11 August 2023 Issue 2540 © ULLAPOOL NEWS
LOCAL WEATHER
Weather for Tuesday 1st – Monday 7th August Max temp 22.4C = 73F min temp 6.9C = 44F
It started out sunny, windy and dry with the high temp of the week.
Then we had a couple of overcast days with rain returning on Wednesday.
The temperature fell significantly before creeping back up.
We were forecast for a grim weekend, but the reality was much better with very little rain on Saturday and Sunday giving us the sunniest day of the week.
The stats are out for July. Data from the Met Office for the North of Scotland.
Mean temp -0.3 (12.7C) locally 13.8C,
rainfall 145% (147mm) locally 176mm,
sunshine 94%(118H)
*****
Impact Award For Loch Broom SC
We are pleased to share the latest recipients of an Impact Award, Jason and Gillian of Loch Broom Sailing Club.
Jason Leon and Gillian Meighan are the junior sailing coordinators at Loch Broom Sailing Club in the Northwest of Scotland and have been instrumental in linking the club to the community. RYAScotland have recognised their efforts at the club with an Impact Award.
The RYA Scotland Impact Awards aim to recognise that value of those people and share their stories where they are successful, supported, sustainable, inclusive and valued in their endeavours.
Loch Broom Sailing Club
has started to engage with
primary schools and friends of children already taking part in activities to really open up the club and make it more accessible to the wider community. They are increasing opportunities for first-time participants safely, so that they gain confidence and experience in a really fun atmosphere.
Senior Instructor Charlie Irving said.
“I’ve very recently moved here in February, so I’m still new to the area, but I’ve met Gillian, Jason and they are lovely, lovely people. What they’re trying to do with the community, get all the kids, get them out sailing I think it’s brilliant, especially being a coastal town. There should be some more sailing, more sort of water, outdoor activities. The youth week is going really well, they’ve got a brilliant set up with the slipway getting in is really nice, and they’ve got a lovely area in Loch Broom, stunning mountains and a good bit of breeze.”
Claire Brown, a parent of one of the junior participants said.
“It’s absolutely fantastic because we would never have gone out in sailing boats, any of us. My husband and I have never sailed as we didn’t have the opportunity to do that.
So, to have the kids to be able to have that opportunity, without Gilly and Jason, that just would never have happened. And just facilitating that opportunity for our kids and their friends as well.”
On receiving the award Gillian Meighan said.
“To be honest, it’s very lovely to be nominated, but it’s not about us. It’s about the whole club and it’s about everybody that makes this happen.
*****
The new Harbour and pontoons
*****
Ullapool beach clean summary for June and July.
In total for the 2 months 15 beach cleans were completed resulting in the removal of 59.5kg of plastic and rubbish.
The year-to-date total, since starting in January, has seen 90 Ullapool beach cleans completed for a total of 1002.3kg, or just over a tonne in old money.
In addition, 14 further beach cleans have been completed so far this year for a total of 668.2kg.
So the overall total for the first 7 months stands at 1700.5kg.
Geoff Pringle
*****
New Book Review
Under the Radiant Hill
Life and the Land in the Remotest Highlands
by Robin Noble
The first thing to say about this excellent book is that the “hill” in question is Quinag, which is not at all remote if you live in Assynt or even Lochbroom! On the other hand, most people who will read this book live elsewhere, so the title is fair enough – it will catch the eye.
For the author, Quinag is “the radiant hill” because, at a certain time on fine days, its mighty western cliffs reflect the dazzling light of the sun.
Quinag towers above Glenleraig, where Robin Noble lived from 1995 to 2010. Long before then, his parents took him and his younger brother Rhoderick to stay there for holidays, between 1959 and 1971. For the rest of the year, the family lived in Fife.
But this book is about the whole of Assynt, its natural environment and its people and their way of life. It also touches on Coigach and on Sutherland north of Assynt.
One of the abiding themes of Robin’s book is perhaps that Assynt has always been lived in. He writes: “Assynt was, to a surprisingly large extent, both inhabited and used; it was a worked landscape, which is why the present inhabitants often react rather strongly to any suggestion that it is “wild” or, even worse, “wilderness”. Assynt is a cultural landscape which, despite its rocky nature, hard climate and northern location, sustained a population for thousands of years.”
Robin writes thoughtfully and sympathetically about issues facing the people of Assynt, now as in the past, such as depopulation, education, the local economy, and the environment. He is an original thinker. On place- names too, he has reflected at length and has come to certain (convincing) conclusions as to their origins.
*****
LOCAL WEATHER
Weather for Tuesday 1st – Monday 7th August Max temp 22.4C = 73F min temp 6.9C = 44F
It started out sunny, windy and dry with the high temp of the week.
Then we had a couple of overcast days with rain returning on Wednesday.
The temperature fell significantly before creeping back up.
We were forecast for a grim weekend, but the reality was much better with very little rain on Saturday and Sunday giving us the sunniest day of the week.
The stats are out for July. Data from the Met Office for the North of Scotland.
Mean temp -0.3 (12.7C) locally 13.8C,
rainfall 145% (147mm) locally 176mm,
sunshine 94%(118H)
*****
Impact Award For Loch Broom SC
We are pleased to share the latest recipients of an Impact Award, Jason and Gillian of Loch Broom Sailing Club.
Jason Leon and Gillian Meighan are the junior sailing coordinators at Loch Broom Sailing Club in the Northwest of Scotland and have been instrumental in linking the club to the community. RYAScotland have recognised their efforts at the club with an Impact Award.
The RYA Scotland Impact Awards aim to recognise that value of those people and share their stories where they are successful, supported, sustainable, inclusive and valued in their endeavours.
Loch Broom Sailing Club
has started to engage with
primary schools and friends of children already taking part in activities to really open up the club and make it more accessible to the wider community. They are increasing opportunities for first-time participants safely, so that they gain confidence and experience in a really fun atmosphere.
Senior Instructor Charlie Irving said.
“I’ve very recently moved here in February, so I’m still new to the area, but I’ve met Gillian, Jason and they are lovely, lovely people. What they’re trying to do with the community, get all the kids, get them out sailing I think it’s brilliant, especially being a coastal town. There should be some more sailing, more sort of water, outdoor activities. The youth week is going really well, they’ve got a brilliant set up with the slipway getting in is really nice, and they’ve got a lovely area in Loch Broom, stunning mountains and a good bit of breeze.”
Claire Brown, a parent of one of the junior participants said.
“It’s absolutely fantastic because we would never have gone out in sailing boats, any of us. My husband and I have never sailed as we didn’t have the opportunity to do that.
So, to have the kids to be able to have that opportunity, without Gilly and Jason, that just would never have happened. And just facilitating that opportunity for our kids and their friends as well.”
On receiving the award Gillian Meighan said.
“To be honest, it’s very lovely to be nominated, but it’s not about us. It’s about the whole club and it’s about everybody that makes this happen.
*****
The new Harbour and pontoons
*****
Ullapool beach clean summary for June and July.
In total for the 2 months 15 beach cleans were completed resulting in the removal of 59.5kg of plastic and rubbish.
The year-to-date total, since starting in January, has seen 90 Ullapool beach cleans completed for a total of 1002.3kg, or just over a tonne in old money.
In addition, 14 further beach cleans have been completed so far this year for a total of 668.2kg.
So the overall total for the first 7 months stands at 1700.5kg.
Geoff Pringle
*****
New Book Review
Under the Radiant Hill
Life and the Land in the Remotest Highlands
by Robin Noble
The first thing to say about this excellent book is that the “hill” in question is Quinag, which is not at all remote if you live in Assynt or even Lochbroom! On the other hand, most people who will read this book live elsewhere, so the title is fair enough – it will catch the eye.
For the author, Quinag is “the radiant hill” because, at a certain time on fine days, its mighty western cliffs reflect the dazzling light of the sun.
Quinag towers above Glenleraig, where Robin Noble lived from 1995 to 2010. Long before then, his parents took him and his younger brother Rhoderick to stay there for holidays, between 1959 and 1971. For the rest of the year, the family lived in Fife.
But this book is about the whole of Assynt, its natural environment and its people and their way of life. It also touches on Coigach and on Sutherland north of Assynt.
One of the abiding themes of Robin’s book is perhaps that Assynt has always been lived in. He writes: “Assynt was, to a surprisingly large extent, both inhabited and used; it was a worked landscape, which is why the present inhabitants often react rather strongly to any suggestion that it is “wild” or, even worse, “wilderness”. Assynt is a cultural landscape which, despite its rocky nature, hard climate and northern location, sustained a population for thousands of years.”
Robin writes thoughtfully and sympathetically about issues facing the people of Assynt, now as in the past, such as depopulation, education, the local economy, and the environment. He is an original thinker. On place- names too, he has reflected at length and has come to certain (convincing) conclusions as to their origins.
*****
