-seachadan air a’ bhlàr a-muigh.

Thathar an dòchas gun tig deugairean bho air feadh Alba, a’ toirt cothrom do na com-pàirtichean tachairt ri daoine òga eile aig a bheil ùidh ann an ceòl traidiseanta. Air sgàth ‘s nach bi ann ach 20 àite aig an Fhèis, gheibh na com-pàirtichean teagasg aig àrd-ire gus an cuid sgilean a shàr-leasachadh.

‘S e prìomh chuspair na seachdain obair-chòmhlain a thèid a stiùireadh le sgioba de luchd-teagaisg agus luchd-aire proifeiseanta. Gheibh na com-pàirtichean cothrom ionnsachadh mu dheidhinn siostaman PA, cruthachadh ciùill agus sgilean taisbeanaidh. A bharrachd air seo gheibh iad cothrom cur-seachadan inntinneach fheuchainn air a’ bhlàr a-muigh, leithid seòladh-churrachan agus sreap.
Thuirt Caoimhin Rodgers, Oifigear Leasachaidh Fèisean nan Gàidheal, “Tha Freumhan ga mhaoineachadh le Bòrd na Gàidhlig agus ‘s e cothrom air leth a th’ ann do luchd-labhairt òga na Gàidhlig na sgilean cànain, sòisealta agus ciùil a leasachadh ann an dòigh spòrsail agus ann an àite air leth freagarrach.”

Ma tha ùidh aig duine sam bith ann am Freumhan, nach tèid sibh chun an làraich-lìn againn airson foirm-iarrtais – www.feisean.org – no cuiribh fios gu Nicola Marshall air 01463 225599 no nicola@feisean.org.

Feumaidh com-pàirtichean a bhith eadar 11-16 bliadhna a dh’aois agus iad comasach air an ionnsramaid a chluiche aig ìre eadar-mheadhanach. ‘S ann tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig a bhios an teagasg air fad.

Freumhan – a new opportunity for young Gaelic speakers
Freumhan is a new Gaelic-medium fèis for young people in 1st to 4th year at secondary school. The fèis, being run by the Fèisean nan Gàidheal development team, will take place from the 6th to the 10th of April at the Lochgoilhead Centre in Argyll and will combine musical workshops with outdoor activities.

It is hoped the fèis will attract teenagers from across Scotland, giving participants the opportunity to meet other young Gaelic speakers with similar interests. Places will be limited to twenty in order that participants will receive intensive, high quality tuition and will really develop their skills.

The main subject on offer during the week will be group-work which will be led by a team of professional tutors and supervisors but participants will also have the opportunity to learn about PA skills, composition and performance. Unlike other fèisean, Freumhan will give participants the chance to experience the outdoors as well through a variety of activities from kayaking to climbing.

Fèisean nan Gàidheal Development Officer Kevin Rodgers said “ Freumhan has been made possible with funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig and it will be a fantastic opportunity for young Gaelic speakers to develop their language, social and musical skills in a relaxed and fun environment.”

Anyone interested in attending Freumhan should download an application form from www.feisean.org or contact Nicola on 01463 225559 or nicola@feisean.org.

Participants must be aged 11-16 and play their instrument at an intermediate level.  All tuition will be though the medium of Gaelic.

Simon McComb photography for Gigha’s 2009 Calendar

Posted on by

The internationally acclaimed reportage photographer Simon McComb spent a week on Gigha taking shots for the 2009 Gigha Calendar – preview here. This is described as ‘a quirky, fun, somewhat off the wall view of the island and islanders’. Simon McComb’s connections also helped to get the Calendar a feature article in The Herald newspaper, distributed across Scotland.

The calendar is available from the Gigha Trust office on the island and can be ordered by phone from 01583505390 or by email to admin@gigha.org.uk