7 July 2023 Issue 2535 © ULLAPOOL NEWS
JOHN MUIR AWARD for ACHILTIBUIE PRIMARY
Over the last several months, Achiltibuie Primary upper class have been working on their discovery award with me. We have done many activities from sensory and art activities to surveys and conservation tasks such as wildflower meadow creation and beach cleaning. And, of course, we have experienced all manner of weather from freezing cold, wild winds and scorching sun.
An essential part of the award is sharing your wild places with people so for this they have put together a geocaching trail with four boxes. Each box has activities and information relevant to that habitat. Of course, part of the enjoyment is finding them and the walks there.
They are not located on the highest mountains or the most popular beaches, so they might show you some places you didn’t know existed, that have a little bit of their own magic.
For anyone who would like a walk with a difference, make a note of these grid references and refer to a map. Please let us know if you end up finding them and if you do any of the activities or having any thoughts about the places.
Box 1 – wildflower area at the back of the school. Area behind high fence behind playground. NC029077
Box 2 – at the seashore. Follow the path from the piping school, through pedestrian gate then a stock gate. In the rocks to the left of the way down to the beach. NC023076
Box3 – at the ruin. Tucked in the stones of the ruin before the steep part of the hill. NC033078
Box 4 – a small hilltop (amazing views) box at the big erratic boulder. NC034081.
As ever, please go prepared for rough ground and potentially rough weather and adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
Well done to all the pupils who gained their award!
Jenny Grant (Highlife Highland Ranger for Wester Ross)
*****
THE CANTERBURY TALES WRITING COMPETITION 2022.
Megan Loftus, a talented 5th year student at UHS, won the Chaucer Prize for a poem she wrote. As part of the prize she won for Ullapool School Library £1000 worth of books.
In consultation with pupils we decided to purchase revision guides, text books and past papers for N5 and Higher. Many students can’t afford such valuable books when preparing for their exams and those that do have a distinct advantage. Now however, thanks to Megan, we have these books at the library for UHS students to use there.
We also have some textbooks available too, as we know that supply is so short that pupils can no longer access them away from school and in some subjects have to share. There is no excuse not to work or revise now and they can be used whenever we are open. They must be left in the library as this makes them available to all: however we have a few copies of each. If the books are well used we can maybe get funding to update the books each year as new editions come out.
Thank you again and well done to Meghan and thank you also to the Chaucer Heritage Trust for the Prize money. We wish her all the best in her studies at Edinburgh University.
The staff of Ullapool School and Community Library.
*****
Reflections on trip to ‘Hector’ launch in Nova Scotia.
Events are happening this weekend to commemorate the departure of the emigrant ship Hector 250 years’ ago, but here’s something different: part of Ann Urquhart’s notes from her visit in the year 2000 to Pictou to see the launch of the sea-worthy replica of the original ‘Hector’.
Ann was there to represent Ullapool Museum. Several other Ullapudlians and Coigacheans were there too, including Iain Campbell, Bob & Nancy Matheson, Angie Alan & Pam Mackenzie, Morag Anna Macleod, Alan Beaton and David Murray.
“16th September – the day of the launch … The old dream that some folk had of building a replica of the ‘Hector’ was to be realised. It had taken ten years to build … to give new life and vitality to the town. A crowd of 10,000 patiently listened to the launch speeches and choir singing.
For the technically-minded, the ship is three masted and ship rigged and carries a large gaffsail aft., of ”200 tons berthen”. She is 85 feet on deck, 22 feet wide, 11 feet deep, overall length 110 feet. (Note: there were over 170 emigrants aboard – think about it!)
However, the 2000 launch was delayed by a day due to wind … The original ’Hector’ emigrants had also been delayed in landing in Pictou. A severe gale blew up off the coast of Newfoundland. It drove them back so far that it took two weeks to get back to the same spot again…
Before the replica launch, Pictou had been run-down, but local people had wanted to use the ‘Hector’ as the centre piece of a project, with the result the harbourfront had been spruced up and a marina built ….). (Mmmm). Will the ‘Hector’ ever sail back over to Lochbroom and would it be a worthwhile exercise”?
Ann ends: “All over the Pictou area are monuments erected to mark landing places or to honour various settlers. It has been noted that there is a distinct lack of tangible signs of emigration from this area. Perhaps it is time to bring that aspect of our history to the fore and use it to attract descendants to this area”.
Chrissy Boyd
JOHN MUIR AWARD for ACHILTIBUIE PRIMARY
Over the last several months, Achiltibuie Primary upper class have been working on their discovery award with me. We have done many activities from sensory and art activities to surveys and conservation tasks such as wildflower meadow creation and beach cleaning. And, of course, we have experienced all manner of weather from freezing cold, wild winds and scorching sun.
An essential part of the award is sharing your wild places with people so for this they have put together a geocaching trail with four boxes. Each box has activities and information relevant to that habitat. Of course, part of the enjoyment is finding them and the walks there.
They are not located on the highest mountains or the most popular beaches, so they might show you some places you didn’t know existed, that have a little bit of their own magic.
For anyone who would like a walk with a difference, make a note of these grid references and refer to a map. Please let us know if you end up finding them and if you do any of the activities or having any thoughts about the places.
Box 1 – wildflower area at the back of the school. Area behind high fence behind playground. NC029077
Box 2 – at the seashore. Follow the path from the piping school, through pedestrian gate then a stock gate. In the rocks to the left of the way down to the beach. NC023076
Box3 – at the ruin. Tucked in the stones of the ruin before the steep part of the hill. NC033078
Box 4 – a small hilltop (amazing views) box at the big erratic boulder. NC034081.
As ever, please go prepared for rough ground and potentially rough weather and adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
Well done to all the pupils who gained their award!
Jenny Grant (Highlife Highland Ranger for Wester Ross)
*****
THE CANTERBURY TALES WRITING COMPETITION 2022.
Megan Loftus, a talented 5th year student at UHS, won the Chaucer Prize for a poem she wrote. As part of the prize she won for Ullapool School Library £1000 worth of books.
In consultation with pupils we decided to purchase revision guides, text books and past papers for N5 and Higher. Many students can’t afford such valuable books when preparing for their exams and those that do have a distinct advantage. Now however, thanks to Megan, we have these books at the library for UHS students to use there.
We also have some textbooks available too, as we know that supply is so short that pupils can no longer access them away from school and in some subjects have to share. There is no excuse not to work or revise now and they can be used whenever we are open. They must be left in the library as this makes them available to all: however we have a few copies of each. If the books are well used we can maybe get funding to update the books each year as new editions come out.
Thank you again and well done to Meghan and thank you also to the Chaucer Heritage Trust for the Prize money. We wish her all the best in her studies at Edinburgh University.
The staff of Ullapool School and Community Library.
*****
Reflections on trip to ‘Hector’ launch in Nova Scotia.
Events are happening this weekend to commemorate the departure of the emigrant ship Hector 250 years’ ago, but here’s something different: part of Ann Urquhart’s notes from her visit in the year 2000 to Pictou to see the launch of the sea-worthy replica of the original ‘Hector’.
Ann was there to represent Ullapool Museum. Several other Ullapudlians and Coigacheans were there too, including Iain Campbell, Bob & Nancy Matheson, Angie Alan & Pam Mackenzie, Morag Anna Macleod, Alan Beaton and David Murray.
“16th September – the day of the launch … The old dream that some folk had of building a replica of the ‘Hector’ was to be realised. It had taken ten years to build … to give new life and vitality to the town. A crowd of 10,000 patiently listened to the launch speeches and choir singing.
For the technically-minded, the ship is three masted and ship rigged and carries a large gaffsail aft., of ”200 tons berthen”. She is 85 feet on deck, 22 feet wide, 11 feet deep, overall length 110 feet. (Note: there were over 170 emigrants aboard – think about it!)
However, the 2000 launch was delayed by a day due to wind … The original ’Hector’ emigrants had also been delayed in landing in Pictou. A severe gale blew up off the coast of Newfoundland. It drove them back so far that it took two weeks to get back to the same spot again…
Before the replica launch, Pictou had been run-down, but local people had wanted to use the ‘Hector’ as the centre piece of a project, with the result the harbourfront had been spruced up and a marina built ….). (Mmmm). Will the ‘Hector’ ever sail back over to Lochbroom and would it be a worthwhile exercise”?
Ann ends: “All over the Pictou area are monuments erected to mark landing places or to honour various settlers. It has been noted that there is a distinct lack of tangible signs of emigration from this area. Perhaps it is time to bring that aspect of our history to the fore and use it to attract descendants to this area”.
Chrissy Boyd
