Nollaig Chridheil - Merry Christmas

Lights thanks to Convenor Sandy (saviour of the Sandown allotments), moon thrown in for free.

All the best to the Gurn's occasional readers and here's hoping for a prosperous, ecological 2008,

And maybe just a few more houses between here and Inverness.

Nearby time to make the most of the autumn sun

Thoughts left at the harbour fade away

Does society already have too many hangers-on?

Whatever it is called this gentleman has taken to it like a duck to water. Others were doing similar things with giant kites/parachutes on the the links, their boards have wheels. Obviously once trained up you can leave the grass behind and head for the water and have some fun. Must be fun and no doubt takes the mind off the horror of a general election looming and the prospect of wall to wall non-stop sameness from all the parties for 5 weeks.

Nairn 1 Clach 1

Just one of those sunny days before we drift into the early dark nights. Plenty of Clach supporters singing about 'a shitty home support' amongst other things. The first half was played at a cracking pace and although the second session had its moments, including Clach missing a penalty, many fans thought that it wasn't all that good in the final 45 minutes. At half time a long train with the old-fashioned carriages passed nearby on the railway. It looked like an enthusiasts' day out or something like that. Some Clach fans on their way back from a quick half-time, half-pint decided to sing to passengers...'People wanna know...'

Gaelic blogging - the movie!

Check it out if you have a spare half-hour, sub titles in English: Cuairt nam blog.

Northern Crock

I've just heard Alistair Darling on Radio 4 this morning and he of the dark eyebrows has prompted me to make a blog entry, the first for some time here. Well after the first two sentences it just became the usual background noise that politicians make. It would have been more use in calming things down if they'd played some of the music you get in supermarkets. If ever there was a time for straight answers then surely this was it. It might just as well have been some council official trying to bore you to tears with reasons why you can't have a bypass in your area.

So I imagined more Northern Rock investors all over the country dropping their toast and marmalade and rushing off the the nearest branch. Maybe their money is safe, the politicians and the financial experts say it is but what might happen by dinner-time? It's a whole new ball game. If I had any cash in that bank I'd get it out, call me irrational, mad even if you like, but if you are a politician or a financial expert why don't you go and put your money in the Northern Rock - all of your money? If Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling had been sitting in deckchairs waiting for the Northern Rock to open so they could open an account then that might have done some good in restoring confidence.

Nairn Gaelic Folklore

Thanks to one of the services offered by Google I was able to upload a word doc and turn it into a webpage 'just like that'. It isn't perfect but it is easy enough to read and as of yet I can't understand why the pics won't load. Anyway the purpose of this document is to show how much Gaelic has contributed to the history of Nairn and how much it is still very much a living part of the town's heritage. Please follow the link if you have a few moments .

The Gaelic Folklore of Nairn
Beul-aithris na Gàidhlig Inbhir Narann

2007 Summer short on sunsets

It's been a bit dull of late and then suddenly, a decent sunset.

See the Eco-cludgie! - Nairn Allotments Open Day: Sunday 12th August

Nairn Allotments Society
Comann nan lotaichean Inbhir Narann

Open Day Sunday Aug 12th 2007 1030 to 1630
Latha fosgailte Didòmhnaich Lùnastal 12mh 1030 gu 1630

There will be guided tours of the allotments and maybe event the chance to use the eco-cludgie. (as seen on TV – the Beechgrove Garden programme).
The allotment society have permission from the Highland Council to use the Sandown field next to the plot for parking and stalls. It is a big area and if you have an interest group or a business that is concerned with ecological issues you will be very welcome. Some stalls will be available or maybe you have your own anyway. All the society wants is a donation or a share of your profits – whatever you feel it is worth. This is about awareness of food and ecological issues and yes, mainly to promote allotments – there aren’t enough of them in the inner Moray Firth area or anywhere else – when it no longer is so easy or cheap to fly in food out of season from all over the world there will be plenty of need for more allotments!

Why not come along and do something interesting, something weird or just something wonderful. Bring your merchandise, your music, your friends, your dreams, your wallets, your veggies, your plants and your sandwiches.

Let’s get the message across – all welcome – Bidh fàilte agus furan air a h-uile duine.
Contact mailto:cliff.hickman(naespam)@dsl.pipex.com (just take out the naespam) if you want to come along to the open day

Only in Glasgow would police have to protect suicide bombers!

More at John Smeaton - Hero For Our Time Well done big man!

Sandcastles

Part of the fun of a late afternoon stroll on the beach is to check out the day's sandcastles. Tommorow they will be gone but memories have been made too.

Good weather for runner beans

Temperature goes up again, bursts of sunshine but rain promised for tomorrow.

Liz in chains!

Our new first citizen makes her first public appearance. The Nairn blogosphere was nearby to record it all. Pics and report over on Bill's site.

Wetfest

Bad luck for the habourfesters, it just rained and then rained a bit more. A heavy police presence ensured that there was no trouble between Inverness canoeists and the breadcrumb brigade.

Logging on at Firhall

The biggest log for some years has arrived at Firhall, the spate shifted it this far but it wasn't enough to get it past the rocks under the Firhall footbridge. Regulars around the river are wondering how long it will last there before it gets another shift. Could be next week or a few years down the line, anyway it will be good fun for the bairns when the river goes down a bit further. Amazing thing is - it seems to have a face!

Spate enables counter revolution

The rain has washed away all the seagull shite and the town looks a lot cleaner as everyone comes back to life and emerges into the Thursday morning sunshine. The spate in the river had an unforeseen consequence for the young swans that had taken over the harbour. The older pair had been moping around between the A96 bridge and the Jubilee. Obviously they couldn’t stay in that area with the spate so they went downstream and ousted the upstarts. Seems the older male has a few marks from another battle but he is back in control of the harbour.

A town centre Herring Gull enjoys the Wednesday evening sky clearing to reveal a town with a lot less white streaks per square inch - for the moment, for the moment. Only two days to go to the Habourfest now, an uncontrollable wave of excitement mounts throughout Nairnshire.

It's rubbish

A reader writes,

'As another weekend fades into the sunset, the steady drain on batteries can be heard from the tourist's cameras at the harbour as they capture essence of Nairn.

Behind them are the folks back home, and even more immediately behind them are the usual end of weekend over flowing bins. Gulls pick at the chip papers and the wind drags the discarded rubbish into the harbour. Bins are not so pretty to look at but any chance of a few more please Mr Highland Council?'

On the weed

Seems the battles on the river may not be over. The new residents are resting in the habour, the former residents (the vanquished) are split up. The female it seems is waiting outside the habour and the male is moping about above the town bridge feasting on weed and brown bread (pic above), perhaps getting ready to go back down to the habour for a rematch. It is rather sad and six cygnets are dead as a direct result but nature is nature.

Not a comeback

This is not a comeback, not even a proper gurn.

Showies affected by global warming

The seasons are all mixed up yes and now the final proof. The showies are here. Rumours abound that some folk are upset by all this and are not into 'all the fun of the fair' if it is to be with us all summer long. Oh sod it, let's just turn Nairn into Disneyland!

Do you really like cheap petrol?

Psst want some cheap petrol? Do you have trouble getting through the day with out using any? Are you a real hard core carbon freak? Help is now at hand. Satisfy your craving at Petrol Prices.com. A correspondent recommends we use our local garages as they are the cheapest. The site is free to use it seems but your e-mail has to be registered.

Death in the habour - end of 2007's cygnet show before it even started

It seems the resident swans returned yesterday with six cygnets. They were attacked by the 'squatters' and in the resulting battle the young were killed. An eye-witness reports 3 dead cygnets floating in the harbour today and the 'squatters', well they are now the residents. A tragedy and locals and visitors will be deprived of a great show.

Local Council elections. Who will be the lucky winner's keeping the Courthouse Gargoyle's company for the next four years?

So, we are to have an election after all, for a while it looked possible that there wouldn’t be one but eight hopefuls have put themselves forward for the public vote.

Three out of the four current Councillors are standing; Liz MacDonald (SNP), Sandy Park (Ind), and Laurie Fraser (Ind). The fourth, John Matheson, is taking his golden handshake and standing down.

The other five, some of whom are known about the town and some have never been heard of, are locals Graham Marsden (LibDem), Jim Lennon (Ind) and David Fraser (Ind). The unknowns, and so far unheard of’s in this household, are Bob Ross (Con) and Ron Stevenson (Lab).

Out of the eight, leaflets have only been received from three and, to be truthful, only one of these provides any in-depth information about what they stand for. Perhaps some of the others are riding on their previous performances? This time round this may not be such a foregone conclusion as in the past. Nairn no longer consists of four wards with one Councillor in each, it will now be one ward with four Councillors. So, where previously it could be relied on that a fair whack of the vote could come from concentrating on keeping everyone within the ward being represented happy and not being too bothered about upsetting those in other wards, now there will be a bigger reliance of having to have get a larger slice of more voters to win. Could this provide an opportunity for disgruntled voters to have a ‘payback’ vote?

This is certainly going to be one of the most interesting local elections for a long time, apart from the changes to the wards there will also be a change in how we actually vote and, as well as being interesting, it will also be very confusing to some voters. The Single Transferable Vote System will be used for the first time, full details and an explanation can be found here:

For a start, you have to put a number beside each candidate, not a cross. Then, in our case because there are eight candidates, you decide who your first preference is then your second, third and up to eighth. On top of this it would seem that you don’t have to ‘rate’ all eight and can pick as many as you like. Reading it it’s not as confusing as it seems but for many voters confronted by this at the polling station for the first time could result in much bemusement. Let’s hope there will be some literature appearing to provide an easy guide on how to use the system.

There is a note of caution about what will happen after the vote though with potential worries about the counting system.

With just over two weeks to go, let’s see how things hot up!

Swan tales

During stormy weather a few weeks ago this young swan fell foul to a feathered territorial battle and ended up bruised, battered and exhausted on a footpath near to the river.

The SSPCA were called and the Inspector came out. He gave the youngster a check over and decided to relocate him to a place of safety away from the battle scene and the marauders.

Off they went with the swan safely tucked under the Inspector's wing!

Nairn's first webcam?

Is it? Try here if you don't feel like going down the beach today - just have a look on-line instead. The kind person that installed it is not sure how long it will stay however.