Saturday July the 20th - The market is back - article by David Brownless

Thanks to David Brownless of the Nairn Business Association for the following article:

If you were to ask a random selection of folk in  Nairn  High Street what they thought the word ‘Mercat’ meant, they would very likely answer that it was a small mammal and member of the mongoose family, that spoke with a Russian accent and sold car insurance…

However , aficionados of the Gurn, will know that it the old word for market and that Nairn’s ‘Mercat cross’ ( or what’s left of it) still stands outside the Court House. The cross itself is said to show that Nairn has the right to hold a weekly market, as laid down in the royal charter, granted to the town by Alexander the 1st.

The title Royal Burgh was lost to Nairn in 1312, allegedly after having been sent through to Inverness for safe keeping, though the diligent efforts of local government officials and assistance from the monarch of the day managed to relocate it, in 1476, only to let it slip through their fingers again sometime over the last 20 years…..  

During the long history of the town a market would have been traditionally held on a regular basis and, although there has not been  one for a few years now, the Association of Nairn Businesses is delighted to say that, it’s back. The market returns.

Saturday 20th July will see the High Street closed to traffic and given back to pedestrians for the day.

There will be a wide selection of stalls , plus all our existing town centre businesses and an exciting mix of music,  to make  a day  for the whole family to enjoy.

There will be all kinds of offerings from the traders taking a stall for the day: crafts, jewellery, patisserie, hot food, plants, produce and local charity stalls. There are even rumours of a set of stocks making an appearance, with some local  ‘well-kent names’  to throw things at ( seemingly, due to clearly ludicrous health and safety rules, the projectiles have to be soft…but who knows what they will have been dipped in first ?)

Giving the whole day a festival feel is a superb line up of musical talent.

Appearing on our version of the Pyramid stage ( it’s a mystical pyramid that is only visible to those that truly believe) are:

The Kitty Black Band

Susanna Wolfe

The Stellars

Mark Hudson

Kate Cruickshank

Jenna Mackintosh

And from Glasgow, The Lonely Whale

And for the those that prefer a more traditional sound, in our  ‘Neeps and Tatties‘  chill zone, we have :

Ho - Ro

Aye 2 Aye

Dan Leckie

Penguins Tuxedo

FirthSiders

Nairn Speldings

Holli Atkinson

Gaelic Choir

So we look forward to welcoming everyone to the High Street for a great family day out.

The event runs fromt 9am until 4.30 pm and, like the car parking, the entry is totally free and you can have as much fun as you like.

Come to Nairn and try something traditional.

A Gurnshire Yes-No thing

Yes or No? The debate seems to have found its place on the Gurn and thoughts on Europe and windmills intrude too - more on this thread here. If you can't be bothered with politics however, then there are now a couple of images of tonights sunset on the Gurn Flickr pages here which you might find rather more intersting. 

Riverside report from Murd - dangerous wall on Mill Road

Murd reports that the riverside paths from the Jublilee to Firhall have finally had their edges cut. A dangerous piece of wall has caught the attention of  our regular correspondent however, the image below is of part of the wall at the entrance to the drive down to the football pitch at the far end of Mill Road just below Milford Heights. This piece of wall is obviously in need of immediate attention.

More live music in town these days? Friday night and Peruvia in the Caley

The Caley was rocking the High Street last night as the Lossie Loons that comprise Peruvia came to town to entertain. 

There's a lot more from this band on their youtube channel.

Dol fodha na gréine - Sunset - 05/07/13

Colin: "I'd like to see a fully-empowered Nairnshire Council"

Apologies to those arriving hear from further afield but we have a habit on the Gurn of using a lot of the "usual suspects" christian names in articles. Colin is, of course, Councillor Colin J Macaulay. One of our regular readers points us in the direction of a post Colin made on his facebook page four days ago. It is indeed in brackets but it is there:

"We promised in our Council Manifesto that we would begin a process of decentralisation - bringing decision making and accountability away from Inverness. So, from September we'll have a Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Area Committee. It may not be ideal (I'd like to see a fully-empowered Nairnshire Council) - but it is a big first step in the right direction!"

Could Nairn do with a Leith style "Jobby Lobby"

Greener Leith is an entertaining community blog that reports regularly on events in that part of the capital city. The site has reported on a new campaign "The Leith anti-jobby lobby". Posters have appeared bearing captions like: "My owner is the filthy animal" and "The other arsehole should pick it up". A novel and more direct attempt to shame those dog owners who don't clean up their dogs turds into changing their bad habits. You can see the eye-catching designs on the group's Facebook page here. 

Interestingly in his article, Ally Tibbit reports: "Leith has historically had a raw deal from council enforcement services, but service managers have promised a crack down recently." Another article on Greener Leith gives a breakdown of enforcement figures here.  Gurnites who look at the figures will notice that there are actually fines imposed for dog fouling. Here in Nairn a Gurn Freedom of Information request at the beginning of the year revealed that there had been no fines for doggie jobbies in Nairn in the five years prior to that request. Even though owners get fined in Leith there is still a major problem. It looks like no matter where you live in Scotland then, dog turds are a problem and with or without enforcement they are in no hurry to go away - maybe the small fine is no deterrent and remember there is no "naming and shaming" element to the enforcement. So it is left to citizens groups to intervene. Would a similar shock poster campaign be of some use in Nairn? 

Barron House sold

The Inverness Courier reports today that Barron House was sold before it went to auction. The buyer lives locally according to the paper.

Car boot sale Sunday 7th July in Sainsbury's Car Park 10-1 - raising funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma research

One of our regular readers asked us to post details of the Car Boot Sale and we are delighted to do so.

Delnies circular route concerns

Another regular readers sent in the following plus an image. She stated: " I went for run round the Delnies

circular today. This post had route sign removed, path unclear, overgrown.

The Delnies circular walk also featured in Gurn articles in May. Here and here.