Warm Mondays are back, filling station for sale
Read to the end for a video of gannets fishing in Applecross Bay.
Hi and welcome once again to another Wester Ross Round-up 👋, aren't the nights fair drawing in? This week the round-up is speeding its way across the interwebs to 1071 subscribers. As regular readers will know - we have no paid marketing budget for this newsletter. So if you know a friend, neighbour or colleague who might like to receive our weekly missives then please encourage them to join up.
If you're new here and you'd like to join the in-crowd, then you can get on the mailing list by hitting the subscribe button below. It's free! 😄
🍲 The soup ladies and gentlemen are poised to welcome one and all to the first Warm Monday of this winter season. It will be on November 3 from 11:00 to 13:30 in Gairloch Community Hall. Soup, cake, bingo and good company will be on offer for free throughout the Winter weekly. If you need help with transport to get to Warm Mondays, the Gairloch Community Car Scheme can help. Call 01445712867 to arrange a lift.
⛽ A venerable local institution has been put up for sale. Kinlochewe Service Station is on the market for offers over £700,000. More: Rightmove
👻 The Millcroft Bar and Hotel in Gairloch is under new management, and the first thing they're doing is organising a Halloween do on October 31 from 5pm. More: Facebook
🍞 And a new business called Lochewe Bakery has begun selling loaves through their Facebook page and via the shop at Poolewe. More: Facebook
🧒 This weekend, there's a special kids clothes event in Kinlochewe Village Hall. Details in the flyer below.
🗞️ Ever wanted to find out more about us at the Gairloch and District Times? We're holding our AGM on November 3 at 19:00 in the Annexe at the Gairloch Community Hall. All welcome, we'd love to see you.
ℹ️ On Thursday November 6, The Royal Society of Edinburgh is organising a debate in Ullapool. The discussion will focus on how we can know when to trust information in order to decide how to vote. More: Eventbrite
🌺 We've been notified of some special Remembrance Day events. On Saturday November 8, there will be a service at Poolewe War Memorial at 11:00. Following that, there will be a service at the Arctic Convoy Memorial at Cove, with refreshments at the Old School House, Inversadale afterwards.
On Sunday November 9 there will be a special service at Gairloch War Memorial at 10:45am, followed by a service in the Church of Scotland at 11:15am. In Poolewe, there will be a Remembrance Day service in Saint Maelrubha's Church at 10:30am. From 13:00 there will be a special Remembrance Day event in the Jam Jar at the Aultbea Hotel.
🏛️ Lochcarron Village Hall are holding their AGM on November 13 at 19:30. More: Facebook
🎶 There's an interesting gig featuring new music by Mhairi Hall planned at Plockton High School on November 23. More in the flyer below. More: Eventbrite
🐭 On November 27, activist and writer Alastair McIntosh will be speaking at the MacPhail Centre in Ullapool. His theme will be 'Compassion for the Mouse, Compassion for the Cat'. More: High Life Highland
🚦Garve and District Community Council have revealed that there will be a further delay before road repairs at "Check Rail Corner" on the A835 will be begin. BEAR, the private contractor responsible for the maintenance of the A835 have said works will now start in "Late November / Early December." More: gdcc.scot
🚜 Dingwall & Highland Mart are holding an online implement sale on December 1. More: Facebook
🎵 And it's a long way into the future, but RhythmnReel are set to play Gairloch Community Hall on December 27, with local musicians supporting. Tickets: Ticketsource
🚛 After Lochcarron resident Robin Pettigrew launched a Holyrood petition calling for motorhomes to be banned from stopping at unofficial camping spots, camper van owners and a motorhome rental firm have hit back - all describing the proposal as "extreme." More: Steph Brawn | The National (£) & Alberto Lejarraga | Press and Journal (£)
🧥 Poolewe and Aultbea Free Church have announced that the charity Blythswood are to remove their red clothing recycling banks at the Aultbea Church Hall as they are no longer sending a van over to this part of Wester Ross to collect second hand clothing. Other local collections are also to cease. More: Facebook
💡Gairloch Community Council has asked locals whether the new coop store in the village should turn off the 30 new street lights that have been installed around it at night time. More: Facebook
🍺 The Rhidorroch Distillery in Ullapool are looking to hire a General Manager for their Cafe / Bar. More: Indeed.com
🐑 The West Highland Woollen Co, also in Ullapool, are looking for an Assistant Manager. More: Facebook
🚑 The Torridon Mountain Rescue Team has donated three MacInnes stretchers to the charity Highlands for Ukraine, aiding frontline rescuers in their efforts to save lives amidst ongoing conflict in Ukraine. More: Hector MacKenzie | Ross-Shire Journal (£)
🦌 Wester Ross Biosphere spoke to 36 people from Gairloch and Plockton to find out more about local attitudes to Red Deer. They've now published a report summarising what people said. More: wrb.scot
🦀 An analysis of European brown crab fisheries concludes that, "high exploitation levels combined with the lack of regulations may leave brown crab stocks in a vulnerable position," in Scotland. Evidence suggests landings have been in decline since 2016 on the west coast of Scotland. More: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
💷 After more than 4000 consultation responses, Highland Council is expected to make a decision on whether it will introduce a 5% tourist tax in December. More: BBC
🤷 Just weeks after local MP Angus MacDonald called on locals to boycott Elon Musk-owned products (See issue 19) because of Musk's support for "vile hate" and far-right activists in the UK, MacDonald has himself come under fire for "pandering to racism," in relation to a Westminster plan to house asylum seekers in an Inverness army barracks. The criticism came after the MP claimed in a social media post that the barracks, "was simply not an appropriate or secure location," to house asylum seekers, apparently due to its proximity to residential homes and the city centre. More: Alasdair Fraser | Inverness Courier (£)
MacDonald is not the only politician to express concerns about the barracks plan. Highland Councillors and Scottish Government ministers say they were not consulted and are worried about "community cohesion." A special meeting of the council to discuss the plan is to take place today. More: Highland Council.
Quick factcheck: Despite what you may read on social media, or hear from some politicians, many people in the UK have a generally positive view of migration. It remains the case that non-UK citizens are less likely to be imprisoned than UK citizens and migrants are a net benefit to the UK economy. Furthermore, the majority of people that are to be housed in the Inverness barracks are likely to have a good reason to claim asylum. Around half of all asylum seekers are granted "protection" at the initial application stage, with many more winning the right to stay in the UK after appealing to the courts.
🦷 Less than a third of dental practices in the Highlands are currently accepting new NHS patients, raising more concerns about access to dental care in the region. More: Lewis McBlane | Inverness Courier (£)
🪽And finally, here's a video of gannets fishing in the sea at Applecross Bay.
Comments ()