CHATTERBOX www.lochwinnoch.info No 166 October 2007

Community newsletter produced by lochwinnoch publicity committee for lochwinnoch cc

What’s On See back page for RSPB, Castle Semple and Muirshiel Centre activities. • Advice Works - every Tuesday

from 10am—12.30, Lochwinnoch Library. *

• Tai Chi for Beginners - Friday nights, 6.45– 7.45pm at The Room, Lochwinnoch Library.

• Yoga Classes - Wednesday nights, 7.30pm in McKillop Hall. All welcome.

• Kickjitsu for Kids - Monday nights at Parish Church

• Lochwinnoch Art Group Annual Exhibition - on until 20th October- the Library Room *

• Friday 5th October - Prize Bingo Night at the Masonic Club *

• Sat 6th October, Councillor Neil Bibby’s Surgery - from 11.30am McKillop Institute *

• Saturday 6th October, Autumn Fete at Lochwinnoch Bowling Club from 1-4pm

• Sunday 7th October -Lochwinnoch Autumn Farmers Market from 1100 - 1430 hrs, Castle Semple Centre.

• Sunday 7th October - afternoon Dawg Dawdle *

• Saturday 13th October—Billy Connolly Tribute Night at 7.30pm at the Masonic Club *

MATTHEW NEW & SONS ROOFING - ROUGHCASTING - BUILDING MAINTENANCE

Emergency Repairs, Storm Damage Insurance Work, New Roofs, Flat Roofs Roughcasting –UPVC Cladding—Guttering

Tel No 01505 843400

FMB Certificate No 26366

Nuisance Helpline Anti-Social Behaviour

Noise problems Support and Advice

Every day 9am – 10pm Tel: 0800 169 1283

ASIST Anti-Social Investigation

Team Office 8:45am – 4:45pm

Ask for David McLaren or Lisa Simpson

• Saturday 13th October - Sportsman’s Dinner at Lochwinnoch Golf Club - details from the Golf Club.

• Thursday 18th October - Historical Society evening meet-ing in Parish Church hall. *

• Sat 20th October, Councillor Arthur’s Surgery from 11.30 am at the McKillop Institute *

• Saturday 20th October - Silent Auction - 10am to 3pm in the Parish Church. *

• Saturday 20th October - Musical Allsorts from 8pm at Lochwinnoch Bowling Club. Saturday 27th October - Krafty Kids afternoon at Space Rooms, McKillop building.

• Saturday 27th October - Fall Ball Ceilidh from 8.15pm at McKillop Institute

• Sunday 28th October—TCT Champagne Tea and Fasion Show at 3pm at Mar Hall Hotel, Erskine.

• Monday 29th October—Community Council AGM, 7.3opm McKillop Lesser Hall. *

• Wednesday 31st October Lochwinnoch RNLI Guild Lunch*

• Friday 9th November - Robert’s Farewell. Open Evening and buffet at the Bowling Club, from 7pm on-wards. All welcome. *

* for more details on these events, see inside this issue of Chatterbox.

ANOTHER HALF-MARATHON BY “ OOR RONNIE “

Among the thousands of runners in the recent Great Scottish Run was “oor ain “ Ronnie Brown who once again belied his 65 years to finish in a terrifically fast time. As in his previous thirty-two half-marathon or 10 kilometre runs, Ronnie made great efforts to secure local spon-sorship and then augment this by col-lecting donations from spectators en route in a bucket. The additional £72 must have felt pretty heavy by the last mile or so ! The total amount raised was £476 and this was donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Particular thanks are due to his regular local sponsors, the Staff and Patrons of the Corner Bar and the Doctors and Staff of the local surgery. Ronnie is one of the characters of the village and his efforts on behalf of a range of charities over the years has been done without fuss or fanfare.

Time to change that, Ronnie.

YOU ARE A REAL LOCHENYOCHIAN STAR

Councillor Arthur’s Report

It’s very satisfying to see that the long awaited restoration work has finally started on Auld Simon. Here’s hoping that it will preserve this very important village landmark, against all the elements, for many years to come. I have made a request to Environmental Services to lop back the two holly trees to allow Auld Simon to be more visible. It is very pleasing to see the old mu-seum room, which is part of the li-brary building, opening its doors widely to our community and taking its rightful place on the front line. As well as hosting the Lochwinnoch Art Group’s fantastic exhibition, it also played an important part in celebrat-ing the MacDowall School Build-ing’s 150th birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to both and must say that we are very fortunate indeed to have such dedicated library staff, in Margaret, Dorothy, Margaret and Janet, who always go that extra mile to organise so many events for our enjoyment. For just over 6 weeks, four houses at the bottom of the Johnshill had dirty water flowing through their taps but I’m delighted to say that after many phone calls on their behalf, their wa-ter is now ‘crystal clear’ and, to cap it all, Scottish Water have been forthcoming with some compensa-tion to the suffering residents.

Lochwinnoch R N L I Guild

The Annual General Meeting of the Lochwinnoch RNLI Guild was held on 18 September and the calendar for the year was decided.

The President reported that the members of the Guild have been greatly saddened this session with the passing of Mary Campbell and Helen Waterstone. Both these ladies have been loyal and committed sup-porters of the Guild and over many years have given both time, effort and considerable funds to the char-ity. Mary was also very generous with the use of the Bowfield Country Club facilities and many enjoyable evenings were spent there raising funds for the RNLI. Helen Water-stone was not only an exceptional supporter of our charity but she was a wonderful character . Her sense of humour as well as her youthful atti-tude to life meant we were guaran-teed fun when she was around.Given the spirit of the lady in her 80s, she was filling bags at Asda in Decem-ber 2006 to raise funds for the RNLI. Both ladies were very special to all of us and we shall sorely miss them.

From a variety of events last session, the Guild raised approx. £3,000 for the charity. The RNLI lunches raise considerable funds and these occa-sions provide an opportunity for a good chat, the catering is always first class and the money is going to a very worthwhile cause. However we need more support for these lunches so anyone who wishes to find out what the Guild does, is very welcome to join us over the session. The lunch costs £8 and consists of a main course, glass of wine and cof-fee. If you are interested in joining us please telephone 842274. Our first lunch is on 31 October at 12.30. The Guild also organise theatre trips and this session we shall be going to the James Gilmour Theatre on 13 December to see the Christmas Re-view by the very talented pupils of the national Musical Theatre Course from The Dance School of Scotland. Details will be advertised nearer the time.

Thanks to Renfrewshire Council’s Roads Department for erecting the ‘20’s Plenty’ signs in Lochhead Avenue to remind drivers that 20 mph really is plenty when entering this area. The kitchen in the McKillop Hall is now looking a lot better since the fitting of the new units and the new windows in the cloakroom, Lesser Hall and Space rooms certainly make a big difference. Next is the repainting of the ceiling in the main hall and the painting of the entrance hall. At last the new part for the heating system should be here and fitted by the middle of October. As well as having walkabouts with the Council’s Early Warning Indica-tor Team last week, I’ve also had Jim McManus and Peter Holman from Environmental Services visit the village where I pointed out to them several areas that require main-tenance. We visited the cemetery where they witnessed the overgrown rhododendron bushes and brambles that are encroaching on several headstones. These areas are planned to be cut back between the end of the growing season and the beginning of next year. Also viewed were the boundary walls, which are falling down. The current estimate for resto-ration of these is around £20,000. My Surgery is on the third Saturday of each month at 11:30am in the McKillop Hall but there is no need to wait for a Surgery if you require my help, you can contact me on 843507 and we can agree a time when we can meet.

Councillor David Arthur

86 Main Street, Kilbirnie, KA25 7AA Tel/Fax: 01505 682125

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YOUR COMMUNITY

COUNCIL NEEDS YOU!

As you will see elsewhere in this edition, the AGM of the Community Council will be held on Monday 29 October 2007 in the McKillop Hall. This is the meeting when we elect our office bearers for the coming year and which, in theory, could lead to competition for the posts. The fact that the ground is prepared before the event is to help with the smooth running on the night and hopefully to make sure that there are no sur-prises at the meeting. However, that is just for the office bearers and we do have vacancies on the Commu-nity Council for additional members. It is not an onerous task (we meet on the first Tuesday of each month) and the rewards of helping to guide and to safeguard the future of the com-munity are well worthwhile, plus the fact that on most items you get to know what is happening before your friends and neighbours do! The only qualification you need is enthusiasm. So instead of being 'anonymous' and posting on the village website, come and have your say as a Community Councillor. To find out more why not phone me on 01505 844865 or drop me an e-mail to dandsfowles@btinternet.com

David Fowles Chairperson

Cucina Minucci at The Junction Licensed Caffè

2 – 4 High Street, Lochwinnoch, PA12 4DA Tel: (01505) 842 225

!!! Live Jazz Night !!! Thursday 25th October - Tickets £15.00 / person

(including a welcome drink, Antipasti & Cheeses.)

Ivan and Joanna Minucci and the Team Mon to Sat 9am to 5pm & Sundays 10am to 4pm

www.cucinaminucci.co.uk

History of Harvey Square

The Community Council is cur-rently carrying out research into the history of Harvey Square and would be interested to hear from anyone who can add information to this research.

This could take many forms. For instance, we would like to hear the memories of older members of the community. How has the Square been used? What was it like before the war memorial was built? Have the boundaries and road layout changed over the years?

We would be interested to hear of the origins of the Square. In her book, “The Parish of Lochwinnoch”, Elizabeth Anderson recounts that Harvey Square was planned by William MacDowall but completed by Colonel John Harvey after he bought the Semple Estate in 1812 and the land of the Square gifted to the village. Do you have any evidence to confirm this account, or do you have an alternative his-tory of the origins of the square? We would like to collect any newspaper articles, photographs, other written material or per-sonal accounts. To contribute, please contact -

Graeme Brown, 23 Station Rise, phone 842768, email graeme@lochwinnoch.info

COMMUNITY COUNCIL NEWS

The Community Council met on Tuesday 2nd October. Items dis-cussed included the following: The police reported that, of the 8 crimes recorded in the month of September, 6 of these had been detected. Crimes included 2 mis-use of drugs, 1 housebreaking, 2 drinking alcohol in public, 2 breach of the peace, 1 assault. Again, the figures reflect a down-ward trend on previous years. A number of other matters will be addressed at the next Community Partnership meeting, which will be held on Monday 8th October. Those attending tonight’s meet-ing were treated to a very inter-esting presentation and slide-show by Girls Brigade, 1st Loch-winnoch Company. The girls travelled to Romania with the organisation, Children for Christ, and they described their experi-ences and work with around 48 children at the camp in Romania. It was reported that Lochwin-noch Community Buyout Group are continuing to work on appli-cations to the Big Lottery fund and it is hoped that a meeting may be possible with solicitors acting for Struthers, to look at the future of this site.

Councillor Arthur was in atten-dance at tonight’s meeting and gave feedback on a number of current issues. His report is shown opposite.

A number of planning issues are still ongoing and will be covered at a future point.

The Community Council AGM will be held on Monday 29th Oc-tober at the McKillop Institute at 7.3opm, to which members of the public are invited.

The next Community Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 6th November at the Guild Room. All welcome.

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DEBBIE WINTERS is a Renfrewshire na-tive but with strong Orkney connections. This beautiful poem takes us to those wonderful islands famous for their Neo-lithic monuments, now World Heritage Sites.

Who Were You Who were you that built the high walls of the houses at Skaill the stones so neatly laid one upon another inside each one great slabs of flat rock fashioned to your taste into beds and dressers store for shell fish and the hearth when wild winds flung their rage upon the shore at Skaill were you snug inside your biggin laughing and singing while you feasted on meat from the ebb and heather ale were you there at Maeshowe when the mid-winter sun reached down to cast his last glow on the souls of our ancestors buried there in mid-summer did you dance or did you pray

around Brodgar in the simmer dim did you see as I have seen the lark rise up from the precise centre of the Ring trilling its song to the far reaches of its heaven did you love the wide sweep of the low bird-haunted hills the plaintive cry of the white maa the pleep pleep pleep of the redshanks in the still evening air have you felt that the loch was made of gossamer silver and pale pink orange and soft mauve mesmerising in its wide unbroken gleam did you ever feel you dared not move that time had stopped and held you captive in the stillness of a summer night did this long-lived-in land claim you as its own keep you in its thrall your whole life long as it has done to me did you surrender willingly without demur as I have done? Then you and I are one. The sequence of poems in the next column is by GINNY DAVIS, a clari-netist who has played with leading Scottish orchestras. EMBERS was written in memory of her parents.

Embers I remember that day She was holding my hand I clutched her tightly By high iron gates In thick scratchy socks My small legs itching Hard new shoes as heavy as bricks. She squeezed my hand gently And looked into my eyes ‘See you at four’. II A thrush sang in the sun From a branch on a tree As I walked to the church On my proud father’s arm. In his grey borrowed suit He looked so out of place But my mother was proud You could see by her face. The bells rang in time To my fast beating heart But I knew it was true That this was their day. III They look so old Huddled by the fire Firewood at the ready Warm flames flickering. Happy lines bequeath a smile But tell of sadness Memories glow in embers The embers are dying. IV Frail and vulnerable They cling to one another A climbing hydrangea With hands entwined Reaching for the sky. A glance of reassurance Silent understanding They stare back into the ashes. Stories still to be told Things to say but Time is running out.

THE WRITERS MEET

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Sky at Night over

Lochwinnoch

October/November In the west, as the light fades, the eye is drawn to the orange star Arcturus. It is the third brightest star in the heavens, Sirius being the brightest and rising just be-fore dawn. Arcturus is found at the bot-tom of a kite shape constel-lation – BOOTES. In Greek mythology, Bootes was an agricultural demi-god who invented the wagon and plough. His wagon became the ‘Wain’, which is the con-stellation Ursa Major, com-monly referred to as The Plough. Bootes is literally "the ploughman".

Arcturus is 36 light years dis-tant and shines at Magnitude -0.05 [minus values are brighter, plus values dim-mer]. It is 110 times more luminous than our Sun. Jupiter is still visible in the west for a short time setting about 8pm. Mid October 8pm – the great square of the constel-lation Pegasus fills the sky above the Loch.

Although we have some ‘light pollution’ around Lochwin-noch, it is still possible on a good night to see, unaided, the Andromeda Galaxy-M31 which appears as a fuzzy white ball. Focus on the top left star Alpheratz [actually in Andro-meda] of the Square of Pegasus. In the top left of your periph-eral vision you should see the galaxy. You may see it better if you do not look di-rectly at it. Venus is brilliant in the morning despite being only a crescent phase. It will con-tinue to brighten and is the most visible daylight planet!! Meteors - Orionids: Peak expected on 22nd October but only if you can observe late in the night after the moon has set (about 2am on 22nd). There is a broad maximum occurring between October 20th and October 24th and sometimes surprises such as unusually high rates. The radiant is on the border of Gemini and Orion rising around 11pm over the Loch. For this, and more updates, visit Lochwinnoch Village Forum - www.lochwinnoch.info

LOCAL BUSINESS SUPPORT FOR

LOCHWINNOCH CHRISTMAS

LIGHTS Well, it's that time of year – almost - and LMEG are plan-ning Christmas Lights in the village once again. We started last year with the trees at The Cross and this year we plan to light up the trees at Harvey Square, Auld Simon, Our Lady of Fatima and The Cross - it only gets better ! Help from local businesses, organisations and groups (or even individuals) would be gratefully received. Any dona-tion – large or small – would be much appreciated. Contri-butions will be used towards the costs of the lights and the installation of electrical supply, so we can reproduce the dis-play in the village each Christ-mas.

If you’d like to make a dona-tion, Margaret Sweenie at the Library has kindly agreed to collect cheques, which can be made payable to Lochwinnoch Millennium Events Group. For further information, con-tact Carol Gemmell on Tel: 843 858 - THANK YOU.

Lochwinnoch

Millenium Events

AIRCRAFT DOWN!

In last month’s Chatterbox we covered the crash of a Vickers Viking airliner on a hill near Largs in 1948. We next cover some of the other aviation wrecks which lie upon the Muirshiel hills in a three-part series.

Part One

Over the years approximately 25 military and civil aircraft have crashed within or near to the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. Some of the military aircraft which fell foul of the local hills were training aircraft operating from Abbotsinch, the airfield which is now Glasgow Airport. Others involved military planes being ferried from one location to another. Of the civil aircraft which have crashed in the area, a number were trying to land at the old Renfrew airfield.

The causes behind many of these accidents are often similar. Rather than being due to one sin-gular mistake, quite often the accidents occurred due to a cul-mination of several factors or errors. Poor weather conditions and navigational mistakes usu-ally feature as factors in the crashes. We should also remem-ber that the navigational equip-ment on board was more basic than modern systems, as were the aircraft themselves. There are also geographical fac-tors to consider. The 108 square miles of Muirshiel Park features peaks which rise up to 1713 feet.

Given the relative proximity of these hills to the old Renfrew and Abbotsinch airfields, it is not sur-prising that a number of acci-dents have taken place in these hills over the years. Each accident holds it own tale. It may be a tragic tale, when an airman’s luck deserted him. Or, in the case of several, the tale of how shocked, bewildered and lost survivors battled the ele-ments and struggled off the boggy moors to safety. But in many cases, the difference be-tween life and death was very slight. If only the pilot had flown a few feet higher, or flown slightly farther in one direction, then they would have made it back to base. Conversely, the same holds true for those who were dealt a luckier hand by fate. In the case of the 1948 Viking crash, had the pilots waited a few seconds longer before levelling the wings, the outcome would certainly have been very differ-ent. Rather than a tale of a dra-matic lucky escape, our intended book Viking Down! would be the story of a night of tragedy when twenty perished upon the slopes of Irish Law. Such is the dividing line between survival and death.

There are seven aviation archaeology sites within the Muirshiel Park in which wreck-age is still visible on the surface. A number of walkers enjoying a wee stroll on the Muirshiel hills have stumbled across aircraft wreckage, while many enthusi-asts have purposely set out to visit these sites. The most popular walk to find aviation crash remains in the Muirshiel hills is arguably the Viking/Devon trek. Only a mile apart, both the Viking and Devon wreck sites include significant wreckage. The wing sections, tail cone, both engines and their na-celles, and other parts of the Vi-king still remain on the hillside today. They are an eerie reminder of the drama that unfolded that night and in the aftermath. James Towill & Dougie Martindale Please visit our website at http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/VikingCrash1948/

Fairytale of Lochwinnoch

Once upon a time, there was a 3-year old boy. At play-group one day, he was given 3 seeds. He brought them home and his mum helped him plant them in the garden. He watered them faithfully and watched them grow, wondering if they would grow into beanstalks. They grew and grew until they were nearly 13 feet high, then opened up into lovely sun-flowers. He was very proud of them.

On waking up one Sunday morning, he went out into the garden to discover some MINDLESS MORONS had ripped the heads off two of his flowers. He was heart-broken. Why did the bad boys do that he asked? Not much of an ending to a fairytale but, unfortunately, this is real life in Lochwin-noch. Hope whoever is re-sponsible for this act of mindless vandalism is proud of their self. (name and address supplied - Ed)

Now and Then

Make Christmas hassle free by shopping locally and early.

New this month: A gift for the home? Beautiful new glass; design led enamel; hand forged ironwork by Belltrees of Kil-birnie; thistle and Christmas linens and Scots language inspired stuff Something personal? A fresh delivery of Italian leather handbags and purses; copper, glass, silver, gem-stone, costume and girls’ jewellery; Arran Aromatics and Caurnie soap - vegan and organic soap from Scotland’s oldest producer. Keeping in touch? Boxed, individual and Lochwinnoch Christmas cards. We haven’t forgotten the chaps and youngsters either. That’s just a fraction - you won’t believe what we have squeezed in. But if you can’t decide, we also do gift vouchers!

Open 7 days 9-5 Mon-Sat and 12 noon - 4pm on Sundays. 8 Church Street, Lochwinnoch Tel: 01505 843311

150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF

THE ”WEE SCHOOL“

Graphic by kind permission of artist Christine Brown

By one of those extraordinary co-incidences, exactly 150 people attended the 150th anniversary celebration of the opening in 1857 of the MacDowall School on 13 September. The staff of the Community Library, which is now housed in the building affectionately known as the “wee school “, presented an excellent display of memorabilia un-covered from their extensive research into this aspect of village history. Included in the display were classroom items such as writing slates, certificates awarded to pupils, the admissions regis-ter and, of course, the infamous “strap“. This latter item was of particular interest to the pupils from our local primary school who visited the exhibition !! To give context to the role the school had in village life, the Library team in-terspersed a slide show presentation of old photographs with comments from former pupils. Among these was 96 year old Annie MacDonald who was guest of honour along with Councillors David Arthur and Neil Bibby. Annie’s recol-lections of village and school life now form part of a growing archive held in the Library. For older residents, Annie was one of the O’Neill family which lived in the cottages at Lochside Station. Against the backdrop of the permanent display of photographs and historical notes in the Library, this small exhibi-tion provided a valuable and most enjoy-able look at the past. For many older residents it provided happy recollections and, for more recent arrivals, a glimpse of very different times in Lochwinnoch. The hospitality extended to visitors was, as always, excellent with tea, coffee and home baking of the highest quality. Special thanks and congratulations are due to Margaret Sweenie and her team for their efforts to keep local history alive.

News from Councillor Neil Bibby

It is an honour to have been elected as one of the Council-lors for Johnstone North, Kilbar-chan and Lochwinnoch in the May election. It is my intention to work tirelessly for all the people of this new ward and I hope I can be of assistance to you in the months and years ahead. I have spent my time since the election getting to know the issues that are of most impor-tance to local people. Over the summer I was suppor-tive of and worked with the Lochwinnoch Community Buy-Out Group during the successful village ballot. Despite the re-cent bad news regarding the sale of the site I want to reas-sure people in Lochwinnoch that this project continues to have my full support. In terms of more specific issues I was pleased that after raising the issue of sub-standard drink-ing water in the McConnell Road area of the village with

Scottish Water that this has been rectified to the satisfac-tion of those involved. I was pleased to recently visit the MacDowall School Building 150th Anniversary at Lochwin-noch Library. The wide variety of exhibition items and photo-graphs show the great history of the village and how it has grown over the years. Credit must go to the Library Staff and all other contributors who made the event possible. Further to that, I recently took part in the Council’s Early Warn-ing Indicator Visit of Lochwin-noch. This identified a number of roads and housing problems, which the Council needs to re-pair. If there is anything you feel that should be included in this report then please don’t hesitate to contact me. I hold regular advice surgeries for Lochwinnoch residents on the 1st Saturday of the month at 9am in the McKillop Institute but I am of course available any other time on 01505 704 874. Councillor Neil Bibby

Chatterbox 1: October 2007

“The sun shines on the righteous.” So we are often told. However, the correct quote from Matthew chapter 5, verse 45 reads,

“God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” Having attended 2 Gala Days in Lochwinnoch I know first hand your luck with the weather. So it was with a slightly heavy heart that I looked out on rain on 9th September. This was the day we had chosen to begin our bi-centenary celebrations of the opening of the Parish Church in Church Street. We re-enacted the parade which took place 200 years ago when the foundation stone of our Kirk was laid, by processing from Auld Simon to our present building, in the company of the Houston BB & GB Pipe Band. As I left the Church the rain was still fal-ling, yet when we left Auld Simon the rain had stopped – the sun was shining.

Thank you to everyone who helped us in our celebrations by encourag-ing us on the day. You have no idea how much we appreciate your sup-port. I only hope the pipes didn’t disturb your peace too much!

Looking out from my study window the leaves are beginning to turn the most glorious shades of gold and brown – Autumn is well on its way and so in the Church our thoughts turn to thanksgiving; in particular Harvest Thanksgiving. This year the Parish Church and Calder UFC will again celebrate at a joint service in Calder Church at 11.00am on Sun-day 28th October.

Growing up on the south side of Glasgow, Harvest was very differ-ent, as we were somewhat removed from the source of our food. While, of course, we were grateful for all our blessings, harvest wasn’t neces-sarily linked to the ingathering of the crops. Indeed in suburban churches, Harvest Thanksgiving may be cele-brated before the harvest is even gathered!

Living in a village, surrounded by working farms, harvest is more poignant. This is the first harvest I will celebrate in Lochwinnoch, how-ever, this year I am asking, “Is there a harvest worth celebrating?”

As I write, our farmers are strug-gling to come to terms with the arri-val of blue tongue disease in Britain and movement restrictions intro-duced after the recent outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease. Our sheep farmers in particular have been hit hard by the timing of these restric-tions, missing markets at which sheep would be sold on for further feeding. This crisis is not just an economical one, it concerns the wel-fare of the animals. Farmers have also struggled with a wet summer and are fighting an uphill battle with the supermarkets to be paid a fair price for milk in particular and dairy produce in general. Again I ask, “Is there a harvest worth celebrating?”

The answer is of course a resound-ing, “Yes!” for even as our farmers struggle, there is still a harvest, unlike many other countries in the world. We must also remember that Harvest is not just a festival of the countryside, but a time when we give thanks for all our blessings. One of my favourite Harvest hymns begins, “Praise God for the harvest of orchard and field,”. Each verse takes a different theme and we praise God for the harvest that comes from afar; for the harvest that’s quarried and mined; the harvest of science and skill.

In the final verse we - “Praise God for the harvest

of mercy and love for leaders and peoples who struggle and serve

with patience and kindness, that all may be led

to freedom and justice, and all may be fed.”

Brian Wren © 1974, 1996 Hope Publishing Coy

This is the essence of the Christian festival of Harvest Thanksgiving and it is an attitude most people in our village would support, whether they attend Church or not. We are en-couraged to ensure all people are fed, not just with food for their bod-ies, but also food for their souls, their hearts and their minds.

Of course we must support people abroad who are struggling to make ends meet and ensure producers are given a fair price for their produce. Yet surely that principle should ap-ply at home too? This hymn also reminds us we must work to make sure that all people are treated with patience, kindness and all people given the opportunity to live in free-dom, with justice and with peace. That is a huge undertaking, yet let us never forget the Chinese proverb, “The longest journey begins with the first step.” Another of my favourite hymns has the lines,

“The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain

into a world of love, of justice and of peace. The task is mine to do,

to set it really free.” Jorge Maldonado (Public Domain)

We can all make a difference to the world around us, we can all make a difference to the lives of people across the world. Each time we shop, our decisions affect other people – do our decisions bring freedom and justice or oppression and inequality? As the Bible reminds us when we treat people with dignity and respect we are honouring Christ. In the im-age of the Last Judgement in Mat-thew’s Gospel (chapter 25 verses 31 – 46), we are not asked whether we attended Church or not, we are not even asked if we kept each of the 10 Commandments. Rather we are judged on whether or not we fed the hungry; gave the thirsty something to drink; welcomed the stranger; clothed the naked; cared for those who are sick; visited people in prison.’As Jesus himself said, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ May God bless us all with a harvest of mercy and love, in Lochwinnoch, in Scotland and all around our world.

Yours,

Reverend Christine Murdoch

Those in 2nd Year were: Jennifer Aitchison, Jade Cook, Rhubekka Cunningham and Kirsten Holmes. Those in 3rd Year were:

Marcus Guy - English (1st), Maths (1st), Modern Studies (1st), Chemistry (2nd), Art (2nd). Ewan Jarvis - Maths (Merit) Caitlin Patterson - Biology (1st) The following 2nd Year pupils gained Silver Awards in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust UK Junior Mathematics Challenge - Jennifer Aitchison, Jade Cook, Kirsten Holmes and Ami Oliver. Some Sports achievers now - Mala Stewart won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the High Jump, 100 metres and 200 me-tres respectively in the Renfrew-shire Sports event. Katie Waddell won a Silver medal in the High Jump. Kirsten Holmes won a Bronze medal in the 400 metres event. Kirsty Porteous won a Silver Medal in the 800 metres and a Bronze medal in the 200 metres races. Alison Ford won a Bronze medal in the 400 metres event. (Next month, we will bring you more news on recent rowing and sculls achievements by our young local people - too much to fit in this month - Ed.)

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC

The Scottish Philharmonic Orches-tra is a new orchestra that has its roots in Lochwinnoch. The or-chestral management team are scattered here and there around the village. Last month the orchestra opened a series of concerts in Oran Mor at the top of Byres Road. The con-certs are on Monday nights at 6:00pm. As well as refreshing the mind with some fabulous music you can also refresh the body with a free cocktail and a canapé. The season runs until November 19 so why don’t you wind down one of these Mondays, escape from the traffic, the balttalions of shoppers, screaming weans and treat yourself to a concert a cock-tail and a canapé. Forthcoming concerts feature El-gar (October 8), Vaughn-Williams (October 15), Mozart (October 22) Holst (October 29) and Handel (November 5).

SILENT AUCTION

Saturday 20th October ‘07 10am to 3pm at

Lochwinnoch Church Halls

Tea & coffee will be served Admission £1

Help us repeat the success of the last auction by looking out any quality items, i.e. furniture, pic-tures, bric-a-brac, jewellery - in fact, anything - to donate to the auction. The hall will be open from Mon-day 15th to Friday 19th October to receive donations. Alterna-tively, for larger items, contact Norma Bell (Tel: 01505 842558) or any Fundraising Committee members to arrange pick-up. We also need helpers on the day or during the week. Please con-tact us if you can help with this project.

Lochwinnoch

Historical Society As the new season started on Thursday 20th September, we welcomed Robert Ferguson of Dalgarven Mill, who gave an amusing talk on the colourful, eventful history of its restora-tion. An evening visit to the mill is proposed for the near future.

Our next meeting is on Thurs-day 18th October. We look forward to a welcome return visit from Joy Blair, who will give a powerpoint presenta-tion on the history of light-houses and keepers. Her own grandfather was one such keeper.

Why not come along and join us. An evening visit, includ-ing tea/coffee and biscuits costs £2. If you wish to be-come a member, the cost is £8 for the season of 7 meet-ings, all with a guest speaker. For more details, contact Gordon Nicholl on 842632.

NEWS FROM JOHNSTONE HIGH

Before the schools broke up for the summer, Lochwinnoch pupils were achieving awards for effort and attainment.

Those in 1st Year were:

Gillian Brown, Finn Campbell, Lucy Campbell, Emma McDon-

LOCHWINNOCH ART GROUP

Tuesday, 25th September saw the start of a new era for Lochwinnoch Art Group. Their exhibition preview opened in The Library Room. The Library Room, which was once the Community Museum, has taken on a fresh new look and one that is most welcome. There was a good turnout on the evening. The Art Group has been well supported by the vil-lagers over the many years and has been a much looked for-ward to event. The sixty six paintings exhib-ited are varied in style and subject. Something to please everyone. Ten were sold on the opening night, much to the de-light of the members of the Group. There is plenty of time for everyone to see this exhibition as it runs until Saturday 20th October. The opening times of the Library are:- Mon,Wed, Fri - 2-5pm & 6-8pm Tuesday & Saturday 10am - 1pm and 2.pm-5pm Closed all day Thursday.

LET’S TRY TO SAVE OUR REGIONAL

PARK

An e-petition has been lodged on the Scottish Parliament website stating the following – "Petition on behalf of the Save Your Regional Parks campaign, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to provide greater protection for the National and Re-gional Parks of Scotland from industrialisation, in-cluding wind farms and their associated quarries, roads, cable trenches and sub-stations." If we all make an effort, this could be the final battle in the war so your co-operation with this is vital. The Scottish Parliament has a Petition Committee chaired by Frank McCaveety, MSP. Mem-bers of the public can petition the Parliament on issues which are important to them and the Petition Committee has to con-sider each one. If there is enough support for the petition either by e mail or written signa-tures, then Mr McCaveety has to invite the petitioner or organisa-tion to the meeting to debate the issue. If we get sufficient sup-port, then it will be members of LWFAG who will appear at the meeting and …….. if we convince the Petition’s Committee that our cause is an important one, then the issue will be addressed by Parliament. If this is successful then either a policy or a ministerial statement could be made which states that national and regional parks will not be used as sites for wind farm development. This would save a huge number of people a whole load of work and Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park would be saved.

If you care about the future of Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, please act at once and put you name to this petition. Please remember there are more than 280 wind turbines at various stages of planning destined for Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. The link can be accessed either on the website of - saveyourregionalpark.com OR direct to - http://epetitions.scottish.parliament. uk/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=180 All that is required is that you fill out your name and address. This petition needs thousands of signa-tures for the Members of Parlia-ment to realise that it is a national issue which requires their atten-tion. Once you have signed up, please e mail all your friends, relatives, colleagues and urge them to do the same. Remember that e mails from folks in other countries re-flect the opinion of tourists, which is very important. This is probably the most signifi-cant step taken by the Save Your Regional park campaign and it needs your support. Act now and who knows ...... if the MSPs are on the ball, wind farms in Parks should not happen and future generations will thank us for look-ing after one of Scotland‘s pre-cious assets. A paper version will be available very soon so that we can also gather written signatures from those who are unable to access the website. Thank you for your continuing support. Ladymoor Wind Factory Action Group www.saveyourregionalpark.com

Christmas with a Conscience

Saturday 10th November

from 10.00 till 1.00pm

in Lochwinnoch Parish Church

Christmas with a Conscience has been very successful the last two years it was held in Bridge of Weir. This year it will be held in Kil-macolm and Lochwinnoch. ALL monies made at the event go, with no profit to the stall-holder, to the organisation represented. A huge array of beautiful cards and crafts from around the world are available. • African and Peruvian

goods help impoverished villages

• Philippine jewellery is un-usual and interesting

• Fair Trade and Save the Children stalls are well stocked

• Olive Tree goods from "The Holy Land" are stunning (ceramics from Jerusalem, olive wood from Bethlehem with embroidery from sur-rounding villages and glass from Hebron)

Come and Browse and Christ-mas shop, AND benefit others directly. Entrance with tea/coffee and shortbread is £1. If anyone would like to dis-play/sell items for a similar cause please contact Carol Whyte on Tel: 01505 843289

LOCHWINNOCH

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY

GARDEN This growing season has been very successful despite the poor summer weather. We now have a few more regulars, including Gordon Walkinshaw, who has worked hard at weeding, clear-ing and planting new areas and Tom Muir, a successful vegeta-ble grower. We will gain much knowledge on the subject by having Tom with us. We now have a Mantis tiller, which will make light work of soil cultivation. This lets us dig to a depth of 10 inches and cre-ates a fine tilth for seed sowing and planting. This tiller is available for hire at a cost of £15 per day or £50 per week. It can also be hired, with operator, at £20 per hour, with a reasonable sized garden taking about 3 hours. (No fuel surcharge or VAT.) Why not join in and support your garden? Even a couple of hours a week - every little helps. Let’s give Lochwinnoch a gar-den to be proud of - as well as being a visitor attraction. Call Gordon Nicholl on Tel: 01505 842632 for information about the garden or about hir-ing the tiller.

BILLY CONNOLLY TRIBUTE NIGHT

Saturday 13th October ‘07 7.30pm at the Masonic Club

PRIZE BINGO

NIGHTS

Friday 5th October Friday 9th November

Friday 23rd November* & Friday 7th December

7.30pm at the Masonic Club

* Proceeds raised on 23 November will go to Garpel House.

For tickets and more information,

contact Billy Davey on Tel: 01505 843359

DAWG DAWDLE

Sunday 7th October Leaving the Glendale Arms,

Glengarnock at 2pm

Last year’s sponsored dog walk raised £1900. Please join us for the second Dawg Dawdle and help support Hessilhead and St Vincents Hospice.

This year’s walk is from Glengar-nock to Lochwinnoch, following the cyclepath route. Scotrail will provide free travel to Dawg Daw-dlers on the 1 o’clock train from Lochwinnoch.

ROBERT THE BAKER Giving up but not giving in! Robert Wilson of The Garthland Bak-ery was celebrating his 69th birthday with tea and scones on the day I called round. It was a very long chat and the scones were delicious. Read on …. In my day, when you left school at Quarriers, you stayed on to become a kitchen boy for 6 months. This in-volved getting up at 5 in the morning to light the coal range, make the por-ridge for 22 other boys and then start thinking about dinner and tea. I was taught to bake and make scones dur-ing this time and developed an instinct for baking. Had I not taken to baking, then I would probably have become a farmer or a gardener.

As a boy, at 15, I left Quarriers to serve my time as a baker in Glasgow. Up to then, all I had was a halfpenny of money on a Sunday for the church collection. My first job was at James Craig’s in St George’s Road, Glas-gow, which was taken over 6 months later by the then famous City Bakers in Clarendon Street, Glasgow. I fin-ished serving my time at the age of 21 and moved to Galbraiths in Craigton Road, Govan, where I was put in charge of 70 people.

I then did 2 years’ National Service and went to Aldershot and on to Ye-ovil, where I passed my driving test. From here, I was posted to Kenya then on to Bahrain, Sharjah and also to Ku-wait. While in Kenya, I drove for the 24th Infantry Brigade Commander. The bonus here was that because I drove for the Brigade Commander, I didn’t have to wait for my meals like the other soldiers and I ate in the kitchen of the Officers’ Mess!

Following National Service, I returned to the bakers in Craigston Road where Galbraiths had been taken over by Lyons of London. Later, I moved on to United Biscuits in Tollcross Road as a Night Shift Production Manager for some 300 employees. Having had enough of mass production, I joined family bakers, John McMillan and Son in Paisley. After 5 years, the time had come to set up in business on my own account in Renfrew.

At this time, I had a baker who did night shift and one day I arrived to find the bakery door wide open, the steam press was dried out and the element was red hot and nothing was made! Later, these premises got too small to cope with our two shops in Renfrew and Paisley) so we moved to premises in Nitshill in Glasgow and what a wonderful time we had there. The shop and bakery had a flat roof and there was an opening from the roof into the front shop. One night, the night shift workers felt a draught and discovered two pairs of legs dangling through the opening - the sight of the bakers’ rolling pins scared them off. On another night, the night shift baker felt a draught coming from the shop area, only to find two lads making off into the night with the micro-wave oven. In between times, we did manage to do some baking!

By around 1987, there were 12 shops in Johnstone, Busby, Renfrew, Nitshill and other locations in Pais-ley, including some I had taken over when my former employer had gone bust. One morning, the van driver was loading the van and said there was no hot plate board (which was needed for making scones, etc) at the Neilston Road shop. I insisted that it must be there, the girl in the shop insisted that it wasn’t so we quickly picked up goods from the other shop to make up the delivery. The van was only away 2 minutes when a couple of big policemen chapped at the door, produced a board and asked if it was mine; they had just stopped some lads who had been walking up the road with it.

In 1990, we heard that The Garth-land Bakery in Lochwinnoch had come onto the market. At that time, the premises needed a bit of atten-tion but we felt that, given time, we could make it into a shop. We opened for business and shop num-ber 13 came into being, increasing the number of staff in the shops to 34 people. We soon learned that the people of Lochwinnoch were very friendly and appreciated our efforts and we, in turn, appreciated their comments, which helped us to im-prove our bakery over the years.

The people of Lochwinnoch have also been very generous and have given their unstinting support in all of our fundraising activities. During our time here, we have done a num-ber of window displays, including one for Christian Aid when we made a cake in the shape of a globe of the world. I was very impressed when 3 schoolboys stuck their heads through the door and said “Robert, you’ve put Ireland in the wrong place on the globe”! That particular window dis-play was special as it was made to commemorate Christian Aid’s 50th anniversary. One Saturday morning, we asked the people of Lochwin-noch to be generous and see if we could raise £50 that morning. It is thanks to this generosity of spirit that we did just that. We also did win-dow displays to mark 60 years of charitable work to help Arthritis suf-ferers, where a cake was cut up and pieces handed out in exchange for donations to the charity. £60 was raised this way. Other window dis-plays marked different events that had occurred in particular years. Local people had to guess the year by looking for clues in the window display – sometimes there would be two displays for the one year. If they guessed right, they could come into the shop and claim a prize. We also did a number of summer holiday window displays, when we shut up shop and took a break. Even though the shop was closed, word got round that there was a new win-dow display at the bakers. Picture the scene – blue sky in the back-ground, rice flour to make a sandy beach, specially made mini deck-chairs, flip flops and a sign, which said -

“We have made our dough, we knead to rest,

we are off to bake in the sun, see you when we get back.”

On returning from holiday one year, I was met by some schoolchildren who pulled me up about my spelling and they said “that is not how you spell need”.

I replied by saying that when you have spent 50 years baking, then that is all you need to know!

For a great number of years now, I have been very conscious of the sup-port that the men of The Salvation Army Band in Govan have given to my wife, Dorothy, and I and this was shown in a very memorable way at Christmas 2006. The Band came out to Lochwinnoch, voluntarily, and played outside the shop in the High Street. Local peo-ple joined in the fun, everyone tucked into hot Christmas pies and although this was not an official col-lecting exercise, the band and villag-ers collected around £300 on that one occasion alone. There are some great photographs of this impromptu gathering on the Salvation Army band website – www.salvationarmy.org.uk/ I would like to say, without reserva-tion, that the past 17 years at the bakery in Lochwinnoch have been wonderful and all that has been achieved would not have been possi-ble without my wife, Dorothy, my family and staff in the shops and at the bakery. Right from the begin-ning, the people of Lochwinnoch have been more like friends and family, sharing their joys, sorrows and worries and our customers will always be remembered for their gen-erosity and support. Last but not least, there will be a farewell Open Evening and buffet on Friday 9th November, from 7pm on-wards, at the Bowling Club. Everyone is invited and donations and funds raised on the night will be split between Govan Salvation Army and Lochwinnoch International Aid.

Robert Wilson

Over the years, in the various loca-tions where we have had shops, we have helped groups of people - in-cluding nurseries, schools, church groups and so on - by baking goods for their events and summer fetes to help them raise funds. My own involvement in fundraising started when my daughter was 12 years old. This happened to be in the same year as the Salvation Army’s centenary year, when Save the Children Fund held a wonderful concert in Glasgow and raised over £4,000. Guests and performers in-cluded the Lord Provost of Glasgow, the Earl of Dalhousie, Moira Ander-son and Bill McCue. For the last 25 years, on the first Sat-urday in May, we have gone along with our Donut making machine to the charity Enable in Sandy Road in Renfrew to help raise funds. If you ever want to arrange an outdoor event, choose the first Saturday in May as this event has never been rained off in all these 25 years. We have also raised funds in this way for the Accord Hospice in Paisley, St Joseph’s in Lochwinnoch (when it was still a nursing home) and this year we produced donuts and pan-cakes to raise funds at Ralston Pri-mary School summer fete. We also raised funds at the bakery, by recycling the large plastic buckets that had contained baking products. In exchange for a donation, local customers would receive an empty bucket to store dog food, hold fish-ing bait or for use as plant contain-ers. So far, well over £2,000 - £3,000 has been raised for various charities, including a Ukrainian or-phanage.

Since the shop opened back in 1990, we have always done a Christmas window display, which is on view from the 1st of December through to Christmas Day and is our way of ‘giving’ a Christmas card to every-one in the village. One year, I heard that a mother had to bring her little girl down to see the window display at 11 o’clock at night, as her daughter wouldn’t rest until she had seen the display all lit up and looking its best in the dark. Another peculiar thing would hap-pen from time to time. When we had special displays in the shop win-dow, there was no space for cakes or bakery items in the window. People would gaze through the window at the displays and, thinking that it was a gift shop, would come into the shop to try to buy the Christmas decorations. Only when they stepped inside, did they see the cakes and bread on the counter and they realised that they were not in a gift shop after all. The shop has seen holidaymakers and visitors from all over the world, including France, Switzerland, America, Canada, Holland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and many more. One day, a Swedish doctor, his wife and family were looking round the bakery and the doctor said that if there was an emergency in Lochwin-noch, he was quite sure that they could use the bakery as an emer-gency hospital as it was so clean. On another day, a group of 3 Ger-man lads were looking round and I was telling them how proud we are of our bakery and of our baking. One of the lads, who was about 6’ 3” tall, said that his bakery was better and I joked that he would not be leaving the premises by the front door and that I would get my 2 assis-tants to throw him out through the window!

I have always believed that if com-munities are prepared to support us then we should also put something back into the community.

VILLAGE EVENT PLANNER

Lochwinnoch Post Office has a wall-mounted calendar, where members of the public can enter details of forthcoming events.

Please use this calendar to avoid any clashes when planning dates of events and, of course, to help publicise your events within the village.

ADVICE WORKS at

Lochwinnoch Library

Tuesdays 10am –12.30pm Providing advice about enti-tlements to benefits. Advisors on hand to help fill in claim forms, check and advise on welfare benefits and money problems. Advisors can provide expert advice on a wide range of debt related topics, such as credit card, mortgage arrears, coun-cil tax, etc

The service is FREE, confidential and open to all residents of Renfrewshire.

LOCHWINNOCH LIBRARY LOCAL HISTORY QUIZ

Questions - 1. Which local landowner was

responsible for building the “Wee School”?

2. Which famous yacht was sup-plied with chairs made in Joseph Johnstone’s Furniture Factory?

3. Lochwinnoch Curling Club is one of the oldest in Scotland. In which year was it formed?

4. The McKillop Institute was opened in which year?

5. Which trade mark was used by Whitton’s Mill for their tweeds and blankets?

6. In which year did Colonel Wil-liam MacDowall buy the Castle Semple Estate?

7. Who owned the first car in Lochwinnoch?

8. In which year was Lochwinnoch Railway Station opened?

9. Which regiment’s barracks were located in Lochwinnoch during WW2?

10. Garthland House was used as a Missionary Training College and also as a Nursing Home. But what was the original name of the House?

And Answers - 1. Henry MacDowall. 2. Royal Yacht Britannia. 3. 1827. 4. 1931 5. Cauder. 6. 1727 7. Peter Dewar. 8. 1905 (will accept Lochside 1840). 9. 1st Maritime Regiment Royal

Artillery. 10. Garpel House. And the winners are - Adults: Linda Gee and Reid Davidson Junior: James Reston

1st Lochwinnoch Boys Brigade

Meetings are held in the Parish

Church Hall, Church Street, Lochwinnoch.

Anchor boys (p2 - p3) on Tuesdays at 6pm Junior section (p4, p5, p6) on Tuesdays at 7pm Company section (p7 upwards) on Fridays 7.30 pm New members always welcome , pop along on the relevent evening to meet the officers and mem-bers. Volunteer helpers and drivers are always needed for meetings and trips arranged. If you feel you could spare a few hours now and then please do, as it is a shame if we have to cancel a trip due to lack of transport. Jumble sale coming up soon, so sort through those cupboards be-fore Christmas and let us collect from you and raise money. Call 01505 842825 , 842064 , 842407 to arrange a collection or e-mail: FLOWINGCRYSTAL@AOL.COM for more information on any Boys Brigade event.

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News & Events at RSPB, Muirshiel,

Cornalees & Castle Semple Centres

Sunday 7th October - Lochwinnoch Autumn Farmers Market at Castle Semple Centre from 1100 to 1400 hours or until sold out. Saturday 13th October - two events at Cornalees Centre:- Hibernating Shadow Puppets from midday/early afternoon. What is about to go to sleep? Come and have fund finding out. Water Lanterns - come and try making a floating lantern, from 1300-1500 hrs. Sat 13th October to Mon 22nd October - October Fest. At Castle Semple Centre from 1100-1600 hrs daily. Enjoy fresh autumn air on foot, by bike or on the water. Sunday 14th October - One Day Map and Compass Course: Theory and Practice at Cornalees Centre from 1000-1600 hrs. Class-room and hill work. Advance booking essential. Tel: 01505 842882 Ext 20. Sunday 14th October - Aren’t Birds Brilliant: Feed The Birds at Castle Semple Centre from 1300-1600 hrs. Find out how to look after your friendly garden visitors. Wednesday 17th October - from 7.30pm to 9pm at the RSPB Reserve, Lochwinnoch. Talk Time: Upland v Lowland: The changing faces of Inversnaid and Baron’s Haugh RSPB Reserves. Book in advance - Tel: 01505 842663. Friday 19th October - Build a bug a home! 3 sessions being held at RSPB Centre where kids and adults alike will have the opportu-nity to learn how to build homes for hibernating animals and in-sects this winter. Book in advance. Tel RSPB on: 01505 842663.

Chatterbox is produced for the Community Council of Lochwinnoch through financial assistance by Lochwin-noch Community Council, Renfrewshire Council and advertisements. The editor welcomes all items for possible inclusion but will reserve all rights over them. All views are of individuals. The editor accepts no liability for errors

Sunday 21st October - Wild Harvest at Castle Semple Centre from 1330-1530 hrs. Autumn seed gathering season is here. Plant them and check on how last year’s seeds are progressing into our trees of the future. Saturday 27th October - Feed the Birds Day from 1300-16hrs at RSPB Centre. Pick up tips and information on looking after birds over the winter. Sunday 28th October - Conservation Volunteers at Muir-shiel Centre from 1300-1500 hrs. Do a bit of healthy outdoor work, it’ll keep you fit and be helping the natural environment at the same time. For more Info. and to book, Tel: 01505 842803 Friday 2nd November - Fright Night at the RSPB Centre from 1800-2100 hrs. Sunday 4th November - - an illustrated Hen Harrier Talk and 2007 CCTV Hen Harrier footage at 1345 hrs at Muirshiel Centre. Sunday 4th November—Craft Fair with a selection of the best of local craft producers at Castle Semple Centre from 1100-1530 hrs. WINTER VISITOR CENTRE

OPENING HOURS FROM 28th OCTOBER 2007

Cornalees Centre - 1030-1500 hrs weekends only until March. Muirshiel Centre - 1100-1500 hrs weekends only until March. Castle Semple Centre Open Daily from 1000-1600 hrs.

HOW TO FIND THE VISITOR CENTRES

RSPB

The reserve is open at all times and the visitor centre is open daily from 1000 - 1700 hrs (except Xmas and New Year holidays). Easily accessible by train, bus and car, the RSPB centre is located 18 miles SW of Glasgow, beside A760 Largs Road (off A737 Irvine Road—easily ac-cessible from J 28A of the M8). Car parking available. Tel: 01505 842663

MUIRSHIEL PARK VISITOR CENTRE

The Centre is 4 miles NW of Lochwin-noch at the top of Calder Glen Road. Open from 11oo-1600 hrs/1700hrs at weekends for Hen Harrier CCTV view-ing, walks/trails, wildlife plus refresh-ments, snacks and gifts. Pre-book a place on the FREE bus from RSPB Cen-tre to Muirshiel on designated Saturdays in July. Car parking also available at Muirshiel. Tel: 01505 842803

CASTLE SEMPLE CENTRE

Located on the loch shore in Lochlip Road, Lochwinnoch. Open from 1000-1700 hours every day. Wide range of water sports, cycle hire, footpaths, snacks and refreshments available in the Centre. Car parking at the Centre. Tel: 01505 842882.

CORNALEES VISITOR CENTRE

The Visitor Centre is located at Loch Thom, Nr Inverkip. Fabulous views, wide open spaces, moorland walks, in-cluding The Greenock Cut Walk. Open from 1030-1600 hours week-days/weekends. Car parking is available at the Centre. Tel: 01475 521458 for further information.