WONDER. THE TREES HAVE COME OUT OVERNIGHT

Yesterday, I promise you, the trees around Ballachulish were all bare. If you looked carefully, close up, you could see tiny buds.
Last night we had torrential rain, and to-day the waterfalls are having children.

But THE TREES ARE ALL OUT. Overnight they did it.

Up on high ground they are still bare, but to-morrow who knows...?

John
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe

GENERAL LINKS TO THE AREA.
Discoverglencoe the magnificent community website for Glencoe Scottish castles in the West Highlands New page in our site about driving on snow and ice Masses of information about the area in our Site map This is about Fort William Appin is beautiful Bed and breakfast and hotels from Oban to Fort William Walks around our cottage Autumn short breaks in Glencoe Ben Nevis walking is a slog, but worth it Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring The highlands of Scotland Find holiday cottages anywhere Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe Hill walks in Glencoe Munroes in Glencoe Port Appin Barcaldine Accommodation in Lochaber Kentallen Ballachulish Onich How to find cottage owners self catering websites

NO. This is a horrendous idea. Dreadful.

Some MP and others want you to buy compulsory insurance before you go on a mountain in Scotland.

That is gross. Horrendous. The hills are the last bastion of individual freedom.

The rescue helicopters are being privatised but I don't know where they are going to get their funds from. How do you get a "sale" from a mountain rescue? By having insurance companies pay out is someone's answer.

Skiers? Tourists? Mountain bikers? Those playing happy families on the hills? Just climbing or walking along an old drove road as well?

Surely not. I can't believe this. When the volunteer mountain rescue teams support this idea (they don't) then I'll pay attention.

John
Ps. How are they going to police it? Wait a minute, if we put up some cctv cameras on the popular routes we could identify the uninsured cheats. They all must show their certificates to each of the cameras. Got it.

Outdoor links to Glencoe
The best walks in Glencoe Ben Nevis, go climb it Munros are over 3,000 feet Some Munros are easy Glencoe rock climbing Skiing in Glencoe is excellent again New cycle tracks around Glencoe There are lovely beaches and bays around Glencoe Accommodation Fort William Golf on the West coast Tour the Highlands You can cruise the West coast Driving around Glencoe on snow and ice - Tips

OBAN HAS VOTED YES TO THIS IDEA. WHAT WILL FORT WILLIAM VOTE?

Oban top and Fort William high street.

Please consider. You might need to put your brain in a cool cloth before reading this.

You are a small business owner in a country town. Because you pay business rates you are being asked to vote for a scheme which will help to build tourism in your area. Your business is not related to tourism. You may be a business developing websites for clients, (or you are a local farmer selling cheese, or a crafts jeweller selling the products you make at home to an online market, or you have a business selling things on ebay). For the scheme to go ahead. 25% of business people in the area must take part in the vote and 50% of those voting  have to vote Yes for the scheme to pass. If Yes, then there are a series of local projects each with varying costs which can be selected for development

If the scheme passes then you as a small business will have to pay a contribution to the scheme, (by law). Maybe £200 or up to £5000 perhaps, it depends upon the scheme costs. You will have NO option to pull out or not pay up. It will be as if £200 or up to £5,000 has been added to your business rates.

Remember that your business does not have anything at all to do with tourism although other businesses are connected to tourism.

Question One.
Are you going to vote Yes to this scheme? There will be no benefit to you in your view, but a definite cost (not pence)
Question Two.
If 80% of the businesses in the area do not see themselves as being primarily dependent upon tourism is this scheme going to get the go-ahead?
Question Three
If you are the owner of an hotel, a B and B or a self catering unit, or a tourist attraction, or a restaurant are you going to vote Yes to the scheme. Will the scheme get a Yes from 50% of those voting?
Final question.
If 80% of the businesses in an area are definitely tourism related, will this scheme get the go ahead?

This is a summary of a scheme called a BID (business improvement district). Very successful scheme, originating in  the USA and going around the whole country now.

If the scheme gets a Yes vote, then there will be several major projects to pick from all designed to improve tourism in an area such as Lochaber. This includes the big population of Fort William which is mostly light industrial, building and such like, and Glencoe a tiny population, which is mostly tourism based.

This is being debated now in Lochaber. Oban has voted yes already.

I would love the scheme to go ahead and be voted a yes. I can see how it gets a Yes vote in Oban which is dominated by the tourism business. I'm not so sure about Fort William voting yes. It does not see itself as a Tourism-centric place. The look of the town is witness to that. Glencoe is tourism-centric no doubt.

I have the feeling that it may get a no from Fort William. but luckily, it could be re-constituted as a Glencoe and Ballachulish scheme and this would almost certainly get a Yes for local projects.

If this does happen then it is the surrounding areas with no clout at all, such as Ardnamurchan or Appin which will be left out. They can do tiny schemes of their own of course. I feel bad for them.

Let's hope I'm wrong and it will go ahead for Lochaber.

There is a widespread complaint that many local tourism related businesses pay nothing towards the promotion of Scotland to tourists. I agree with that. We are not members of VisitScotland, which does the national promotion, and does an excellent job in terms of advertising and pr, but is clumsy and heavy-handed with its members. So we put our annual contribution of over £100 to the local promotion body, DiscoverGlencoe. This is well worthwhile, and has an excellent website. Ours is a kind of charity contribution. We have had very few enquiries from it, but that is because we get quite full early in the year and we lie a little outside the Glencoe area. It certainly helps people know and be attracted to the Glencoe area.

John

LINKS
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage 20 brilliant walks around our cottage area Easy hill walks in Glencoe Why not walk up Ben Nevis one day? Easier Munroe walks in Glencoe Skiing Glencoe and Nevis range, cottage is midway between the two Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain Weather in the West of Scotland Rock and Ice climbing in Glencoe Cycling and fishing Glencoe Spectacular wild life around our cottage Golf in the Highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe Cruising the islands, using Glencoe as a base Safe, beautiful beaches and bays in Glencoe area Touring the Highlands by car from Glencoe, Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe Winter breaks, Jan Feb March in the cottage Autumn breaks November December in the cottage Our new Appin blog site

Increasing population of little ones in the Highlands

This is lovely news to someone like me who has heard of nothing but gloom for decades that the Highlands population is in decline, that youngsters are leaving in droves never to return and the whole local scene is depressing.
Well, it is not true any longer, they aren't and it isn't. It is all good. The region had the third greatest increase nationally in household population of any area in the ten years after 2001.
The 0-5 year olds increased by 11%. Yes, a bit of a weakness in the next age group, of 5-14 year olds, then increases after that.
It is not yet a Clearance in reverse. but one day it could be.

John
ps.
I'm just putting in these links to a site where i need more links, to help it up the google rankings.
Jazz bands in Sussex Festival of Chichester Events The sussex Gershwin tribute jazz band Jazz Smugglers NOSTALGIA show in Sussex The leading jazz band in Sussex, Jazz smugglers Sussex jazz workshop every Sunday Jazz Smugglers plays at all the Sussex Festivals Romantic background jazz in Sussex Small jazz trio for a Sussex party band How to promote your event and gigs

SO YOU THINK YOU ARE A HARD MAN? YOU HAVEN''T PLAYED SHINTY.

 I'm not going to add anything to this Shinty report in the Oban Times. This is all in the opening paragraph, of the report of one shinty match.

"Bruised and battered Fort William...."
"Brutal battle with Newtonmore..."
"Steven Mc Donnel sent off, and Niall McFee sent off..."
"Gordie McKinnon sustained a broken hand, but returned to the field of play, to draw a defender..."
"Shaun Cameron broke his ankle..."
"Liam MacIntyre had two fingers and a hand broken in a swing of a caman..."

Don't ever, ever, tangle with a Highland man.

John


GLENCOE OUTDOORS The best walks in Glencoe Ben Nevis, go climb it Munros are over 3,000 feet Some Munros are easy Glencoe rock climbing Skiing in Glencoe is excellent again New cycle tracks around Glencoe There are lovely beaches and bays around Glencoe Accommodation Fort William Golf on the West coast Tour the Highlands You can cruise the West coast Driving around glencoe on snow and ice - Tips

Forget the rich South. If you want SUPERFAST BROADBAND come to the Highlands.

We've got a little computer which our guests can use in the cottage. We have a kindly neighbour who lets us use his router. This is the Scottish highlands. I wouldn't dream of asking our neighbours in the South to let us use their router. They'd shuffle around to find excuses to say no. (I might agree to it if asked, but that is because I've been trained in the Highlands)

No probs with connection in our Glencoe cottage. My own BT router in Sussex was down again this morning, of course.

Put your brain in a cold towel for the next bit. My upload speed in this house in the South is less than 1 Mg/second, download is 1.7Mg/sec. I should be getting nearer to 10. Take the towel off now.

Yet the Scottish Highlands are going to get faster broadband, sooner. They are going to put in 400km of
underwater cables, and across 19 routes to the Islands. Contract just signed. Just wait now.

John
ps. Mind you I might be kidding myself. Search as I might I couldn't find a completion date in the story......hmmm

The magnificent community website for Glencoe Scottish castles in the West Highlands New page in our site about driving on snow and ice Masses of information about the area in our Site map This is about Fort William Appin is beautiful Bed and breakfast and hotels from Oban to Fort William Walks around our cottage Autumn short breaks in Glencoe Ben Nevis walking is a slog, but worth it Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring The highlands of Scotland Find holiday cottages anywhere Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe Hill walks in Glencoe Munroes in Glencoe Port Appin Barcaldine Accommodation in Lochaber Kentallen Ballachulish Onich How to find cottage owners self catering websites

THE ISLE OF TIREE. WINDSURFING AND CAPERCAILLE. BRILLIANT

You MUST listen to this. Capercaille. That Karen Matheson is wonderful. I once sat next to her at Chichester in the theatre restaurant. Captivating. How many times have we seen them Gillian?




They are going to lead the 15 acts in the Tiree Music Festival. "Scotland's Best Small Festival"
July 20/21. Book early it will be another sell-out. tireemusicfestival.co.uk

Wish we were going.
John
ps. You can windsurf and canoe if you want as well.

Sorry, this has got nothing to do with Scotland or Jazz, but we need the links to these pages from a respectable site like this.
Jazz bands in Sussex The sussex Gershwin tribute jazz band Jazz Smugglers NOSTALGIA show in Sussex The leading jazz band in Sussex, Jazz smugglers Sussex jazz workshop every Sunday Jazz Smugglers plays at all the Sussex Festivals Romantic background jazz in Sussex

A BIG WHALE IN OBAN HARBOUR DRAWS EASTER TOURISTS

The Highlands have had wonderful weather this winter. Absolutely brilliant. Such a shame that there have been so many mountain accidents. Now everyone had decided to visit Oban for a day.

The best restaurant in Oban is on the old North Pier. Called Ee-usk for some reason it does very well. Many awards for seafood.

On Saturday the manager, Chris Kennedy, saw a minke whale in the harbour and took this pic. Now tourists are flocking there over east.

It was initially thought that the young sperm whale had become stranded in shallow water but the Coastguard confirmed on Sunday that this was not the case.

Chris Kennedy, told STV News: “The restaurant is full of people whale-spotting with their binoculars over lunch. I thought it was a humpback whale and others thought it was a sperm whale. There are lots of boats circling in the bay trying to get a glimpse of it.”

Mr Kennedy added: “We’ve been here ten years and we’ve never seen a whale in the bay before.”

A spokesman for Stornoway Coastguard said the whale was not stranded and therefore there was no need to launch a rescue operation.

John

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage 20 brilliant walks around our cottage area Easy hill walks in Glencoe Why not walk up Ben Nevis one day? Easier Munroe walks in Glencoe Skiing Glencoe and Nevis range, cottage is midway between the two Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain Weather in the West of Scotland Rock and Ice climbing in Glencoe Cycling and fishing Glencoe Spectacular wild life around our cottage Golf in the Highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe Cruising the islands, using Glencoe as a base Safe, beautiful beaches and bays in Glencoe area Touring the Highlands by car from Glencoe, Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe Winter breaks, Jan Feb March in the cottage Autumn breaks November December in the cottage Our new Appin blog site

Loch Lomond road will be out for 14 weeks from October

(The connection between our cottage in Scotland and jazz is very tenuous and I apologise for the ps).

Pulpit Rock has been a standing joke for years. These lights convert the road around a 1/2 mile stretch of the Loch Lomond road into one way traffic. They were put up 30 years ago, and described then as "Temporary". Yeah, right, temporary. Of course.

At a cost of £9 million the road is to be converted to a viaduct over the edge of the Loch. Add a few £mill to that if public works estimates are run to order. It will be like the viaduct around the top end of Loch Awe by the Cruachan works built in 1976. So this will take off about 4 minutes from the journey from Glasgow to Inverness via Loch Lomond.

But it will make this route much much more accessible for heavy lorries and big vehicles. The road is already one of the ten most dangerous in Scotland, mostly because of stupid overtaking of slow moving vehicles. This is not the most dangerous bit.

Wait a minute. I agree this is a major road with A road connections to Fort William and Inverness. At present most of the major Highlands traffic goes up the more robust, faster A9 through Pitlochry.

When these major roadworks are completed a lot of that traffic - particularly for Skye, will use the Loch Lomond road. That puts pressure on the Moor of Rannoch, Glen Coe and the awful stretch between the Corran ferry and Fort William. Loch Ness side is a disaster. Overtaking mainly is the problem followed by speeding, motor cyclists, white van drivers - a total nightmare.

The road along Loch Lomond will be closed for 14 weeks after October. I suppose it is progress, but I don't like it. It was never a major problem slowing down, they are not going to get rid of all the twists and turns anyway. Don't know.

Progress. Don'tcha love it?

John
PS Sorry about this bit, but  need to get some pages of a jazz website promoted and if I give them links from here, then that will help.

Jazz bands in Sussex The sussex Gershwin tribute jazz band Jazz Smugglers NOSTALGIA show in Sussex The leading jazz band in Sussex, Jazz smugglers Sussex jazz workshop every Sunday Jazz Smugglers plays at all the Sussex Festivals Romantic background jazz in Sussex Small jazz trio for a Sussex party band How to promote your event and gigs

MACDONALD'S HISTORY. GOING BACK 5,000 YEARS?

I had an email in to-day from Canada. This is what Robert said.

MY GRANDMOTHER ASHLEYS MOTHER WAS A WINKLER FROM NEUSTADT ,ONTARIO.  ROBERT G MAC DONALD. B.A.M.D. retired and living in Quebec,canada.I am Quebec rep for Clan Donald of Canada.I saw your picture to day while looking over Glencoe Viking story. I have Vikings disease. Interesting. (Readers need to see the lowest paragraph on our Viking page in our website to which this comment refers. http://www.bayviewkentallen.co.uk/glencoevikings.html)

Hello Robert. That is interesting.

So you have Viking DNA in you.

And you are a part descendant from middle Europe as well. There was a mass of Central Europeans – Polish many of them – who left the Continent in the mid 1800’s to go to either England or the USA. In both places they were free from the Wars in Europe and free from persecution. The US ones settled mostly in St. Louis. Look at the St. Louis telephone books for the pages of Winklers there.

I’ll tell you something about the MacDonald's you probably don’t know. No one knows this because it is a very modern theory put forward by the most renowned archaeologist in the country.

There is a period of pre-history called the Obanian period. This is where they found remains of Mesolithic people in the five caves. They date these remains to the period between Mesolithic and Neolithic, the only remains of this kind of this period in the country. Why? Because the rest of the similar sites around the country have sunk without trace below the rising sea levels. Around this time and later they found goods which were imported, particularly so much later when metal came to be worked.

Cunliffe points out that the trade in goods between Spain, Britanny and the rest of the continent and Scotland would have caused great wonder to the communities seeing these things for the first time. The men who brought in the goods were seamen, they knew about boats, tides, weather, stars, currents, navigation and suchlike. Because of this they would have had great status in the community. They would be very highly respected because of their deeds, and their stories and their knowledge. Leaders. All the coastal communities would have had high status compared to the new farmers inland.

In Scotland, in the West, these people became known as the MacDonald's – almost an independent kingdom – not for nothing much later were they called the Lords of The Isles. No one dominated the waters like the MacDonald's until the Vikings came. 

John

WEATHER WEST COAST
Weather Misconceptions Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
January February Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
March April Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
May June Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Jul August Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
September October Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
November December Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Wind in the mountains and West Coast
What to do about Rain in Scotland
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe