REVEALED: Poolewe Swimming Pool re-opening date

Good morning and welcome to another sunny Wester Ross Round-up 🌞. This week the newsletter is flying through the world wide web to 897 people.

Remember, if you have anything you'd like us to squeeze into the next paper issue of the Gairloch and District Times, the deadline is 10am on Friday 16 May. You can use this form to send us family announcements, community notices, praise for unsung local heroes, photos, press releases and scurillous gossip (but please fact check it first).

🏊‍♀️ Good news for local swimmers. High Life Highland have confirmed that the community-owned Poolewe Swimming Pool is all set to re-open on May 21. It was forced to close for several weeks after a critical mechanical failure.

🏊 Speaking of swimming... The Guardian has named Gruinard Bay as one of the best places in Britain for snorkelling. The Daily Record has also been singing the praises of beaches at Gruinard Bay and "secret" Red Point.

☀️ The seemingly never-ending sunny weather may be good for outdoor swimming. But it may not be good for water supplies. In fact, the entirety of mainland Scotland has now officially been placed on an "early warning" for water scarcity by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. If you are on a private water supply and concerned it might dry up or become unsafe to drink the council is offering support. They may be able to provide you with a free temporary supply of bottled water if you need it. More details on the council website.

🪰 And the midges have appeared. At the time of writing the midge forecast is already up to level 3 in the Torridon area.

🧗 First years at Gairloch High School are away in the Cairngorms on their residential. You can follow their exploits on the school Facebook page. The school has also confirmed that it has successfully filled two teaching posts.

• Miss Karen MacAllister: has been appointed as Depute Head Teacher.
• Mr Murray Morrison: has been appointed as Teacher of Craft, Design and Technology.

Miss MacAllister has been an Acting Depute Head for the past 18 months and is to work over the coming weeks to transition into the post full time. Mr Morrison will start in his new role in August following the retirement of Mr Gorman.

🏃 Meanwhile, helpers are needed to ensure that the annual Inter School Cross Country Race can go ahead in Flowerdale Glen. If you are free on the morning of May 29 and willing to pitch in, you can find out more in this Facebook post.

📱A motion to be considered by all Highland Councillors on May 15 calls on all schools in the region to consider a ban on mobile phone use. More detail in a report in The Inverness Courier.

🛤️ There's some more good news for users of the Kyle railway line. After last week's announcement that peak fares would be permanently scrapped, this week ScotRail have said six Highland trains that serve the North Highland routes are part of a trial to see if satellite broadband can improve internet connectivity for passengers. More on the BBC website.

🚆 ScotRail are also introducing a new timetable from May 18. Download it here. Local changes of note:

• The 0726 Mon-Sat train from Achnasheen to Inverness will run earlier at 0702.
• There will also be an additional earlier train on Sunday to Inverness. It departs Achnasheen at 11:31am.

🍷 In other train news, those of you that enjoy drinking on trains, will be delighted to know the ScotRail alcohol ban ends on June 2.

🥃 Iain Sutherland is hosting one of his popular whisky tasting nights in the Bridge Cottage Art Cafe in Poolewe on May 30. Details here.

🧑‍🎨 Two artists with local connections feature in a new exhibition at An Talla Solais in Ullapool. The venue also has "150 exquisite ceramic artworks on show" as part of the Scottish Potters Open Exhibition.

🎨 The Claddach group of local makers are holding an arts and crafts fayre in The Old Inn on May 21. More details on Facebook.

🎦 The charity that manages the Screen Machine mobile cinema received a boost recently after the Scottish Government allocated £500,000 from the Gaelic Capital Fund towards the purchase of a new vehicle. The new vehicle will cost £1.7m in total and although this grant enables the charity to place an order for the new vehicle, it still has not raised all the cash it needs.

🎥 Speaking of cinema, Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, is showing at Loch Torridon Community Hall on Saturday May 17 at 7pm.

💷 The first event at the newly refurbished Aultbea Hall raised a total of £1116.50. Cash from the VE Day celebration event was split between Poppy Scotland and the hall funds. See photos on Facebook.

🪐 New space technology designed to search for life on Mars has been tested in Lower Diabeg. It's not known whether they found any life in Lower Diabeg during the test. Read more on the BBC.

⚡ The are continuing concerns over the number of people that may still have an RTS meter in the Highlands. These meters will likely stop working properly when the radio signal they rely on is switched off in a few weeks time. If you are not sure whether your electricity meter will be affected, you can upload a photo of it to this website and it will use AI to analyse it. (Disclaimer: It's not "official" advice - but it could be a good place to start.) If you do still have an RTS meter you should contact your supplier to ask them to fit a new meter as soon as possible.

🗳️ A private members bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland passed the first stage at Holyrood this week with 70 MSPs supporting it. Local MSP Maree Todd said she would vote to support the proposal in a Facebook post prior to the debate.

⛏️ And finally, here's an interesting video from the archaeologists that were working with Gairloch Museum to excavate a round-house at Achtercairn. In it they explain more about what they found this year and what they hope to do if they get a chance to come back. There's some more photos from the dig here.