Can you spare a little time next Saturday (March 15th) to help Keep Nairnshire Colourful?

Nairn 1 Huntly 0 - pictures from Donald Matheson

Individual images here. Gurn pictures later today. Also available on line Kenny MacLeod's images from yesterdays game at Station Park. A game that marked Robbie Duncanson's 200th game for NCFC. Congratulations Robbie!. 

More visitors from afar to Station Park

Station Park, once again, proving itself an attractive destination to groundhoppers on tour. In town today were the Shrewsbury branch of the Queen of the South supporters club. They arrived in town off the train to be met by Donald Wilson who took them to the ground where they received a guided tour with club manager Les Fridge. They then headed to another spot popular with local and visiting fans, Uncle Bob's Bar (Wee County Fans Central), where they took some refreshment before returning to Station park to watch Nairn beat Huntly 1-0.

County mugshots wanted

County Fans Ground Improvements Fund stalwart Donald Graham has obtained a supply of Wee County mugs. They will be available at Station Park match days and have also been on sale at the Town Barbers in the High Street and are selling really well already. £6 each and all profits to the fund. Have you got one? If you have send the Gurn your mugshot or alternatively post it to the County Fans "We Believe" site on facebook. 

Meanwhile more activity on the pitch tomorrow as Huntly make the journey to Station Park - will Conor get a few more? And a week tomorrow Turriff come through for the first round proper of the Highland Cup. Doing anything tomorrow? Que sera, sera!

B. Clark & Son Butchers make facebook appeal for residents of Nairn to buy from town centre businesses

The popular Leopold Street butcher's shop has made the following appeal on its Facebook page.

"It's time to call on all residents of Nairn to visit your town centre more often please !! Our shops are disappearing fast ! With multiple supermarket chains available on our doorsteps and online shopping it's easy to see the lure of choice, convenience and sometimes knockdown prices but In my opinion it would be very easy to revive our town centres, please read on...

Supermarkets and online shopping are here to stay for the reasons I mentioned above, but if we ALL made a LITTLE effort to also pop down to the High Street every now and again can you imagine the effect that would have on local businesses ? 

If EVERYONE in Nairn Bought ONLY one or two Kitchen appliances from the electrical stores in their lifetime, everyone spent only £30 or £40 a year in any of the butcher shops, everyone went to the bakers only 5 or 6 times a year, everyone went to the newsagents a few times, the veg shop, pet shop, travel agents etc etc..

I don't expect people to stop using supermarkets or online shops but instead to every now and again come down to your town centre and help keep Nairn a vibrant, bustling town with a good selection of shops with friendly staff.

To all those people who do use the High Street we truly do appreciate your custom because without you we would not be here so give yourselves a great big pat on the back. Hope to see you all soon and thank you for your time reading this.

Please feel free to share this post 

Thank you

Paul "

Tradeway High Street store to close

Customers of the shop on the High Street are expressing their sympathy on a posting on the business's facebook page which reads:

"It is with regret we are having a Total Stock Clearance of all gifts, jewellery & kitchenware in our High St shop due to closure!!!! Grab a bargain from Sat until the end of the month. Shiela Fleet, Ness, Stellar gifts included - get your Mothers Day gifts cheap while you can"

Undoubtedly the closure of the iconic premises which have been a feature of the High Street for a considerable number of years will be a heavy blow to the town centre. The Tradeway facebook page is here.

"Go the distance with Mairi Chisholm"

Thanks to John Maher for the above picture. He told the Gurn: " Saw this famous Nairnite on the hoardings outside the National Library in Edinburgh today."

The story of Nairn born Mairi Chisholm is quite extraordinary, Wikipedia has details and links to some articles on her life too. 

Rock Clubbing in Nairn - could this be the perfect night out for you?

Council service point closures in the Highlands - Glenurquhart Road Administration and Opposition state their case directly to Community Councils

Cllr Drew Hendry of the Highland Council Administration and his Opposition opposite number Carolyn Wilson are communicating directly to the area's Community Councils over the thorny subject of Service Point Closures. E-mails went out directly from both councillours this afternoon Gurnites will recall that Nairn service point is safe but Ardersier was set to lose theirs. Click the read more tab to see what both Drew and Carolyn have to say to the many Community Councils that serve the Highlands.

Deveronvale 0 Nairn 1 - pictures from Donald Matheson

County finished with ten men and 3 points last night through at Princess Royal Park. An incredible flurry of cards included a red one for Mo Morrison but County hung on, found their feet and even nearly got another. An incredible 15 minutes of injury time was played over the two halves as well before the County fans could begin the long trek home to their beds.

Three useful points however and the Conor goal count goes up to 104. Pictures below from Donald Matheson. Click read more tab to see images

Town centre business moves to Blamakeith industrial estate

The Chartered Accountants, Goldwells moved this week to Balmakeith industrial estate. They are now located on the first floor above Moray College at Unit 10B.

The High Street's  (Gordon Street's to be precise) loss will be the industrial estate's gain, there have other businesses moving into Balmakeith recently both into existing units and onto sites that have been vacant for some time.  

In other moves, Gift Pearls are flitting from their Cawdor Road premises to take up residence in the former Whyte House cafe. Sadly further up the High Street, Paper Bird is to cease trading at the end of this month. 

Ashers Hot Stuff

See the video here. 

Gardening Club talk on growing veg in raised beds and containers tomorrow night (Thurs 6th March)

The recent spells of sunshine certainly are giving the illusion that Spring is not every far away and although we may get a bite or two of bad weather yet it may not be too long before nature follows its usual course. If you are thinking of growing any veg this year you may be interested in a talk by Donald Bean at the gardening club tomorrow night about growing vegetables in containers and raised beds - poster details on the Nairn Allotment Society site.
The allotment society also has a contact number posted for anyone wishing to establish allotments in Ardersier and also details of a BBC Show looking for plotters wishing to participate.  Also on their home page old images of growing vegetables in Nairn, more on www.nairnallotments.org. 

County fans certainly aren't no mugs!

The Nairn County Fans Ground Improvement Fund has branched out into marketing a new product. NCFC mugs are available at the Town Barbers on the High Street and also on match days at Station Park. 

Murd's views on Nairn South - a heretic or " the voice of common sense and reason" ?

Murd has submitted to the Gurn a copy of his letter which also appears today in a local weekly newspaper based in the town centre. The contents of Murd's missive certainly go against the grain as expressed by the town’s three community councils and others when it comes to the Nairn South Planning application. As you can see from the tweet below the letter however, it has found favour in at least one influential direction.

Sir,

- Is it official? Am I no longer part of Nairn or is it just anyone who does not agree with the wishes of  a “predominant faction” who are exempt from Nairn affairs?

   Alastair Noble said at last week’s Suburban and West community council meeting that the whole of Nairn does not want Nairn South.

Well let me tell you, I am not alone in wanting houses built for the young families in Nairn  -  and not having the prospect of moving to Tornagrain or anywhere else as an option for where people, especially the young can live. 

    To use the anti-Nairn South group’s own expression: “Nairn is our toon”. 

   Being born in Nairn, I am conscious of the fact that families want to stay here but many do not have the financial resources that have enabled some of the protesters to live in Nairn. 

   I realise that we all want the best for Nairn but perhaps some housing built soon on Nairn South would help some of our young people to find a home in “their toon”. 

   One of the biggest complaints about Nairn South is access. Well as far as that goes there could be another way if the level crossing at Lochdhu was brought back into use. 

   I have suggested this in the past and it was dropped like a hot potato and was told that we don’t want it. 

  At meetings I will continue to put my thoughts forward as we are all entitled to let our thoughts be known and not just conform to what the “usual suspects” may think is right for the town. 

   Housing is needed in Nairn. If not Nairn South, again I ask tell me where? It would be NICE to have suggestions please.

Yours etc. 

MR R DUNBAR 

Murd Dunbar (in my view) is the voice of common sense and reason in this weeks Nairnshire
— Cllr Liz McDonald (@Liz_Nairn) March 4, 2014

Flooding and flood prevention.

On the agenda at the combined meeting of the West and Suburban Community Councils last week was the subject of flooding and flood prevention. 

Rosemary Young told the meeting: “I put this on because I walked down into our little patch just along here and the whole path had been covered in stones, not big stones, little stone, masses of them after the flood but I must say I had a very good result. I rang up Liz Cowie and she was very pleased I let her know and I think it’s been done. So if anyone has got anything they feel pretty strongly about on flood defences, I mean it is pretty topical at the moment isn’t it? We’ve come off quite likely I feel.”

Murd Dunbar, from the public benches was of the opinion that the Fishertown area was more likely to be flooded with sewage rather than flood water and he suggested that sewage should have been on the agenda. 

Rosemary responded by saying that they had covered the sewage earlier. 

Murd then suggested that any potential threat to the Fishertown area would be “easily remedied” by taking “a bit off the bank at the other side” thus allowing the water to go the way it went before.  

Rosemary said: “Murd you are so radical.”

Graham Kerr then said: “I think we have a right to ask Highland Council to put their engineering expertise onto something giving us coastal protection. They can say they’ve got no money to do anything but surely they’ve got experts sitting in there who could…”

Rosemary intervened at this point: “But are we getting flooded from the sea, we’re not are we?”

“The Golf Course is flooded every year,” replied Graham. 

Alastair Noble then said: “Certainly Fishertown is very, very close to flooding.”

After the meeting Murd indicated to the Gurn that he was less than impressed with the response to his comments, he reminded this observer of this image of the 1956 flood on the River Nairn and suggested that that image shows that allowing the Maggot to flood could possible save the Fishertown from being submerged in the future. 

Formartine 1 Nairn 4 - more images from Saturday's Highland League Cup tie

Individual images here Click read more tab to see slideshow

Nairn 10K and Fun Run 2014 - images

Thanks to Murray MacRae for the above picture that captures the spirit of the popular annual event. More pictures here from the Gurn and more from Murray here too. 
And some images from Kenny MacLeod here. 

The Culbin Sands bridge disaster - March 2014 - Images and story by Morton Gillespie

Back in the last century the local Scout Group erected a bridge crossing at the far end of the East beach which gave access to Culbin Woods over the outlet stream from the Minister's Pool. This magnificent feat of engineering stood the passage of time  but eventually succumbed to the force of nature in 2010 when it was destroyed by the incoming tide.

A local resident of Kingsteps, Tom Wright, undertook the rebuilding of the bridge and single handily using re-used original materials  re-built the bridge once again.

The resultant crossing featured in local walking guides and was referred to as the “rickety bridge” to be crossed as part of the walk from the harbour to Culbin Woods

This new bridge served walkers for a good three years until disaster struck once again and it was destroyed by the 2013 winter storms.

Undeterred by this latest setback Tom Wright, now in his eighties, rallied support from fellow Kingsteps pensioners Morton Gillespie and Arthur Masson and these three worthies stepped forward and rebuilt the bridge in a new location (the original stream line having been diverted by the winter storms) on Tuesday last week. Once again the original materials were recycled and the rebuilding was completed in three hours of hard labour.

Laughter, Tea and Chat Promised at the LTC (long term condition) Lunch - Weds 19th March

On Wednesday 19th March the Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) programme is hosting a lunch in the Community Centre for all those living with a long-term condition in the Nairn area. It is doing so in partnership with the Let’s Get On With It Project (LGOWIT) and Nairn Healthcare GP Practice. The RCOP programme is a Scottish Government initiative to facilitate the development of new initiatives within the community to support older people, such that they are able to maintain their independence for as long as possible. The LGOWIT project is a partnership supporting and promoting self-management for those living with a long-term condition in the Highlands.

The purpose of the event is to explain more about the benefits of self-managing your own health in the hope that more people living with long-term conditions will consider this approach. There will also be some discussion around the potential for setting up a new support group covering all long-term conditions. In addition, there will be plenty opportunity to meet and talk to other people in a similar situation to yourselves.

New shop opens on the Brae - Saturday the 8th of March

Liz Elgar told the Gurn about her new venture opening on the brae next weekend.

"I am opening a shop on Saturday 8th March called Eliza-Kate Crafts.  As well as offering local Crafter's and businesses the opportunity to rent space within the shop to sell their handmade items, I am also offering activity/craft and messy times for children including Toddler Messy Time, 3-5's, P1-P7 and a Teen chill out on a Sunday.  I also have a space on a Monday morning for community/charity use at a reduced rate.  Activity sessions are in the window of the shop and I can be contacted on my email elizakate@hotmail.co.uk  I am hoping that a multi-function use of the shop space will ensure it's survival in harsh times but more importantly benefit local people and tourists alike as well as bringing a smile to the High Street."

Get your transition tatties in Forres on the 8th of March

Many of Nairn's plotters have made trips to the Black Isle tattie 'roup' in recent years for a selection of various types of interesting potato. This observer's favourite is Pink Fir Apple and very tasty they are indeed. The Black Isle can be a fair trek on a busy Saturday however, so Gurnites who are thinking of planting tatties this spring and may want to try some different varieties may wish to consider an event a bit closer to home which is being held in Forres on the 8th of March.

Highland League Cup - Donald Matheson's pictues of Formartine 1 Nairn 4

Individual images here. click read more tab to see images

Highland League Cup - Formartine 1 Nairn 4 - Kenny MacLeod's images

There is a match report from Brian Barclay available on the Highland Football League hub site that more than adequately details the passing of events on the pitch. This was always going to be a difficult one for County who were unlucky to be drawn for the preliminary round and not the start of the competition proper against the Aberdeenshire side who also desperately wanted to progress in this competition. Pele's squad hadn't played for a few weeks however and looked a bit out of sorts, as County progressed it became just another perfect day for the considerable numbers of travelling Nairn fans who probably, once again at another venue, equaled or outnumbered the home support. The faithful were treated to a farewell away performance by Andy Neill who came on as a sub in the final quarter of the game to the rapturous delight of the Wee Believers. Despair and shock seemed to be etched on some Formartine players faces as they struggled to find a way back into the game - yesterday's defeat will be a powerful blow to them. 

Another trip home through the delightful Aberdeen-shire vistas, the nearby windmills standing majestically in the evening sun as the yellow and black travelling army entertained homeward fantasies of further progress and maybe even meeting a certain team in the final? A long way to go however but the season has been given more dramatic impetus, as in a fortnight's time Turriff will be coming to Nairn for the first round proper. Ali Asher might have to have more pies on standby to fulfill a hat-trick promise, the way that on-form County were knocking them in yesterday.  The match was also filmed by SHFL TV - check their website here for details of a video of the game will appear. 

Kenny MacLeod's images, Individual images here.  Click read more tab to see slideshow

Drams away - more images from the ceremony on the Jubilee bridge this morning.

Good to see Tommy Hogg at the Jubilee Bridge this morning, here he is catching up on all the riverside latest with Murd Dunbar.

More images here from Murray MacRae and some Gurn images here.