Top of a beautiful world

Pictured are all but two of those who completed the Ben Nevis walk; in alphabetical order - Andrea, Angela, Betty, Catriona, Gemma, Jennifer, Joanne, Maria, Sandra, Sheena, and Violet.

AN INFORMAL little ceremony last month marked the successful ascent of Britain's highest mountain by a group of Merkinchers.

Eleven women enjoyed the magnificent views, accompanied by Izzy Inglis (right), their leader from Strathspey, and Roni Smith (hiding, back left) of mp33.

Said Izzy: "That day was one of the hottest days we ever had on the hill - it was just wonderful, magnificent. It was unbelievable how beautiful it was."

The women trained for months. They started out with handbags and shoes on their first trip up Craig Phadrig. But thanks to support from Pathways to Health and mp33 they were equipped with more suitable footwear and weatherproof gear. Representatives from Pathways to Health, John Muir Awards Cairngorm and mp33, whose project it was, presented the women with certificates and T-shirts and praised their efforts and achievements.

Some of the participants are so enthused with the exhilaration of hill-walking that they now go out on their own.

What was the worst bit of the Ben Nevis trip? "Coming down…" And what is their next ambition? Only to walk across Scotland!

Donna is first woman trainer at the Enterprise

MEET Donna Sutherland, the first woman Training Officer to deliver European-funded IT training at Merkinch Enterprise. She replaces Tony Burr who left earlier this summer for pastures new.

Donna was born and brought up in Dunnet, Caithness where she attended Thurso High School. She went on to college in Aberdeen where she studied computing. She came to Inverness three years ago to work with Cap Gemini in the Longman as a trainer and she lives in Merkinch, in Telford Road.

Donna is a keen music fan: she plays the keyboards and was at one time a singer with a band. This summer she went to T in the Park for the first time.

She also likes camping and when we spoke to her she was looking forward to a trip to experience white water rafting.
For details of free IT courses available to Merkinchers, enquire at Merkinch Enterprise, 14 Grant Street or ring 240085.

Cheerier look to the PO

MERKINCH sub-post office has had a bit of a facelift, with the walls being lined in a light washable surface, and a new stand being installed. This displays the top 100 items of stationery- in good time for the youngsters going back to school later this month.

The shop has also been redecorated with new lighting and fresh paint. "It will help brighten up those drab mornings," says Leslie. "And it's a thank you to all our customers for their support."

Shop for anglers open

THE premises on the corner of Grant Street and Lower Kessock Street, at one time Mackay's second-hand electrical retailers, has had a colourful career in recent years being variously an artist's workshop and briefly a tattoo parlour.
But on 16th July it opened as Highland Fishing Tackle with a full range of requisites for everything from sea and freshwater fishing to fly-tying items. Inverness-born Raymond Mackay formerly ran his business by mail order.

New residents group highlights local problems

THE deplorable state of the riverbank between the Waterfront Restaurant and the Waterloo Bridge together with the filthy state of the underpass at the Friar's Bridge was one of the topics raised at the July meeting of the recently-formed ACTRA (Abbey-Cameron Tenants & Residents Association) held in St Michael's church hall. It was agreed to write to the Area Manager on the matter. Other topics included:

• The lack of traffic management in the Cameron Road/Carse Road area which was now chronic and which was already of concern to Merkinch Community Council. Members called for urgent action.

 

• The old Ness Motors site to the rear of Abban Street was thought to be an objectionable blot, a scrap-yard dump and a magnet for all sorts of objectionable activities.

 

• A Cairn tenant at Abbey Court reported that Cairn Housing were remiss in giving attention to snagging problems.
• The lack of privacy for residents facing Huntly Place required attention, and also the issue of outsiders using the quadrangle as a short-cut.

 

• The application for planning permission to erect flats to the rear of 8 Abban Street had been withdrawn following a spate of objections but a close eye would need to be kept at that end of the street as it was felt there had been far too much laxity to date.
  Mrs Cumming said she would do all she could to help but asked us to note that Council protocol precluded her from commenting on planning matters until applications were before Committee

 

• All present agreed that it was too early to commit members to a regular cycle of meetings - that could only be decided in the light of progress achieved and business to hand. Too few meetings would leave work unattended to, but too many meetings could easily lead to boredom.
  The committee, elected at the inaugural meeting in June, is as follows: Alexander J M MacLeod, 5 Abbey Court (Chairman); Ivor R Bisset, 2 Abban Street (Secretary); Wilma Edwards, 32 Cameron Road (Treasurer); Pat Grummett, 21 Cameron Road; Ruth Black, 28 Abban Street; James McIntosh, 39 Abban Street; Louise Russell, 31 Abbey Court; Alec Souter, 23 Abbey Court.

 

• The next meeting is on Monday 5th September in Merkinch Primary School at 7.30pm.

In case of emergency...

A NATIONAL "In case of Emergency ( ICE )" campaign has been launched.
The idea is that you store the word " ICE " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency".
In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them.

"It's so simple that everyone can do it. Please do," say the campaign organisers. They add, "Please will you also email this to everybody in your address book, it won't take too many 'forwards' before everybody will know about this.

"It really could help the emergency services in doing their job."

For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc.

Church reaches out

THE Trinity Church is reaching out to the wider community of Merkinch and to this end has been circulating a questionnaire that will let local residents express their views and give the church further insight into the parish's needs.

The questions range from asking what better facilities the church could offer, how they could improve their communications with Merkinch residents, what clubs/meetings or gatherings they could set up, and so forth.

With regard to church services, the questionnaire asks whether the times of services are suitable and even whether potential church-goers would prefer services on another day - or even if people would prefer a different sort of service altogether.

Although there is space for the name and address of those answering the survey, people are not obliged to give them.

briefs…

• THE Singing for Pleasure Group is performing at Bellfield Park Bandstand on the afternoon of Sunday 31st July at 2pm.

 

• INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle is running a Summer Hotshots scheme - details by ringing 719018.

 

• MERKINCH Primary School and Inverness High will reopen after the summer holidays on Tuesday 16th August.

 

• BIRNIE Terrace Residents Association held their summer BBQ on 23 July in perfect weather and their Chair, Theo Mackenzie, and Secretary, Sandra Grant, would like to say a big thank-you to all who came along.

 

• ARTS Officer Catherine MacNeil will be able to spend a bit longer in Merkinch thanks to Inverness City Partnership who provided funding to extend her post. Originally Catherine was employed for three/four months, from the Arts in Merkinch festival until the Gala, but now she will be able to set up various other projects.

 

• NESS Soaps are still searching for premises, but on 23rd July they ran a successful stand at Inverness Highland Games.

 

• A SMALL exhibition of photographs of the Merkinch area by Ken Gowans entitled "Drive Thru" will be on show in the Community Centre from 1-5 August.

 

• LUCKY winner of the July Nicol's Killer Quiz is Mrs I.J. Ross, of 15 Nelson Street. Congratulations! Correct answers and this month's quiz on page 8.

Chris shines at Glasgow games

A DELIGHTED Chris Berg returned from the National Special Olympics in Glasgow last month with a first and two fourths. The young Merkincher, who is aged 15, was one of a strong Highland team to attend the games.

His gold medal was for sprinting in the winning 4x 100m Relay, and still on the track Chris also came in fourth in the 200m race. His other fourth place was in the shot putt, an event which he had never tried before!

Chris trains at Drummond School and his ambition is to take part in the World special Olympics in China in 2007. Other Merkinchers to succeed at the Games included David Geddes and Uisdean Macrae. Altogether Team Highland had a haul of 73 medals from the event which saw teams from the UK and from Europe.
Many of the youngsters were competing for the first time.

YOUNGSTERS at Merkinch Community Centre had the opportunity to learn something of Capoiera, the Brazilian martial art/dance discipline that dates from the days of the slave trade.
Fraser Macdonald, who led the youngsters in the energetic sessions learned Capoiera in Hong Kong where he was working as an architect. The two-evening sessions were organised by Highland Council.

Fliperz kidz enjoy change of scene

Fliperz Nursery and Daycare building in Simpson's Lane is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, so for a few weeks over the summer Fliperz youngsters have been attending sessions at Merkinch community Centre. The Simpson's Lane premises will be ready to reopen for the autumn term on Thursday 18th August. New children will be starting during the week beginning 22nd August. Morning sessions run from 9.30am to 12pm and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 3.30pm.

Summer arts events for the young

THE Waggish Radish Puppet Theatre, pictured above, visited Merkinch Community Centre on 15th July as part of a range of events organised by Highland Council throughout the Inverness Area.

Earlier that week there was a session of Circus Skills led by Kiree Seddon.

• Still to come is Clayground with Deborah Carter on 2nd August from 11am to 12.30pm - lots of fun with modelling clay. For ages 7+, cost £1.

 

• And on 3rd and 4th August youngsters aged between 7 and 12 are invited to Inverness Museum for two days of drawing and painting on canvas. Wildlife is the theme - and your imagination is the only limit! The sessions are run by Diane Roberts and take place from 11am to 1pm, cost £8/£5. For further info ring 724278.

Community Warden Liz Murray reports…

IT IS just as well that Community Warden Liz Murray is fit, for this summer has seen her involved in Highland Council's activities programme which has included climbing 3000 ft up the Cairngorm and gorge-walking.

Nearer home she has been patrolling the area with an officer from the housing authority identifying where there is graffiti to be cleared up, fly-tipping and unkempt gardens.

She has set the ball in motion for graffiti in Madras Street to be cleared, and for the painting of the walkway at Coronation Road, which was started by her predecessor, to be completed.

Regarding gardens, those who cannot keep them reasonably tidy through age or infirmity may be able to get some help.
"Get in touch with me," says Liz, who can be reached through the Community House in Craigton Avenue.

Residents' meeting

THE next meeting of Thornbush Area Residents Association will be held in Merkinch Community Centre at 7pm on Wednesday 4th August. All residents of Thornbush Road, Coronation Road and Dan Corbett Gardens are invited.

The 'Lads' are back

ALEX (Sandy) Mabon, author of "The Lads from the Ferry" has published a sequel to his semi-autobiographical tale, "The Battle of the Ferry".

Sandy launched his first novel at last year's Merkinch Festival ceilidh, and though he was not able to attend this year's arts event, he was in Inverness last month and called in at Waterstone's bookshop at the Eastgate to sign copies of his follow-up tale (pictured right).

Though Sandy has lived in the south for many years, he regularly travels to Inverness - he next expects to be back this autumn when he has been invited to appear at the Inverness Book Festival in the Royal Highland Hotel (formerly The Station Hotel).

"The Battle of the Ferry" opens in Inverness in 1940s and runs up until the present day. Here are our two protagonists John Urquhart, Leslie Graham and Sandy Roberts creating mayhem as always.

Back again in the picture are Jocky Winngate and his daughter Marie, Ronnie "Napoleon" Jamieson, king of the "export/import business, and the whole colourful parade of characters readers will remember from "The Lads" as well as some new ones. Those who remember Inverness from those days will be happy to revisit the Caley Ballroom, the Rendezvous Café, Glebe Street baths, the Empire Theatre and other familiar venues now swept away in the name of progress.

The story also takes us further afield as the lads battle with the IRA, the FBI and Scotland Yard as well as the local constabulary.

The story of "The Lads" veered into rollicking fantasy on occasion, and "The Battle" has similar outrageous scenes-like the one where the entire town is affected one cold November Monday by the combination of a cloud of airborne cannabis, some experimental powdered whisky from Japan and a heavy snowfall. The results are hilarious, if short-lived. As the writer says, "The swinging sixties arrived and departed Inverness in a seven-day period in 1964."

The characters grow older, if not wiser, they marry and settle down, apparently, but the story romps along as before with an energy and vitality that reflect the warmth and solidarity of the South Kessock community down the years. Sandy had great success with his first book and undoubtedly will with this second one. Published by Pegasus for £7.99, copies are obtainable from all good local bookshops.

Busy summer at Coronation Park

Lily Urquhart, takes time out from managing the busy Thornbush Store to hand over a collection jar for the children of NCH Building Blocks. Altogether the sum amounted to £80… plus two Euros!
The money has been used to upgrade the NCH's well-used garden at Quayside Court. A big thanks goes to the staff and customers at the Thornbush shop from the NCH and its young charges.

The NCH organisation recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of working in Scotland and the 20th anniversary of the Inverness Family Project in Merkinch. To mark the double celebration, they had a party at the Quayside Court garden. NCH mascot Cedric-he's a lovely shade of green - watches mum Kim Stewart and her son Shawn cutting the cake.

Clach U-19s meet Cove Rangers in League final

AUGUST 2004 saw the youth development project increase from one U-19 team to an U-19, U-17, U-15 and also, in January this year, an U-13 group.

The U-19s play in the Highland Youth League in which the Clach team won the North Section. Undefeated all season, they are now looking forward to playing Cove Rangers, the winners of the East Section, for the Highland League title. The match takes place at Kynoch Park, Keith on Sunday 7th August.

A major highlight this past season was the team's Scottish Cup tie at home to Celtic when in front of a 500-strong crowd they were narrowly beaten by the only goal. Celtic went on to win the Cup.

Another first was a trip to Ayr to take part in the Ayr Scotland Cup, one of the biggest tournaments in Scotland. A very young squad, only four of the players will not be of an age to compete this coming season. The team made the final, only losing to Lancashire University. Five of the squad have appeared in the first team squad through last season, most notably David Ritchie and Andrew Fraser - these two plus four others are training with the first team pre-season.

The U-17s and U-15s play in the Highland League development leagues where the emphasis is on developing a player, not the results. But none the less we must note both teams won all their games. Both these squads are producing some very good players.

Clach have been in contact with the Highland League about getting a league for these youngsters started. Having this squad has provided some superb players for this season's U-15 squad.

Lily Life
This is a programme of fitness, healthier eating and advice on hydration. The players have their own food diary where they log their food intake on a daily basis. This programme aims to support a healthier lifestyle as well as improving a player's abilities on the field.

Community Programme
Fruit Shoot
On 25th June as part of Highland Health Week, there was a two-hour session of football skills along with the Junior Section of the Boys Brigade, including our own Trinity Church Brigade.

This event was supported by the Williamson Group, fruit merchants, and Eddie at Inverness Mini-mart.

For any more information on Clachnacuddin Youth Development ring Dougie Mackenzie on 0775 444 1003.

Active Adults visit Bergerac territory

ELEVEN members of the Active Adults group flew from Dalcross on their annual holiday last month - this year to Jersey.

The journey started well when the intrepid travellers were ushered on the plane first, but things were less smooth at the other end as they struggled to fit themselves and all their luggage into the one minibus to drive to our B&B! On the Sunday the ladies attended morning service at St Andrews and enjoyed tea and coffee in the church hall afterwards, chatting to members of the congregation. After enjoying the sunshine, it was off to the Mayfair for dinner. Some songs at the piano and a game of charades rounded off the evening.

The next day saw the ladies visit Gorey Castle and the nearby beaches. There was entertainment in the form of dance music, bingo and a musical comedian by the name of Roy Lloyd, but everyone was too tired to stay to the end. There followed warm days with shopping in St Helier, trips to the Corbiere lighthouse, the Jersey Tunnels (the German hospital), and the Shell House.

This display has been built up over 40 years and was well worth seeing. This year's charity was in aid of an Altzheimers and Dementia charity.

There were short "Thought for the Day" sessions each morning and one evening some went to an outdoor concert to see the Jersey Lilies. There were more shopping trips, paddling in the sea, and dinners at the Mayfair-one night saw a Portuguese-themed night.

The last day was action-packed-a visit to see a superb collection of orchids, a visit to Rozel Bay, rounded off by an evening with the St Helier Opera Company performing "The Sound of Music".

Altogether it was a wonderful holiday, only slightly marred by some ladies being briefly unwell. After the hot weather in Jersey, they were greeted by sheets of rain at Dalcross.

So what did Jersey make of the Merkinchers? Some fellow diners expressed envy at the good time they evidently had at dinner each night. And they left behind one broken-hearted Portuguese waiter, Joseph from Madeira, who is going to be receiving a Loch Ness Monster for Christmas!

• The Active Adults meet Tuesday afternoons at the Community Centre.

(Thanks to Agnes Pieraccini for the photographs and Mairi MacDougall for the story).

consumer advice...

Beware the Crazy Frog and other mobi-logos

CONCERNS have been recently raised, in particular 'Crazy Frog' ringtones and the vulnerability of children accessing premium rate numbers through their mobile phones or receiving unsolicited text messages about prize draws, special promotions and other offers.

The rapid increase of mobile phone use by young persons has meant that children can be a main target of unscrupulous marketing companies.

ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services) have therefore felt it necessary to provide a fact-sheet specially designed for children which explains the terminology of the industry and how best to protect them from unwanted SMS or text messages from businesses.

The factsheet is available on ICSTIS website on: www.icstis.org.uk but the main advice and information for young persons and children to follow are:

Reverse-billed premium rate - this is where you pay to receive, rather than send, text, and messages. Services are often advertised on TV, radio or in magazines offering a ringtone or logo downloads or updates on football scores. A charge will be made if you send back instructions to the number advertised. The premium rate service will start sending you your requested message and you will then get another message or a series of messages or more downloads until you tell them to stop. Charges range from 25p to £1.50 per message received plus your usual network charge. To stop receiving these messages to your phone simply text STOP to the shortcode you have got the service from.

Make sure you read the terms and conditions in any advertisement. If you are signing up for a reversed billed service, you should see the costs of the messages and how long they will last clearly set out. If you are using a service for under 16s, you should pay no more than £3 and the service should end after that.

If you respond to a free promotional message, look out for charges that will be made after this message has been received on your phone.

Remember nothing comes for free and offers which look like a tempting free gift with no strings are very rare indeed.

Inverness Techie Reunion planned

CALLING all former pupils of Inverness Technical High School. A reunion for those who left at or before 1960 is being held on Saturday 24th September. Venue: Chieftain Hotel from 7pm. Reduced rate for B&B. Tickets: £10 including finger buffet. Contact Kay 230062, Marlene 782502, Marie 236997 or Janice 225889 for details.

Open Day

South Kessock Residents Association and Highland Council are holding a Fun Day on Friday 5th August at The Community House, Craigton Avenue, starting 12 noon.

This project is being part-financed by the European Union under the Inverness and Nairn CED programme.