Firemore manoeuvres and Strathburn open day

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🚁 The Ministry of Defence have been in touch about a planned training exercise around Loch Ewe from May 15 to May 21. They said: "The activity will involve Medium Helicopters dropping troops off, small boats moving in the area of Melon Charles out to possible landing sites in the area of Firemore Beach or indeed onto Firemore Beach. There will be movement on foot in the local area in particular routes up to the mast and the old gun positions. The troops will be briefed to have little or no impact on the local community."

👩‍⚕️NHS Highland have confirmed that Strathburn care home in Gairloch will re-open in the spring. Before it opens, locals are invited to drop in and have a chat with staff between 10am and 4pm, from Monday 7 April to Friday 11. The press release is here.

🛏️ Meanwhile, local MP Angus MacDonald has released a report calling on the Scottish Government to build four new care homes on the west coast, at Portree, Ullapool, Fort Augustus and Fort William. “The situation in the Highlands is unsustainable," he said.

🔥 Scottish Fire and Rescue have issued a wild fire warning, and asked people to avoid lighting any outdoor fires, at least until April 7.

🍞 Gairloch and Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE) have announced plans for a community baking stall on the first Friday of the month. The first one will be on April 4, from 10:00. The plan is to eventualy move the stall into The Shieling.

🍺 GALE is also recruiting for a General Assistant to work in The Shieling, as the organisation prepares to open the building up as a community pub and event space. Details of the job here.

🚪Meanwhile, one of the GALE directors, James Struthers, has resigned from the board. He told the G&DT: "I stepped off GALE board due to increased workloads on other projects which are taking a lot of time and overlapping interests where I felt conflicted and unable to give the GALE role the support and attention it needs. I remain a member of GALE and supporter of their strategic objectives and of the good work they do for the community."

🥚 On Sunday April 20 at 2pm egg rolling and egg and spoon races are planned on Poolewe Village Green.

🏊 Poolewe Swimming Pool remains closed. A High Life Highland spokesperson gave us a bit of an update. They said: "Poolewe Swimming Pool is a community owned facility, operated by HLH. We are extremely sorry that we have had to close the pool temporarily – we are fully aware that it is a much loved and used facility for residents and visitors alike.

"The Highland Council’s maintenance team are assisting by carrying out an assessment of the issue but it is a suspected mechanical failure of essential operating equipment. Until an assessment has been made, and we know the nature of any repairs or new equipment required, we are unfortunately unable to give a date for re-opening. All school lessons have been paused for now and our Easter Schools Out programme is under review until we have more information. We will keep our customers fully informed.”

🚁 You may have seen some social media chatter speculating on why the air ambulance was called to South Erradale this week. The helicopter was called to help a local young person who was injured after their motorbike developed a sudden mechanical fault. We're pleased to report that they were transported to Raigmore in just 25 minutes and are now on the mend and already back at school.

🌬️ Inverewe Gardens were forced to cancel their long-planned community open weekend due to 50mph winds. The weekend has now been rescheduled for the April 12 & 13. If you had booked onto any of the workshops or talks, your booking will automatically be transferred over to the new dates.

🌼 Attadale Gardens did manage to get perfect weather for their 2025 opening day.

🤕 UHI in Gairloch are running a First-Aid at Work course on May 5. You can book yourself on here.

🪚 Highland Council are advertising for a new Craft, Design and Technology teacher at Gairloch High School, due to the immanent retirement of Mr Gorman. The council offers a relocation package to teachers of up to £6,500 for help with moving costs. Full details on how to apply here.

🦌 The council is also recruiting for 13 seasonal ranger posts, including 3 jobs focussed on Wester Ross. The advert is here.

🛍️ Gairloch Highland Gathering are looking for stall holders - both outdoor and indoor spots are available. The booking link is here.

🚗 The Gairloch Community Car Scheme have announced their AGM will be on Wednesday April 23 at 14:00 in the Poolewe Village Hall. All welcome.

🧑‍🎨 A collaboration of local artists and crafters calling themselves Cladach Artists are coming together for their second Fayre in Gairloch Hotel on April 16 from 10:00. Teas, coffees and lunch will be available to buy in the hotel on the day.

🎭 Writers Jack Nurse and Robbie Gordon are writing a play and have been visiting the Gairloch and Gruinard area this week. They are keen to speak to local people who may have memories, stories or reflections of the contamination and decontamination of Gruinard Island and the story of Dark Harvest Commando. According to a social media post by Gairloch Museum, if you have something to share you can get in touch with them directly at: [email protected]

💷 Congratulations to Gairloch Museum who were awarded cash from the Age Scotland's 'Encouraging and Supporting Communities Fund.' The money will be used to support the ongoing Whatever the Weather Wednesday programme at the museum.

💰 The consultation may have closed, but the debate over the proposed Highland Council Visitor Levy continues. Living Rent Highland campaigners have submitted an 800-signature petition to Highland Council, urging that the proposed tourist tax be upped from 5% to 8% and the cash raised allocated to tackle the housing crisis in the region. There's more in the Ross-Shire Journal.

⚡ Speaking of cash, Highland Council are considering proposals that could see community benefit cash from renewable energy projects in the region distributed more widely. Local councillor Liz Kraft shared a video of herself supporting the idea in a recent debate in the council chamber.

🌊 And lastly, we've been having some very high and very low tides recently. Here's a video of the new seawall at the Sitooterie getting its first test.

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