18 November 2022 Issue 2504 © ULLAPOOL NEWS
THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE OF THE ULLAPOOL NEWS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 23 DECEMBER 2022
(DEADLINE 1PM TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER)
AND WILL CONTAIN THE USUAL CHRISTMAS GREETINGS AND FESTIVE OPENING HOURS. DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
THE NEXT ISSUE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2023
(DEADLINE 1PM TUESDAY 10 JANUARY 2023)
Please email any Christmas messages to editorial@theullapoolnews.co.uk
*****
Publishing Success for Local Author
The latest book by local author Lorraine Thomson was published by Outcast Press on 15 November. Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares is a searingly honest and brutally funny memoir about being part of the first generation to grow up in Cumbernauld, the most experimental and ambitious of Scotland’s New Towns. The children of that generation are now in their 50s and 60s yet virtually nothing has been written about that experience. Until now.
Cumbernauld is famous for being the setting of Gregory’s Girl and is infamous for its brutalist architecture. Thomson’s personal story is set against the wider social landscape and while the focus of the book is on the 1970s – a time when trousers were flared, sexism was the norm, and the beating of Scottish school children was industrialised – Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares reaches back to 1900, when her great grandparents – immigrants from Lithuania – were married in the Gorbals district of Glasgow.
LG Thomson was short-listed for the Dundee Book Prize and is the author of seven novels including noir thriller, Boyle’s Law. Her work has appeared in a wide range of anthologies and literary publications including Wyldblood Magazine, Epoch Press, and Art North. Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares is her first non-fiction book.
BOOK LAUNCH
Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares will be launched at the Ceilidh Place Venue on Friday 2nd December. In what is sure to be a vibrant and entertaining evening, the author will be in discussion with artist Eleanor White, who grew up just 17 miles from Cumbernauld in the industrial town of Motherwell. There will be an opportunity for the audience to join the discussion. Copies of the book will be on sale on the night and can also be bought in advance from bookshops in Ullapool and Coigach. Doors at 7pm. Licensed bar. Suitable for ages 16+.
Ceilidh Place Venue | 7pm | Friday 2nd December | Bar | 16+
www.LGThomson.com
*****
A new cairn and plaque now commemorate this important piece of Coigach history.
Open air churches or preaching places originated after the ‘Disruption’ of 1843 when the Church of Scotland split over the rights of parishioners to choose their own ministers. The new Free Church of Scotland had to conduct services in the open until they had their own buildings.
The Rev George Macleod of Maryburgh was appointed Lochbroom minister in 1843 and every third or fourth Sunday he travelled to Coigach to hold a service in the open. This continued for twenty-seven years until the Coigach Free Church was completed in 1860. Although people could now worship indoors there wasn’t a full time resident minister until 1872 when the Rev Archibald Beaton was installed. According to the official records the congregation numbered 552 – 2 elders, 22 members and 528 adherents. The manse was completed for his arrival, a fine building of 10 rooms with windows, according to the 1881 census.
Although there was now a church, open air preaching continued at least until the end of the century. At the time of Free Church Communion, over the first weekend in June, large numbers of visiting ministers and people from other parishes came to worship, too many for the church to hold.
Aite nan Orduighean is at the entrance to the village of Achiltibuie, to the west of the War Memorial. There were seating ledges for parishioners but these have largely disappeared through erosion. Temporary shelters were erected for the ministers conducting services.
The memorial has been jointly organised and funded by Coigach Community Council and Coigach Heritage with a grant contribution from Coigach Community Development Company. We are all grateful to Bill Drake and others who for many years championed the project, and to Donald John Mackenzie for the magnificent stonework.
THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE OF THE ULLAPOOL NEWS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 23 DECEMBER 2022
(DEADLINE 1PM TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER)
AND WILL CONTAIN THE USUAL CHRISTMAS GREETINGS AND FESTIVE OPENING HOURS. DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
THE NEXT ISSUE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2023
(DEADLINE 1PM TUESDAY 10 JANUARY 2023)
Please email any Christmas messages to editorial@theullapoolnews.co.uk
*****
Publishing Success for Local Author
The latest book by local author Lorraine Thomson was published by Outcast Press on 15 November. Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares is a searingly honest and brutally funny memoir about being part of the first generation to grow up in Cumbernauld, the most experimental and ambitious of Scotland’s New Towns. The children of that generation are now in their 50s and 60s yet virtually nothing has been written about that experience. Until now.
Cumbernauld is famous for being the setting of Gregory’s Girl and is infamous for its brutalist architecture. Thomson’s personal story is set against the wider social landscape and while the focus of the book is on the 1970s – a time when trousers were flared, sexism was the norm, and the beating of Scottish school children was industrialised – Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares reaches back to 1900, when her great grandparents – immigrants from Lithuania – were married in the Gorbals district of Glasgow.
LG Thomson was short-listed for the Dundee Book Prize and is the author of seven novels including noir thriller, Boyle’s Law. Her work has appeared in a wide range of anthologies and literary publications including Wyldblood Magazine, Epoch Press, and Art North. Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares is her first non-fiction book.
BOOK LAUNCH
Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares will be launched at the Ceilidh Place Venue on Friday 2nd December. In what is sure to be a vibrant and entertaining evening, the author will be in discussion with artist Eleanor White, who grew up just 17 miles from Cumbernauld in the industrial town of Motherwell. There will be an opportunity for the audience to join the discussion. Copies of the book will be on sale on the night and can also be bought in advance from bookshops in Ullapool and Coigach. Doors at 7pm. Licensed bar. Suitable for ages 16+.
Ceilidh Place Venue | 7pm | Friday 2nd December | Bar | 16+
www.LGThomson.com
*****
A new cairn and plaque now commemorate this important piece of Coigach history.
Open air churches or preaching places originated after the ‘Disruption’ of 1843 when the Church of Scotland split over the rights of parishioners to choose their own ministers. The new Free Church of Scotland had to conduct services in the open until they had their own buildings.
The Rev George Macleod of Maryburgh was appointed Lochbroom minister in 1843 and every third or fourth Sunday he travelled to Coigach to hold a service in the open. This continued for twenty-seven years until the Coigach Free Church was completed in 1860. Although people could now worship indoors there wasn’t a full time resident minister until 1872 when the Rev Archibald Beaton was installed. According to the official records the congregation numbered 552 – 2 elders, 22 members and 528 adherents. The manse was completed for his arrival, a fine building of 10 rooms with windows, according to the 1881 census.
Although there was now a church, open air preaching continued at least until the end of the century. At the time of Free Church Communion, over the first weekend in June, large numbers of visiting ministers and people from other parishes came to worship, too many for the church to hold.
Aite nan Orduighean is at the entrance to the village of Achiltibuie, to the west of the War Memorial. There were seating ledges for parishioners but these have largely disappeared through erosion. Temporary shelters were erected for the ministers conducting services.
The memorial has been jointly organised and funded by Coigach Community Council and Coigach Heritage with a grant contribution from Coigach Community Development Company. We are all grateful to Bill Drake and others who for many years championed the project, and to Donald John Mackenzie for the magnificent stonework.
