New year hoolies and Applecross community sauna goes live

Greetings, Wester Rossians! Welcome to another Round-up. This week our newsletter is en route to 1085 of you. As ever, if you like it, share it. And if you're new here, tap the button below to get on the list.

🎄 Ullapool's Creel Christmas Tree has generated lots of positive press for the town this week. Here's a nice write up from the BBC about what is involved in putting the tree together. More: BBC

🛍️ There are 19 stallholders including Gairloch Primary School at the Gairloch Christmas Market, which is taking place today, December 4, in Gairloch Community Hall, between 11:00 and 16:00. More: Facebook

🗣️ Free weekly Gaelic conversation sessions at Kinlochewe Village Hall are kicking off this week. "On Fridays at 4.00pm - 4.30pm, we'll have our first Conversation Practice. The group is open to everyone from absolute beginners to more fluent speakers, and we particularly welcome students learning Gaelic at school or college, plus any parents who'd like to understand Gaelic homework!" More: Facebook

🔥 Also this Friday - bookings for the Applecross Community Sauna go live. To make the sauna accessible locally, organisers are offering 50% off all sessions for Applecross residents who join Sauna Club, which costs a mere £5. More: Facebook

🎅 Poolewe is getting extra festive over the next few days. Proceedings kick off from 13:00 on Friday 5 December, with the Christmas Market in the village hall. At 14:15 there will be a reindeer procession from Poolewe Hotel to Inverewe Garden where there will be all sorts of festive activities going on. And lastly, you can round off the day with the village Christmas Tree Lights switch on at 17:00 at the village green. The Gairloch Community Car Scheme say they might be able to get you there if you don't have transport. The Christmas Market will then run again on Saturday 6, from 11:00. More: Facebook

👟 Ullapool Forest Runs are getting into the festive spirit too. They are organising a 5k run for adults, and shorter Santa Dash for primary school children at Ullapool Campsite On Sunday December 14. More: Facebook

🧑‍🎤 On December 17 at 18:30 there will be carol singing at Lochewe Community Church, Aultbea. More: Facebook

🎶 All are welcome at the community carol singing in Shieldaig Village Hall on December 24, from 16:00. More: Facebook

🎻 A New Year's Day ceilidh is planned at the Loch Torridon Community Centre. More: Facebook

🪗 Tickets are also on sale for the Poolewe Ceilidh Partnership's New Year's Day Hoolie in Poolewe Hall. More: Eventbrite

🏸 In the New Year, plans are afoot to start up a social badminton club at Poolewe Village Hall. Details in the flyer below.

🏠 Scottish Care Highlands are trying to find accommodation for two families moving to the Gairloch and Aultbea area. They're looking for private landlords with 1,2 or 3 bedroom properties to rent locally. More: Facebook

⚒️ SSEN have emailed some locals to let them know their contractor RJ MacLeod will be undertaking cable identification works from Fain Bridge to Dundonnell. The work will take place between Thursday December 4 and December 12. The firm expects there to be "no disruption to the public."

🚦From Monday December 8 to December 19, tree-felling will be taking place along the A835 between Contin and Maryburgh. Most of the time there will be a single lane closure with traffic lights. There may be a need to close the road completely for periods of no more than 15 minutes. More: BEAR Scotland

📉 Highland Council warns of a looming £47 million budget shortfall over the next three years, and is urging residents and businesses to contribute their views to help shape upcoming spending plans. "Tough decisions," are expected. More: Philip Murray | Inverness Courirer (£)

🚓 Police Scotland has launched its annual festive crackdown on drink and drug driving as new figures reveal a sharp rise in offences across the Highlands and Islands. More: Lauren Cameron | Ross-shire Journal (£)

👣 The Old Loch Maree Post Road is featured in a blog on the Scottish Rights of Way Society website this month. It's a good reminder of the remarkable stamina of the old post runners of two centuries ago. More: Scotways

🐟 Local aquaculture firm, Wester Ross Fisheries Ltd posted their latest accounts recently. Turnover increased by around £2m at the MOWI-controlled company, but net profit after tax nearly halved. Independent auditors for the year resigned and refused to sign off the accounts because they could not obtain the information they needed from company officials. We asked the firm for a comment but they have not responded. More: Companies House

💰 The Scottish Government has announced plans to amend the legislation that allows councils to collect a visitor levy or tourist tax, so that local authorities can have more flexibility in the way these schemes operate. In response, Highland Council released a statement confirming they will pause their own plans to introduce a visitor levy until the revised legislation comes into force. Meanwhile, Edinburgh is pressing ahead, with plans to use the funds raised to build 500 affordable homes. More: Highland Council

🏑 The Camanachd Association has voted to make helmets compulsory for all senior shinty players starting in 2027, enhancing player safety, while a requirement for faceguards will follow in 2030. More: BBC

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 From St Andrew's Day, Gaelic and Scots have been officially recognised as languages in Scotland. More: BBC

🐑 Livestock owners in the north of Scotland have been warned of a new blood sucking parasite to watch out for. Alasdair Ferguson | Scottish Farmer

🦌 Highlands Rewilding have released new research that warns that current deer management practices may be inadvertently favouring the growth of non-native Sika deer populations over native Red and Roe deer. More: Highlands Rewilding

⛵ And lastly, here's a lovely video about an ambitious ship building project developing in Ullapool.