CHATTERBOX

No 192 December 2009

www.lochwinnoch.info

Community newsletter produced by lochwinnoch publicity committee for lochwinnoch cc

MATTHEW NEW & SONS

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Nuisance HelplineNuisance HelplineNuisance HelplineNuisance Helpline Anti-Social Behaviour

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Every day 9am – 10pm

Tel: 0800 169 1283

ASISTASISTASISTASIST Anti-Social

Investigation Team

Office 8:45am – 4:45pm

Tel: 0141 840 2163

Editorial & copy for Chatterbox Let us have your stories, notices, news, information, events & items of interest — either hand-deliver them to the Chatter-box drop-box in the Library or e-mail to:

chatterbox@lochwinnoch.info

To advertise in Chatterbox

Tel: 07899 746403 or e-mail: chatterboxaccount@btinternet.com

Copy Deadline Copy Deadline Copy Deadline Copy Deadline

for JANUARY 2010 Issue Is for JANUARY 2010 Issue Is for JANUARY 2010 Issue Is for JANUARY 2010 Issue Is

Tuesday 29th DecemberTuesday 29th DecemberTuesday 29th DecemberTuesday 29th December

What’s On

See centre pages for club activities, village events

and classes. See back pages for

Visitor Centre/RSPB events and outdoor activities.

Thank you to a kind-hearted

Village

Our 10 year old son Gregor is pas-sionate about support for our lads in the armed forces and has always been greatly touched when hearing about those who have laid down their lives in the service of their country, as well as those heroes who have been seriously injured; most of them we will never hear about.

This Hallowe’en he came to us and asked if he could dress up in his toy Royal Marines outfit, wear his poppy and collect money for Help for Heroes instead of asking for sweets when he went guising. Gregor registered as a fundraiser with Help for Heroes and committed to a target of £100. There are times when your children make you especially proud, but when an exhausted little "soldier" col-lapsed on the settee after 3 hours of guising, with a full collection tin and we counted it out and discovered he

had collected £126.51p, it had to be up there with the best! No-one turned him away. He met one ex-RAF serviceman and one serving soldier on his rounds as well as many kind villagers, including other children who put their own Hallowe’en money - which they had received - into his tin. Thank you to all who supported him. Your kindness is very appreciated and a postal order is on its way to Help for Heroes, courtesy of a Kind Hearted Village.

Neil & Donna Armstrong

Season’s Greetings

and thank you

to everyone -

our readers, writers,

sponsors, volunteers and

all contributors who have

supported Chatterbox

throughout 2009.

We wish you all a very

Merry Christmas and good

health and much happiness

in 2010.

from

Yvonne, Hazel,

Margaret and Ken

at Team Chatterbox

CHATTERBOX

Chatterbox is a free, community newspaper, produced every month on behalf of the Community Council of Lochwinnoch through support and financial assistance from local sponsors and advertisers and distributed by volunteers. The aim of those involved is to produce an informative and entertaining journal for those who live, work and visit in this area. The Editor welcomes all items for possible inclusion but will reserve all rights over them, i.e. the right to shorten, edit or not publish any item. Please note, all views are of individuals and the Editor accepts no liability for editorial errors or statements and claims made in advertisements.

VILLAGE EVENT

CALENDAR for 2010

Lochwinnoch Post Office has a wall-mounted planner, where members of the public can enter details of forth-coming events. Please use this plan-ner to avoid any clashes when choos-ing dates to hold events, and to help publicise your own events in and around the village and local area.

From the sublime to the ridiculous (but fun)From the sublime to the ridiculous (but fun)From the sublime to the ridiculous (but fun)From the sublime to the ridiculous (but fun)

FromFromFromFrom: coveted Coeur de Lion Swarovski and glass jewellery; lovely leather handbags, purses and wallets; glamorous glass-ware; handsome handmade Belltrees iron candlesticks; funky

chunky necklaces and bracelets; sensuous silver; seriously scented sachets and fragrances; stylish scarves; yummy Yankee candles; terrific Terramundi money pots; tremendous toys and well loved

Willow Tree.

ToToToTo: comical Christmas toilet rolls; singing Santas; seriously silly Christmas cards and funny, Festive Fair Trade reindeers - in short

everything that brings out the child in us all at Christmas.

We have something just a little different for every member of the family and your home at prices that will surprise you

and friendly personal service. Keep it local and interesting this year - even if you can’t decide, we do gift vouchers.

Gifts Cards Jewellery Leather Home

We’ll Remember

He was a quiet child. He hid himself

behind his wide dark eyes so we misjudged his size

never guessed the depth

inside that quietness - the rare raw braveness.

We see it today in photograph - the soldier-man

resplendently red-dressed standing forever at attention on his mother’s mantel-shelf.

We come with our respect

to see him wrapped in the Union Jack

this boy who’d overcome Iraq this soldier-man who’d shown

his same rare courage in the streets of home.

May he have rest

near where our Calder River flows where pointed spires of yew

have grown. We’ve gathered him in,

he’s with his own. Come next November We’ll remember him.

* * *

A tribute to Paul McGee

and the Scots Guards who brought out the fine man in him.

Betty McKellar

November 2009

LCBG The Struthers Project

So we are now researching possible sources of funding. In the past the Big Lottery Fund would have been our first port of call, but it is closed just now while they reconsider their pri-orities. Help from anyone with fund-raising experience would be much appreciated!

Please email : Lesley@scottkhan.net

After a long spell of no move-ment, LCBG were recently con-tacted by the owners of the Struthers site to find out if the villagers still wanted to buy the site. Of course, the committee replied in the affirmative!

Lee McKinlay ………. Holistic Lee McKinlay ………. Holistic Lee McKinlay ………. Holistic Lee McKinlay ………. Holistic & Beauty TherapiesBeauty TherapiesBeauty TherapiesBeauty Therapies

Swedish Massage Waxing Aromatherapy Massage Eye Treatments Reflexology Manicure Facials Pedicure

A Mobile Service to promote Relaxation Gift Vouchers Available

Telephone 07854 715625

MARY LAIDLAW’s Yoga Classes

There will be no classes in December but classes will resume in the New

Year on Wednesday 6th January 2010.

Two classes will be held on Wednesday evenings - the first class at 6pm and the second class at 7.30pm Classes will include yoga, breathing practice, introduction to meditation.

There are spaces available in both classes. If you would like to join us, contact Mary on: 01505 842877.

I recently had the pleasure of at-tending the Renfrewshire Provost’s Charity ball which was in support of Multiple Sclerosis. It was a fabulous night with £23,000 being raised, of which £12,000 came from a charity auction on the night. The recent full house performance from the Garthland St.Winnoch Cronies, which told the story of Robert Burns through his poetry and music, was truly enjoyable. The Cronies just simply get better and better. My thanks to Johnny, Gavin, Bill, Malky Willie 1, Willie 2 and Julie for another great eve-ning’s entertainment. My thanks also to our library staff for their organisation and dedication. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My next Surgery is on Saturday 19th December 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

ST VINCENT’S HOSPICE

St. Vincent’s Hospice has been caring for Renfrewshire patients and their families for over 21 years. They touch the lives of an average of 500 people each month, and their focus has always been to provide their services to the highest of standards to the community. To celebrate their 21 years of caring and to launch their Precious Moments Cam-paign, St. Vincent’s have decided to ac-knowledge their journey by bringing a fresh eye to their look. The chosen iden-tity is the result of working closely with patients and staff on how they feel St. Vincent’s should be represented. St. Vincent’s will be represented by our living tree, an icon which represents en-ergy, individuality and the sum of many parts to make a whole, in much the same way that patients, their families and those who work, volunteer for and support the hospice make St. Vincent’s the place it is today. St. Vincent’s hopes that you enjoy their new look, although it’s important to re-member that whilst their identity has changed, many other things will stay the same: like their care, the level of service they provide, and their dedication to pa-tients and their families who are affected every day.

Councillor Arthur’s Report

Three village groups were suc-cessful with their applications for grants to our Local Area Commit-tee:- Lochwinnoch Elderly Forum were granted £1300, Calder Drama £499 and the recently formed Lochwinnoch ROAR (Reaching Older Adults in Renfrewshire) Lunch and Social Club got £499. It’s great to see that ROAR, this recently formed club, which is held on a Thursday in the McKil-lop Hall, is very well attended. Long may it continue. I would like to offer my congratu-lations to Gordon and Ann Nicholl who recently celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniver-sary. My thanks to Lochwinnoch Pri-mary 6 pupils who invited me along to meet with them and to pass on some tips to help them with one of their projects. Visits like these are always most enjoy-able.

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Christmas Cards. The shepherds wit-nessed “a multitude of the heavenly host” 1. That implies, not a choir of blue-eyed blond children, but an army of warriors. No surprise that the angel had to say, “Do not be afraid!” 2 The shepherds could have ignored what they had witnessed; they could have decided that the saf-est thing was to stay with the sheep – after all going to Bethlehem was not the best option for their livestock and could have led to them losing their jobs. Yet they were open to new opportunities. The Magi at least had the benefit of a little preparation, they had their presents organised. Nevertheless they too had to be open to new opportunities. They had assumed that the Son of God would be born in a royal palace; they never thought for a minute that Jesus would be in an ordinary house, yet they were open to new opportunities and were pre-pared to look in unexpected places. Sometimes with events like Christ-mas we end up in a rut. We create traditions for ourselves which, in-stead of enhancing the season, only serve to take us to breaking point. So what is the solution? Perhaps we need to remember what the first Christmas was about. Whether you share the Christian faith or not, there is much that we can learn from the Nativity. That first Christmas, ordi-nary men and women were open to new possibilities; they were open to having their expectations changed. They welcomed the strange intru-sions into their lives and in doing so they met Love face to face. This year, I am going to try and fol-low my own advice (please don’t ask if I succeeded or not). This year I

From the Parish Church

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine; Love was born at Christmas, star and angels gave the sign.

Christina Rossetti, 1830-94

Yesterday’s Pain Some of us walk into Advent tethered to our unresolved

yesterdays the pain still stabbing the hurt still throbbing.

It’s not that we don’t know better; it’s just that we can’t stand up

anymore by ourselves. On the way to Bethlehem, will you give us a hand?

Ann Weems Have you written your list yet? Have you bought all your presents? What about the Christmas Cards – are they all written and waiting to be posted? There is just so much to do and every year seems to be busier than the one before. Why is it that at the time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, peace seems to be the last thing that we can experience or share? Sometimes we can be so wrapped up (no pun intended) in try-ing to create a perfect Christmas, that we fail to notice the possibilities for having a good time, as we worry about what we may have forgotten to do or if we really have bought the cor-rect present for our fourth cousin twice removed. On the first Christmas, the inn-keeper was certainly not ready – he had nei-ther the room ready nor the presents bought. Perhaps if he had known the Son of God was to be born in his property, he may have kept the best suite for Mary and Joseph. Yet despite the stable not being the best accom-modation for a newborn baby, he did-n’t turn away the unexpected guests; despite being busy with his other guests, he found the time to be open to new opportunities. I can only begin to imagine his joy when Jesus was born. The shepherds too were hardly expect-ing a celestial choir to entertain them on the hillside. We also need to forget the image of chubby faced cherubs that smile out to us from our

am not going to try and create the per-fect Christmas. This year I am going to open myself for new opportunities and if the turkey is not accompanied by exactly all the trimmings we have planned, well I may just be more re-laxed when I sit down to share it with my nearest and dearest. This year I will try to remember that the true gift of Christmas is Love.

The carol which I quoted at the begin-ning ends:

Love shall be our token, Love be yours and Love be mine,

Love to God and all men. Love for plea and gift and sign.

There are those in our village who will not be looking forward to Christmas this year – perhaps redundancy has meant budgets have had to be slashed; in many homes there will be empty chairs, reminding husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers of those who have passed away this year. They will be limping towards Christmas, still tethered to unresolved yesterdays, the hurt still throbbing. Many people in our village can’t stand up anymore by themselves and are asking us for a helping hand. We can help them, Love can be our token and we can share love with all – regardless of our faith, regardless of our beliefs.

However you choose to spend Christmas, may you have the time to experience the peace of the Season and may God’s Love dwell in your

hearts and homes.

Yours

Rev. Christine Murdoch 1 Luke 2.13 2 Luke 2.10

POPPY’S FLORIST

29 MAIN STREET KILBIRNIE

Tel No: 01505 681212

Flowers for all occasions

Holly Wreaths ready to order now - £12.50

Festive Floral Arrangements made to order

Weddings

Funeral Tributes

New Arrivals

Birthdays, Anniversaries

LOCHWINNOCH

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

SWITCH ON 6.30pm on SATURDAY 5TH DECEMBER DON’T FORGET - the parade will start at

Auld Simon at 6.30 pm on Saturday. Come along – whatever the weather – dressed in something festive if you like. Enjoy carols and mulled wine, kindly donated by Ivan and Jo at The Junction and see the unveiling of the winning Christmas Light from the Community Council Competition. For more information, please contact Carol Gemmell on Tel: 843 858. STOP PRESS - Visitors to the Christmas Lights Switch On will also have the chance to do some late shopping as both Now & Then and Crafts of Calder will remain open. Ed.

ELLISTON GRILL

Have you tried the totally refurbished and fabulous Elliston Grill ?

If the answer is no, why not come along and try one of our delicious menus. We cater for your every need,

be it a quiet coffee and scone in our lounge or a full night’s dining in our stunning, comfortable and relaxing

restaurant. Serving afternoon tea, senior citizens, high tea, children, lunch and a la carte menus. We also

cater for all occasions from funerals to weddings and all celebrations. We cook everything fresh; from our

bread, pasta, scones, desserts and sauces. We have full disabled access, ample parking and a small private

dining area, so why not come along and enjoy one of our delicious menus.

For more information and offers please visit our website at ellistongrill.com or call on 01505703020

Haven`t booked your festive night out? Elliston Grill is the answer.

Christmas menus

Christmas eve 8 course feast £39.95

Festive Christmas 4 course lunch £17.50

Festive Christmas 4 course dinner £26.50

Selected menus Main course £9.95,2 course lunch £12.95 or 3 course 15.95

Senior citizens menu from £8.95 including tea or coffee

High tea & afternoon tea

Tea, coffee and scones

A la carte menu available

Mary Russell All the family would like to say thank you for all the cards that were sent to Mary in

hospital and to friends, Rev. A. Ford and Rev. C. Murdoch for visiting.

The family would like also to thank everyone for attending Mary’s funeral on Monday

the 9th November at the Calder Church and then at Woodside Crematorium. The

services in both places were lovely and the flowers in the church, done by the

Women’s Association, were beautiful.

A thank you to everyone above - friends, colleagues, Women’s Association, minis-

ters, undertakers and the Bowling Club for a lovely tea and all the doctors and

nurses at the Paisley (RAH) Hospital for all the hard work.

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST NEWS

The TCT Yorkhill Unit opened "for business" on Monday 23rd November, with the full staff in place and the first patients being admitted. That good news has been very much overshadowed by the death of one of our young people who was a member of our West of Scotland fundraising group. Elaine Davidson, who was one of the young people featured in the TCT Yorkhill Appeal Brochure, passed away on Tuesday 24th Novem-ber. Despite the severity of her con-dition, Elaine kept on with her fund-raising for TCT almost to her last days, and even managed to complete a sponsored cycle just a few weeks ago.

We will all miss her, and our thoughts are with her mother Maureen, who is also a member of our fundraising group, and the rest of the family. We have decided to delay the 'official' opening of the Yorkhill Unit for the time being.

Elaine had mentioned previously that she would have loved to have the chance to fly a plane, and so some mutual friends - Kyle and Jill of 'Blether Media' - gave her a voucher for a 30-minute Flying Lesson at Glasgow Airport. Unfortunately, Elaine wasn't well enough to be able to use it, so she sent it to me and asked that we auction it at the TCT Christ-mas Auction in the Brown Bull on Saturday 12th December.

Please come along on 12th December and support the Auction and Raffle. Please remember to drink responsi-bly, yet still manage to bid outra-geously high amounts for the lots on offer! Laura and Fergus at the Brown Bull will welcome all donations of items for the Auction and Raffle any time from now until the night of the auction.

The immediate focus for TCT in Scot-land is now finding the £1 million needed for a new unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. As well as helping out our cousins from the East in joint fundraising ventures, the West of Scotland group will be continuing to raise funds locally for the upkeep of the Yorkhill Unit.

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MASONIC CLUB PRIZE BINGO NIGHT Friday 11th December 7.30pm at the Masonic Club

Everyone welcome.

WHERE YOUR MONEY

WENT This is just a wee note to let my many sponsors in the village know how their money was even-tually spent. The Yorkhill Foundation benefit-ted by a total of £130,000 from the half-marathon I participated in and this has gone to securing 10 Foetal Monitors for the Baby Unit at the hospital. So, many thanks for your contribution to this fantastic outcome. I’ll sign off now by wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year ... I’ll be after more of your money in sponsorship during the coming year!!

The ROAD-RUNNER

(aka Ronald McKellar Brown)

We also have to keep a very keen eye towards finding the money for the TCT Unit that will be part of the new Hospital for Sick Children that is to be built in Glasgow in the grounds of the Southern General Hospital. The planned completion date of the new hospital is 2015, so we have some time, but the cost is likely to be even higher than the new units, so the work goes on...

As ever, I am very grateful for the fantastic support and generosity of the Lochwinnoch community, and I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

John Delaney

The Brown Bull TCT Auction

Saturday 12th December I can hardly believe it’s that time of year already. The auction will start around 9.30pm and, as John has just mentioned, we will be raising funds for Teenage Cancer Trust this year.

If you feel you can help out by donat-ing an item of interest for the auction, then please get in touch with me, Laura, on Tel: 01505 843250. Any help would be appreciated. So far, the items to be auctioned in-clude -

A signed copy of Ellen MacArthur’s autobiography; A day sailing, with lunch provided by the Brown Bull A signed Rangers football A flying lesson at Glasgow Airport A painting by Sandra Fowles A set of children’s golf clubs A sack o’ tatties (tbc) A cuddly toy … and much more.

Come along for a night of fun and catch that item in auction for a Christ-mas gift.

Laura, Fergus, family and staff would like to wish all villagers a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year in 2010.

Write to: 2014 Mile End Mill, 12 Seedhill Road, Paisley, PA1 1JS

Tel: 0141 561 0333. E-mail: dalexandermp@talk21.com or come to one of my advice surgeries.

L o c h w i n n o c h r e s i d e n t s L o c h w i n n o c h r e s i d e n t s L o c h w i n n o c h r e s i d e n t s L o c h w i n n o c h r e s i d e n t s ---- Can I help? If so, please don’t Can I help? If so, please don’t Can I help? If so, please don’t Can I help? If so, please don’t h e s i t a t e t o g e t i n t o u c h .h e s i t a t e t o g e t i n t o u c h .h e s i t a t e t o g e t i n t o u c h .h e s i t a t e t o g e t i n t o u c h .

Douglas Alexander, Lochwinnoch’s MP

LOCHWINNOCH ART GROUPLOCHWINNOCH ART GROUPLOCHWINNOCH ART GROUPLOCHWINNOCH ART GROUP

The Art Group held their AGM on Monday 23rd November. Discussions were held and this proved to be a constructive evening, with a lot of input from club members.

We hope to have the artist and Tutor, Neil MacDonald, back with us on March 1st to demonstrate landscape painting. Not to be missed if you have not seen Neil's demonstrations before. January 22nd sees the opening of Art in the Park again at Castle Semple Visitor Centre.

The Art Group meets again on December 7th and January 18th in the McKillop Institute at 7.30 pm. Everyone welcome.

Christine Brown ( Chairperson )

The UK’s Largest Independent Letting Agent Opens Branch To Serve Renfrewshire

Belvoir is the UK’s largest independent, specialist letting agency with over 150 offices nationwide and currently managing a property portfolio well in excess of £1 billion. The success of the Belvoir organisation is based on providing exceptional levels of service to its Landlords and Tenants whilst operating to the highest ethical and regulatory standards. The company provides Landlords with access to advice from a large specialist support team including leading solicitors in the residential property lettings sector. This service is built into the Company’s standard management fee, and therefore available at no extra cost. To give peace of mind to both Landlords and Tenants, Belvoir is a member of the Government operated National Approved Let-ting Scheme and the Property Ombudsman Letting Scheme. They are also authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The company operates a very competitive and completely trans-parent fee structure which includes a “no let – no fee” clause for Landlords. Belvoir understands that its continued success is dependent on a premier lettings experience i.e. satisfied quality tenants providing maximum occupancy for landlords. The company therefore aims to build long term relationships with both. Although part of a national chain, Belvoir Paisley is owner-managed, bringing you the guarantee of absolute commitment to quality of service and direct accountability.

For more information on what Belvoir can do for you , visit them in their new premises at 8 Silk Street P aisley PA1 1HG, or telephone 0141 848 0333.

Friday Friday Friday Friday 1st January 20101st January 20101st January 20101st January 2010

at the McKillop Hall Doors Open from 7.30pm

till 12.30am

Band - FREEDOM

Tickets £9 from The Corner Bar, Garthland Arms And Brown Bull

Organised by

Julie, Laura and Fiona

Lochwinnoch Choral Society

Christmas Concert

Tuesday 22nd December in the Parish Church at 7-00pm

Junior Choir – conducted by Laura Sands Senior Choir conducted by Gordon Rigby

With members of the Scottish Philharmonic Orchestra This year’s Christmas Concert will be a little different from our usual format. As usual, we will be singing a wide variety of Christmas music with many favourite carols for all to sing along to. However, this year the concert will also include the highly acclaimed ‘La Befana’ which was writ-ten by two of our own villagers: Gordon Rigby and Adrian Wiszniewski. 'La Befana' is the Italian version of a Father Christmas story. No one (including the Italians) seems to know the details of how La Befana came about, except that she's an old lady/hag who delivers presents into the hung up stockings of the good children and sticks a lump of coal into the stockings of the naughty ones. Adrian created and wrote a history for the character to which Gordon then wrote the musical score. La Befana had its début at ‘A Play, A Pie and A Pint’ in Glasgow’s Oran Mor earlier this year and received 4 star reviews from the national press. 'La Befana' is a one-person show acted by Danielle Stuart and accompanied by members of the Scottish Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a captivating story told by Danielle while the orchestra plays Gordon’s haunting and beautiful score. The music and text blend together to create a fantastic, energetic Christmas story. This is a great opportunity to see one of the ‘best new works this year’ at its Lochwinnoch debut as part of our traditional Christmas concert. The choir is committed to keeping our ticket prices as low as possible. An adult ticket will cost £7 with concession tickets £5 and family tickets £15. The ticket price includes seasonal refreshments. To accommodate the inclusion of La Befana into this year’s concert we will start the concert earlier at 7-00pm and have a short interval, where we hope to serve mulled wine and Christmas pies. The second half of the concert will be La Befana followed by more community carols for all to sing. Tickets from any Choir Member, The Brown Bull & The Junction.

Please get your tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas at Calder UF Church at Calder UF Church at Calder UF Church at Calder UF Church and Lochwinnoch and Lochwinnoch and Lochwinnoch and Lochwinnoch Parish ChurchParish ChurchParish ChurchParish Church

SUNDAY 6TH DECEMBER 11 am Calder Church -Morning Worship + Gift Service. An opportu-nity to donate a wrapped gift for a child or an adult (gifts should be la-belled girl / boy and approx age or for a lady or gentleman). Parish Church - morning worship 6.30pm Carol Service in Calder Church - joint service with tea and mince pies etc afterwards.

SUNDAY 13TH DECEMBER 11 am Joint Service to include Boys Brigade Battalion Junior Section Pa-rade to Lochwinnoch Parish Church

THURSDAY 17TH DECEMBER 7 pm Christingle Service in the Parish Church This is a short service which allows us to explore the true meaning of Christmas.

SUNDAY 20TH DECEMBER 11 am Joint Nativity Service in Calder Church.

TUESDAY 22ND DECEMBER 10 am School Service-Crèche available

THURSDAY 24TH DECEMBER 7 pm Christmas Eve Family Worship in the Parish Church 11.15 for 11.30pm – Watchnight Service, with Carol Singing - in Calder Church.

FRIDAY 25TH DECEMBER 11 am Christmas Morning Worship in Calder Church.

SUNDAY 27TH DECEMBER 11 am Morning Worship in both churches.

THURSDAY 31ST DECEMBER 7 pm Walk of Faith Around the Churches - meet at Auld Simon with tea/coffee etc in the last church visited

SUNDAY 3RD JANUARY 2010 11 am Joint Communion Service in Calder Church.

A warm invitation is extended to all to join us at any of the above services.

Liz Callaghan DTM. ADCMC. Therapeutic Massage Therapist Therapeutic Massage will directly help with Stress and Anxiety It will alleviate muscle pain, in particular back pain, frozen shoulder and sciatica.

Massage assists with all circulatory problems including varicose veins. It plays a crucial role in the treatment of Sports Injuries and the maintenance of fitness. There are fewer better treatments for the promotion of General Health and Well-Being.

• Fully qualified and experienced Massage Therapist.

• Able to visit you at home or in treatment rooms in Lochwinnoch or Glasgow.

• Introductory Massage Workshops are also run monthly.

Contact Liz Callaghan: 01505 842 052 or email: remedyoptions@gmail.com

It’s never too late.It’s never too late.It’s never too late.It’s never too late. It was an early evening in May when I arrived back from a day’s work. Too tired to venture any-where near the kitchen, I decided upon the inevitable fish supper. I was returning to my car, fish and chips in hand, when my two friends staggered round the corner joyfully exhilarated, 'Liz, we've just been running, we've joined Jogging Buddies.' 'What, running?' I could hardly believe it - Lyndsay and Helen, running! 'You will have to come next week.' My mind raced ahead. What, running, could I? The following Tuesday I shot off to TK Maxx and bought a pair of running shoes and the appropriate attire. I joined Jogging Buddies the following day. I hadn't done any form of exercise for about 15 years but had been full of good intentions. You know what I mean! As I am in my mid 40's I thought, if not now then when? I remember that night. The first run; run for 5 minutes then walk for 1 minute. I am not sure how far we went, 2 or 3 miles, but it seemed a long way at the time. My legs felt like lead weights, my groin tightened so much that I could hardly lift one leg in front of the other, and then my calves

tightened. The following day I was totally peg-legged, unable to walk down stairs, fit for nothing. What was I thinking! Dreading the following Wednesday I went along regardless.

I didn't feel as bad as that again. I was a bit stiff but it got easier each week and I managed to actu-ally run more than I was walking. I have been running with Jogging Buddies for over 18 months now. I ran my first 10k in September and ran my first half marathon this year. Next year I am aiming for my first marathon; a marker for a very prominent birthday.

Jogging Buddies have over 250 members in the west of Scotland, 16 of which meet in the Mac-killop on a Wednesday evening at 6.30pm, so why not come along.

We are a friendly group of mixed abilities from virgin runners to the more accomplished but, to tell the truth, some nights you wouldn't know the beginner from the rest. But, most importantly, everyone looks after one another. So take the plunge and join us - it’s a good laugh believe it or not!

Interested, contact Ellen on 07947 763704 or just drop in

on Wednesday. See you there!

Liz Callaghan

The Lochwinnoch Mystery Play

The Lochwinnoch Writers’ Group have now completed the script for our Mys-tery Play. We have still to decide on a final title – “Wet, Wet, Wet,” “Love is All Around” and “Singing in the Rain” are among the contenders. The performance will be on Sun-day 28th March in the afternoon. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday 5th Janu-ary in the Guild Room of the Parish Church at 8pm. This is a very differ-ent kind of production and with the exception of the two main characters, the parts are very short. So, if you have never tried acting be-fore, this could be your chance to de-velop new skills. There are also some non-speaking parts. Below is a list of all the characters – those in italics have speaking parts:

The Radio Reporters: Adam Hope - Radio reporter Eve Faith - Radio reporter

The three wise men: Will Turner, Billy Piper and

Ian Summer

Zacchaeus Good Shepherd

A volunteer Davina Goliath

Ticket seller Man with ticket for Ark

Noah Booking Clerk

Bestman Mrs Struthers Mr Struthers

3 wedding guests The Joiner

Some extra non-speaking wedding guests

A jester Issy

Issy’s gang Phil’s gang An Usher

Bride and Groom People to make up the crowd

We hope to involve as many people in our community as possible in this play which has been written for the com-munity. Having read through the play, it contains some wonderful Lochwinnoch jokes! Please do come along and share in Lochwinnoch’s own play.

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IMPROVING WITH AGE

Keep Fit Class HELP! HELP!

HELP! Here are only some of the “HELPS” that you can expect by taking regular exercise. “Helps” to reduce blood pressure, con-trol cholesterol, control weight, reduce risks of strokes, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, well-being, improve sleep, confidence and seri-ously improve your social life! Classes are held Every Tuesday from 10am-11am at Lochwinnoch Annex in the Park. A fully qualified instructor is in attendance and classes are for males and females so, don’t be shy, come and join us.

Auld Simon’s Column

Around the turn of the century the vil-lage was entertained by the writings of one, Auld Simon. For a couple of years he wrote articles describing the daily comings and goings of his fam-ily: Mrs Simon, the twins and the two cats Wipey and Darcy de Bum. These articles took the form of the confession type pieces certain dull journalists regale us with ad nauseum in the heavy Sunday newspapers. Simon’s pieces were different from these dire pronouncements in that they were pertinent, interesting and amus-ing. Simon suddenly stopped writing (rumour has it he now concentrates on playing the flute; in one article, he wrote of the pleasure he derived from playing with his flute well into the night). No more dispatches flowed from the Simon farm. So, to remind folk of what Simon wrote, here is his Christmas offering from December 2002. The Simon family have spent all day getting ready for the big day, the turkey is plucked, Aunty Peggy’s puddings are wobbling away on the kitchen table and Mrs Simon is off to bed with a piece of crackling. I, Auld Simon, am sit-ting by the fire listening to the rest-ful purring of Wipey and Darcy de Bum. In this peaceful setting I like to recall Christmases past. A few years ago, just as Santa was poised to begin his epic journey, our Christmas tree caught fire.

Complete disaster was averted when I rushed into the garden with my chopper and cut down a replacement. Meanwhile, the neighbours rallied round with spare decorations. I was soon gladdened to watch Mrs Simon, like the fruit on Carmen Miranda’s hat, totter on the top of a ladder, clutching Mr Alexan-der’s sparkling balls and glitter-ing tinsel.

A year or so after this our Christ-mas dinner was almost ruined when an old goat gobbled up the Brussels sprouts and roast pota-toes. Afterwards Mrs Simon said: ‘That’s the last time we’ll invite Aunt Tizzy for Christmas dinner’.

Then there was the year when Darcy de Bum leapt from the Welsh dresser and grabbed Uncle Willie’s giblets. It wasn’t funny at the time but now we look back on it and roar with laughter whenever Mrs Simon tells the tale.

What about this year? As usual the family will gather and feast on turkey, roast potatoes and Black Forest gateau. When it’s all over we’ll sit by the fire and listen to Uncle Dick’s barnyard impressions. These he does fast asleep, full of turkey and brandy. Another Christmas will peace-fully come to an end.

From all the Simon family have a lovely Christmas…..and a Happy New Year.

Auld Simon

Christmas FairChristmas FairChristmas FairChristmas Fair onononon

Sunday 13Sunday 13Sunday 13Sunday 13thththth December December December December from 12.30 from 12.30 from 12.30 from 12.30 –––– 4pm4pm4pm4pm

atatatat

Bowfield Hotel and Country Bowfield Hotel and Country Bowfield Hotel and Country Bowfield Hotel and Country Club, HowwoodClub, HowwoodClub, HowwoodClub, Howwood

In partnership with Howwood Pri-mary Parents Association, Bowfield Hotel and Country Club are hosting a Christmas Fair to fundraise for the School and for St Vincent’s Hospice. Raffle tickets are available from Bowfield Hotel, the Post Office, Howwood Inn and the Village Shop. All welcome.

LOCHWINNOCH SWRI

On 18th November, members who braved the stormy weather were re-warded with an excellent diaporama presentation by Hugh Kerr and Bob Douglas of Gryffe Camera Club. The presentation took us from the Bass Rock to Monet’s Garden and many other interesting places, each accompanied by appropriate music.

Competition winners were: 3 Cherry Scones 1. K Brunton 2. R Gould 3. L Benzie

Christmas Decoration 1. E Richmond 2. R Gould 3. L Benzie

The next meeting is on -

Wednesday 20th January 2010, when our guest speaker will be local poet Jim Carruth. Jim, who is this year’s winner of the James McCash Scots Poetry Competition, will read his poetry which reflects a celebra-tion of rural life.

The competitions are: Carrot Soup and

a Favourite Teaspoon.

Antiques, Curios and Crafts A dynamic selection of oils, watercolours and

limited edition prints. Bespoke crafts by local artisans, vintage and

contemporary jewellery. Well worth discovering for yourself.

The Barn on the Farm, open 10am till late every day. Contact Greta Logan on Tel: 01505 683338 Mob: 07786 720586 e-mail: greta@thestirrupcup.co.uk www.thestirrupcup.co.uk

West Bankside Farm, Geirston Rd, Kilbirnie, KA25 7LQ

Just opposite the Golf Course on the Largs Rd.

USEFUL CONTACT NUMBERS

Strathclyde Police –0141 532 5900 Johnstone Police –01505 404000 Johnstone Community Safety Office – 01505 404023 Trading Standards 0141 840 3233 Care and Repair – 0141 812 4111 Renfrewshire Council - Tel: 0141 842 5000 Anti-social Behaviour Investigation Team (ASIST) - 0141 840 2163 Victim Support – 0141 887 0328 Nuisance Support & Advice Helpline – 0800 169 1283 Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111

The Strathclyde Police website con-tains information on all of the local Community Policing Teams, which aims to increase the visibility of the officers within their communities.

Take a look at our website - www. strathclyde.police.uk

for contact details of officers in your local Policing Team. You can also

e-mail us from this website.

THE STIRRUP CUP

INVITES YOU TO OUR

OPEN EVENINGS (AND AFTERNOONS)

WHICH RUN FROM

MONDAY 7TH TO SATURDAY 12th DECEMBER.

2.00 pm to 8.30 pm

WARMING WINTER REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED WHILE YOU BROWSE

LOCHWINNOCH SURGERY

Tel: 01505 842200 It’s been a fun year getting to know you all in Lochwinnoch and I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all patients and staff for making me feel very welcome. I hope we will spend many more happy years getting to know each other better. We have faced certain challenges this year, the biggest being H1N1 flu (I pre-fer that to the fear-engendering "swine" term). Our vaccination pro-gramme is going ahead as planned and the good news is that this particu-lar strain of flu has proved no more dangerous than previous seasonal strains. I would urge all eligible pa-tients to take up the offer of vaccina-tion where it arises.

It can be a stressful time of year and people’s moods can dip in the dark nights and long evenings. I would like to draw people’s attention to the web-site www.stepsforstress.org which can give great advice, not just for those of us who are struggling, but also those of us who are coping well but can do with a little self-help.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dr McLaughlin (Dr Waterston, Dr Kirk and all the staff)

Personal Service & Quality Guaranteed

New Memorials

Additional Inscriptions

Cleaning & Renovations

Monday & Friday 10am-5pm, Tuesday-Thursday 10am–2pm

Saturday 10am - 1pm

42 MAIN STREET, KILBIRNIE

Please Call 01505 685 455

Q What’s On

(Regular clubs, classes and local

groups)

• Healing and Creativity Work-shops on Sundays & Classes on Mondays. For details or to book a place, please call Becky on: 0141 8816700 or Libby on: 015105 842604. Venue: Lochwinnoch.

• Lochwinnoch Community Walks - Mondays (ex. Public Holidays), meet at 10.30 am at The McKillop Inst.

• Lochwinnoch Playgroup - For under 5’s, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9.30-11.30am at the McKillop Institute.

• Lochwinnoch Toddlers - Mon-days and Wednesdays from 9.30 - 11.30am, McKillop Institute.

• Lochwinnoch Gymnastics Club - For primary school-age children every Monday,5-8pm at the Annexe. Phone Coby for de-tails on: 0772 9051615.

• Lochwinnoch Writers Group—Monday mornings from 9.30-11.30am in the Library.

• Morag’s Keep Fit - Mondays and Thursdays from 7pm, in the McKillop Institute.

• Lochwinnoch Choral Society. Rehearsals on Monday evenings, Parish Church/ Hall. Juniors 7-7.30pm, Intermediates 7.30-8.30pm and Seniors from 8pm.

• Club Latino - weekly Merengue, Salsa and Mambo classes for adults on Monday evenings at Lochwinnoch Bowling Club from 8.30-9.30pm. Details from Hazel on: 07812 023343.

• Lochwinnoch Art Group Meet fortnightly on Monday eve-nings, 7.30pm, McKillop Inst. *

• Keep Fit - Improving With Age classes, every Tuesday from 10am-11am at the Annexe building in the Park. (See separate notice.)

• Drop-in T Bar - Lochwinnoch Elderly Forum. Every Tuesday and Thursday from 10am-1pm, McKillop Inst. For details, Tel Reta: 01505 842054.*

• Baby and Toddler Rhyme-time - every Tuesday, 2.15pm at Lochwinnoch Library. *

• Advice Works - Tuesdays 10am -12.30 at the Library. *

• Linda Margaret School of Dancing - Tuesdays from 4pm-8.45pm, McKillop Institute. For details, Tel: 0141 581 9104.

• TaeKwon-Do Fitness and Self-defence classes for youths and adults. Tuesdays from 5-6pm, McKillop Institute. For details Tel: 01259 210716.

• Lochwinnoch Scottish Country Dance Club Every Tuesday, from 7.30-9.30pm, McKillop Inst.

• Jogging Buddies - Wednes-day evenings. Meet at McKillop Inst. at 6.30pm. For details, Tel: 0141 887 1357 or 07947 763704.

• Girls Brigade - 1st Loch-winnoch Company Wednesday evenings from 6pm-9.15pm at the Parish Church Hall for vari-ous age groups.

• Boys Brigade - Anchor Boys and Junior Sections meet on Tuesday nights and Company Section on Friday evenings, Parish Church Hall.

• Yoga Classes - Wednesday evenings - 2 classes - at 6pm & at 7.30pm. * Yoga, breathing

practice, intro. to meditation. For details Tel Mary: 01505 842877.

• Happy Harminis - Fun for pre-school children. Thursdays from 10am-11am in the McKillop Institute. Contact Frankie Plater for details: 01505 612248.

• Slinky Strollers - on Thursday mornings (details on back page).

• ROAR Lunch Club - every Thursday at 12 noon at the McKillop Institute. Please Note - the last sitting is at 12.15

• TaeKwon-Do Little Tiger Cubs. Classes are for 3-5 year olds, held on Thursdays from 4.15pm-5pm at McKillop Inst. Tel: 01259 210716 for details.

• Calder Drama Club—Thursdays, from 8pm-10pm McKillop Institute.

• Scottish Slimmers - Thurs-days, 7/7.30pm, McKillop Inst.

• Lochwinnoch Pre-School Gymnastics ( for children from 18 mths to 5 yrs). Fridays, from 10.15am - 1.45pm at the Annexe. Further details from Coby on Tel: 0772 9051615.

J Quinn & son

Memorials

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Saturday 19Saturday 19Saturday 19Saturday 19thththth December December December December –––– Annual DanceAnnual DanceAnnual DanceAnnual Dance Entertainment & Buffet Entertainment & Buffet Entertainment & Buffet Entertainment & Buffet ---- £12 per ticket£12 per ticket£12 per ticket£12 per ticket

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Dates for your diaries

• Saturday 5th December - Councillor Neil Bibby’s Advice Sur-gery, at 9am, McKillop Institute. (Cllr Bibby Tel: 0141 840 3653)

• Saturday 5th December - Lochwinnoch Parish Church Victorian Christmas Fayre from 10am—12 noon. *

• Saturday 5th December—Krafty Kids class 10am-11.30am for Pri-mary School children at Space Rooms, McKillop Inst. Tel Katharine on: 01505 844944.

• Saturday 5th December - Christmas Lights Switch On Parade - starts at Auld Simon at 6.30pm. All welcome. *

• Sunday 6th December - Craft Fair, Barrmill Community Centre, Beith from 12 noon—4pm. *

• Monday 7th December - Lochwinnoch Art Group meeting at 7.30pm, Lesser Hall, McKillop Inst *

• Friday 11th December - Prize Bingo Night, starts 7.30pm at the Masonic Club. *

• Saturday 12th December - Brown Bull Annual TCT Auction, from 9.3opm at the Brown Bull pub*

• Sunday 13th December - Fund-raising Sale for Ally Bhatia’s Expe-dition to Costa Rica and Nicaragua from 2-5pm at 23 Main Street, Lochwinnoch. *

• Sunday 13th December - Christmas Fair to raise funds for Howwood School and St Vincent’s Hospice. Event will be run from 12.30-4pm at Bowfield Hotel & Country Club. *

• Wednesday 16th December - Annual Christmas Whist Drive at 7.30pm at Barrmill Community Centre, Beith. *

• Saturday 19th December —Councillor Arthur’s Surgery from 11.30am, the McKillop Institute. *

• Saturday 19th December—Krafty Kids class from 1.30-3pm for Primary School children at Space Rooms, McKillop Inst. To book, Tel Katharine on: 01505 844944.

• Tuesday 22nd December - Christmas Concert at 7pm in Loch-winnoch Parish Church. *

• Friday 1st January 2010 - New Year Dance with band “Freedom” from 7.30pm at the McKillop Inst. *

* For further details about these events

and activities, see separate notices inside this issue of Chatterbox.

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A “VICTORIAN” CHRISTMAS

FAYRE at

LOCHWINNOCH

PARISH CHURCH HALLS on

Saturday

5th December from 10am-12 noon

Baking, Tombola and

Usual Stalls

Tea & Coffee

*Hot* Mince & Apple Pies

and Shortbread

Orders for Christmas

Wreaths can be taken

Tickets available at the Door

Adult - £1.50: Child £1

All Welcome.

WHEN COPPER

WAS MINED AT

KAIM BURN

by DEREK PARKER

The entrance to Renfrewshire's largest copper mine occupies a dramatic set-ting in a deep glen in the hills above Lochwinnoch.

It's marked by a black hole gouged from a wooded hillside overlooking the Kaim Burn. The sepulchral spot is wild and gloomy with a claustro-phobic atmosphere darkened by the raging of a cascading waterfall at the head of a wooded ravine.

Inside the tunnel there's an over-whelming aura of melancholy. The walls are four feet wide and the arched roof looms just a few inches above head height. The stone floor oozes with muddy water which squelches beneath one's feet. The passage ex-tends for about 100 yards into the tree-mantled hillside far below the ground.

The Kaim Mine was functional be-tween 1848 and 1878 when it shut down following the collapse of the City of Glasgow Banking Company. Its maximum tonnage was around 800 in 1861.

Much of the copper was transported to Swansea in South Wales where it was sold for between £5.30 and £9.50 per ton. The main vein extended for 600 yards and was worked by two compa-nies - Lochwinnoch Consols at East Kaim and the West Kaim Copper Min-ing Company at West Kaim.

In addition to the hillside tunnel - known as an adit - there were several deep shafts about 200 feet deep, which dropped dizzily into the mine from the ground above. All have now been sealed shut but the remains of a 19th century fur-nace can still be seen among the trees where copper metal was sepa-rated from the mineral ore. Large heaps of black shiny rock thrown up by the workings still litter the site of the sylvan smelter. The Victorian miners were not the first to quarry copper at the Kaim. Around 500BC, copper deposits were being excavated by the Bronze Age inhabitants of the neighbour-hood. They alloyed the copper with tin to manufacture bronze items like weapons, agricultural implements and domestic tools. These new utensils marked a huge step in human history in the Loch-winnoch area and heralded the arri-val of the Bronze Age in Ren-frewshire.

Deep within the mine, one experi-ences a mystic aura of peace and tranquillity. It's a rocky reminder that sages and mystics of earlier ages spent several days sealed up alone in deep caverns in the quest for self-knowledge. The ritual entombment was regarded as the return of the candidate for the prehistoric priesthood into the womb of the Earth who was his Mother.

There, in the awesome stillness and silence, communing with his own

thoughts and feelings, he died so his old existence was born anew. His emergence from the tenebrous tomb after the stipulated time was his second birth. If he survived spiritually enriched and enlightened, he was accepted into the priesthood of the Mother Goddess. It's likely that the copper mine at Kaim Burn was used for this purpose - especially as there's archaeological evidence of Bronze Age presence at burial mounds as well as homesteads and hut circles in the countryside around the melancholic mine. Today the Kaim Mines lie abandoned in their woodland glen - but they are stony reminders of brave men who toiled there with picks and shovels more than 100 years ago to feed, clothe and house their families. And for modern mystics searching for their higher selves and a deeper mean-ing to their lives in a materialistic world, the centuries-old mines remind us that, when our goals are attained, we shall emerge from spiritual dark-ness into light and self-knowledge.

NOTE: Old mines like the workings at Kaim are dangerous and MUST not be entered. Although the writer of this article explored the mines 25 years ago, he was equipped with special-ised protection gear and working un-der the guidance of a highly-qualified mining engineer and pot-holer.

Derek Parker worked as a country-side ranger at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park from 1985 until 1999.

1,000 times bigger than our Sun, it would occupy the space held by all of the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth Mars, and would swallow up the orbit of Jupiter. One day, our Sun will also be a red giant and the Earth as we know it, will be no more. Around Orion's belt and sword is a large nebulous area which is visible to the naked eye. Put the sword off-centre of vision for best results. Got a digital camera? Try a shot of 15 sec-onds or more and you will start to see the nebula. Follow the line of the belt to the right and you will come to a red star Alde-baran, the eye of Taurus the Bull. Be-yond that is a cluster of very blue stars -Pleiades. This and more appear Online at www.lochwinnoch.info

SKY AT NIGHT

LOCHWINNOCH

December 2009

The MOON is Full on the 2nd and 31st(Hogmanay), New on the 16th. At around 2am on the 29th, the Moon passes below Pleiades, a challenging shot for photographers. PLANETS Jupiter is still visible in the west throughout evening. Despite its low position, good views of the cloud bands and moons are still possible. Mars can be seen in the east after 9pm. Look to the right of Leo. Saturn is in Virgo and visible by 1am. Venus and the Moon may just be visi-ble together over Howwood just be-fore sunrise on the 15th.

Lochwinnoch International Aid

Appeal

Please set an extra place at your table this Christmas. Christmas is an expensive time but we, Lochwinnoch In-ternational Aid, ask you to think about children who will not have a meal at this time. LIA is sending its next dona-tion of money to Mary’s Meals this Christmas. Mary’s Meals is a very simple idea, ‘one meal, every day to a hungry impoverished child in school’. Nothing more. Nothing less. They work in many poor countries around the world. £5 will provide a child with a Mary’s meal for a whole year! 99% of money raised goes to fund the feed-ing programme directly. If you could just ‘imagine’ an extra person at your table this Christmas and donate the money you would have spent on them to LIA, we will send ALL the money col-lected to Mary’s Meals. Unlike some national charities, Lochwinnoch International Aid has no high administrative costs. We have collecting tins in The Junction, The Corner Bar, Heritage Meats, or you can pay in money to our ac-count at the Royal Bank. Thanks from LIA.

Meteors - Geminids peak about 5am on 14th but the Gemini Radiant, the area of sky from which the meteors appear to emerge, rises about 6pm. You will find it at the top of the Constellation Gemini- the Twins. The UK is ideally placed for viewing and the radiant is visible all night. The nearly new Moon is per-fect. Active between the 7th and 17th December, the peak is on the 13th/14th. The meteors tend to be bright. Constellation of the Month: Orion - the Hunter. As winter approaches, the constella-tion Orion, the Hunter, fills the southern sky above the Braes by 10pm and is easily picked out by his Belt and Sword which some see as a big arrowhead. The red star top left -his right shoulder is Betelgeuse. This is a super-giant red star nearing the end of its life. It’s immense!

Fairtrade Activities The Lochwinnoch Campaign marked the passing of its first year of Fairtrade status by applying for a renewal of this recognition. To achieve this, we collected evidence of continuing support for Fairtrade ideas and products as well as good press coverage. We hope that the increased level of support across the village for Fair-trade will convince the Fairtrade Foundation to renew our status for a further two years and we wish to thank the many folk who have assisted us in getting this far. In the run up to Christmas, there will be two Fairtrade stalls in the village selling a wide range of goods supplied by the Rainbow Turtle. The first will be at the Lochwinnoch Farmer’s Market on Sunday 6th December, from 11am to about 2pm at Castle Semple Centre. The following weekend, On Saturday 12th December, we will be at the RSPB Festive Fun event that takes place from 1pm-4pm at the RSPB Centre, Lochwinnoch. These will both be great opportunities to buy some special Christmas presents and help producers in poorer countries make a living for themselves. We hope to see you there and would welcome your support. Finally, plans for Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 'The Big Swap' are underway. We'll be asking Lochwinnoch folk to swap their usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff; your usual wine, sugar, or oranges for Fairtrade wine, sugar or oranges. Each swap will be proof that the village wants developing world producers to get a better deal.

Baby & Toddler Baby & Toddler Baby & Toddler Baby & Toddler Rhyme time Rhyme time Rhyme time Rhyme time

At Lochwinnoch LibraryAt Lochwinnoch LibraryAt Lochwinnoch LibraryAt Lochwinnoch Library every Tuesday at 2.15pmevery Tuesday at 2.15pmevery Tuesday at 2.15pmevery Tuesday at 2.15pm

STOPS 15th December RE-STARTS on 12th January

Renew and Reserve at

www.renfrewshwire.gov.uk/libraries

Library members can view, renew and reserve their library loans online. All you need to get started is your library membership number and a password.

If you don’t have a password just ask at any library.

ADVICE WORKS

Tuesdays 10am –12.30pm

Advisors are on hand to help fill in claim forms, check and advise on wel-fare benefits/money problems, etc. Advisors can provide expert advice on a wide range of debt related topics, such as credit card, mortgage arrears, council tax, etc. The service is FREE, confidential and open to all Renfrewshire residents. Please note - with effect from 11th January 2010, the surgery will be held on Mondays from 2pm-4.30pm.

FREE Computing Class

for Complete Beginners Would you, or someone you know, like to learn to email and surf the

Internet? Classes are held at Lochwinnoch Library :

Wednesdays 9.30am – 11am The course lasts for 5 weeks.

For details Tel: 01505 842305

A READER WRITES... I see from the November issue of Chatterbox that the final step in the consultation process on the management proposals for Parkhill Wood (Castle Semple) has now started and that these proposals are open for comment until 31 December. I understand that one of these proposals is the removal of ALL the Sycamore trees which border Courtshaw Hill. These are the trees which lie on the slope be-tween the "Maze" (Fifty Pas-sages) and the path which leads from the Black Ditch towards the area of the Collegiate Church. I feel very strongly that anyone who has enjoyed access to the Estate including the sight of these trees, in all conditions of light, and as the seasons progress (in my case for over 75 years) will be aghast at this proposal. In my opinion their removal would be an act of vandalism. It seems that the reason for re-moval of these trees is that Syca-mores are not a native species. Thank goodness those who laid out the Estate for the Mac-Dowalls did not work to this rule or we would not have the legacy we all now enjoy. I would ask any readers of Chatterbox who share my views on this matter to express their opinions to the Park Authority (before the end of the year).

This may be done by mail to -

Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park HQ at Barnbrock PA10 2PZ,

by e-mail to - info@clydemuirshiel.co.uk

or by drop in to Castle Semple Centre at the lochside.

Iain Crosbie (Senior)

Great Fall Ball ! A good crowd enjoyed a great night on the 14th November. The charity for the evening was the Lochwinnoch Samba

Band who played at the interval. £200 was donated to the band to purchase new drums.

Kirsty Davidson, a visitor from Orkney who was at the dance, said - “It was the best ceilidh she had ever been to.” And they know in Orkney how to have a ceilidh up there!

The ‘Last Tram tae Auchenshuggle’ were also in great form, with some new and fun music.

The next ceilidh is the Gala Ceilidh on the 20th February 2010. Don’t miss a great night!

Lochwinnoch Arts Lochwinnoch Arts Lochwinnoch Arts Lochwinnoch Arts Festival 2010Festival 2010Festival 2010Festival 2010

Next year’s Festival will run from

the weekend of 20th/21st March

right through to the weekend of the

27th/28th of March 2010. There will be Jazz, Folk and Classical music (including Neil Wilson), the Mystery Play in the village, the Cunningham Choir, Children’s events, including Julia Donaldson of the Gruffalo , Franzeska Ewart and Katharine Hardie and much more!!

Lochwinnoch Arts Festival will once again be holding an Art Exhibition in the Library Room in March. We will be looking for submissions of exhibits for the exhibition. Details to be pub-lished in February's Chatterbox.

Lochwinnoch Library

Lochwinnoch Library

NORMAL LIBRARY OPENING HOURS :

Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 2pm–5pm & 6pm–8pm

Tuesday and Saturday: 10am–1pm and 2pm–5pm Closed Thursday.

Tel: 01505 842305

and on the cusp of enormous success, Michael's perfect life begins to un- ravel when he finds himself the target of a depraved madman, a man who covets everything Michael has and will stop at nothing to take it all away. In a desperate fight to survive, Mi-chael is forced to confront the dark secrets of his past in order to save his family ……...

Chris Ryan : Who dares wins Two brothers, one mission, and a whole world of trouble...They are Sam and Jacob Redman. Two brothers, SAS through and through. They fight alongside each other; they watch each other's backs. They are ruthlessly pro-fessional in the field of war, fiercely loyal wherever they are. But when Jacob is booted from the Regiment for a moment of madness, he disappears. Not even his family knows where he is, or even if he's still alive. All that is about to change. On his return from a brutal mission in Afghanistan, Sam is ordered to conduct another dangerous operation into an inhospitable part of the world. He soon learns, though, that his unit are not being told every-thing by their government paymas-ters;……………….

Anita Shreve : A change in alti-tude Margaret and Patrick have been mar-ried just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Mar-garet quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the com-plex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the after-math of the tragedy, Margaret strug-gles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her mar-riage, perhaps forever.

Coming soon ………………… David Baldacci : True Blue Sue Grafton : U is for undertow Quintin Jardine : Blood red Dean Koontz : Breathless Stephen Leather : Nightfall Lesley Pearse : Stolen

New books for December

Stephen Booth: The kill call On a rain-swept Derbyshire moor, hounds from the local foxhunt find the body of a well-dressed man whose head has been crushed. Yet an anony-mous caller reports the same body lying half a mile away. Called in to in-vestigate the discovery, detectives DS Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper become entangled in the violent world of hunt-ing and hunt saboteurs, horse theft and a little-known sector of the meat trade. As Fry follows a complex trail of her own to unravel the shady business interests of the murder victim, Cooper realizes that the answer to the case might lie deep in the past. History is everywhere around him in the Peak District landscape -- particularly in the 'plague village' of Eyam, where an out-break of Black Death has been turned into a modern-day tourist attraction. But, even as the final solution is re-vealed, both Fry and Cooper find themselves having to face up to the disturbing reality of the much more recent past. Lisa Gardner : The Neighbour This is what happened in the last six hours of the world as I knew it...It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy - a young mother, blonde and pretty, disappears without trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness, and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect. But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren ar-rives at the Joneses' snug little bunga-low, she senses something off about the picture of wholesome normality the couple worked so hard to create. On the surface, Jason and Sandra Jones are like any other hardworking young couple raising a child. But just under the surface things grow murk-ier……………… Richard Montanari : The Devil’s garden Michael Roman is finally living the life he always dreamed of - he has a suc-cessful career, a beautiful wife and adorable twin daughters. But his idyl-lic life is about to come crashing down around him - because Michael is a man with a past. A rising star in the New York District Attorney’s office

Join the staff at Lochwinnoch

Library on Friday 18th December

for refreshments….. and take the oppor-

tunity to stock up on your reading material for the festive season

Lochwinnoch library will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period as follows. The library closes at 8pm on Wednesday 23rd December and reopens at 2pm on Wednesday 6th January. We are happy for you to stock up with your reading material to cover this closed period and, so you don’t have to worry about when to bring anything back, the due back date for all items bor-rowed after 27th November will be Monday 11th January. Remember you can renew and reserve items online at - www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/libraries If you don’t already have a pass-word to access this, the library staff will be happy to set one up for you – ask the next time you are in the library. All our online information re-sources will be available as usual from the website. We would like to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look for-ward to welcoming you to the library in 2010.

ANITHER NICHT WI’ BURNS

After their performance at the Calder UF Church in September, the GARTHLAND ST WIN-NOCH CRONIES were asked if they had any future events planned. Their response was vague; “ maybe something in the library before the end of the year“. That was enough to cre-ate a demand for tickets and the Community Library had to open a reservation list which was full within a week. This was not to-tally surprising, however, given the excellent name the CRO-NIES have acquired during this special Burns 250th Anniversary Year and the Library’s equally high reputation for delivering superb community events. During 2009 the CRONIES have presented several quality produc-tions of Burns’ life and works. On each occasion they have brought variation to their basic event structure and ensured no two performances have been the same. Recently they have added the music and songs of Burns to their narrative and recitations. This has resulted in a well bal-anced programme which informs and entertains the audience in equal measure. For their last performance of the year, the CRONIES selected “ John Barleycorn “ as the aspect of Burns on which their narrative would focus. BILL DAVEY delivered this with humour and more than a little empathy. Burns himself would have en-joyed and approved of the senti-ments. The selected recitations were an eclectic mix; but then the charac-ter of the poet, as evidenced in his life style and in his works, was, to say the least, paradoxical.

with feeling by this Cronie ! GAVIN PRATT used the poem “MAN WAS MADE TO MOURN“ to divulge the profound under-standing Burns had for the frailty and suffering of mankind. And in this poem, Burns alludes to a recur-ring theme in his work with the lines “ Or why has man the will and pow’r, To make his fellow mourn “. And it was left to this Cronie to deliver the essence of the evening’s theme in what is proba-bly Burns’ best known poem, “TAM O’ SHANTER“. It is no mean feat to memorise this epic tale, but to deliver it with the pa-nache of an accomplished story-teller is a real skill. The audience were treated to a masterpiece of recitation. The latest recruit to the CRONIES is WILLIE GAMBLE whose in-put of songs and music has added a much applauded element to the group’s original programme. The selection of songs included “RANTIN’ ROVIN’ ROBIN“, “MY BONNIE MARY“, “PARCEL O’ ROGUES“, and “SCOTS WHA HAE“. His ap-prenticeship in the folk-scene has served Willie well and today he is regarded as an accomplished singer-musician who can even get the audience to sing in tune ! His instrumental arrangement of “A RED, RED ROSE“ was particu-larly well-received. The programme closed with Willie Gamble leading the audience in “THE STAR O’ RABBIE BURNS“. This is not necessarily a favourite of the reviewer espe-cially given the use of “ Rabbie “ which Burns was never referred to in his lifetime. But it did provide the appropriate words of apprecia-tion of the Bard which rounded the programme admirably. Mention should also be made of the “ assistant Cronies “ whose

JOHNNY MAIR’s rendition of “THE RONALDS O’ THE BEN-NALS” gave insight into Burns’ insecurity with his sharp reaction to criticism and fear of rejection. His jibes at the daughters of a pros-perous farmer at the Bennals near to Lochlie resulted from their hav-ing been impervious to his over-tures. The poem also showed Burns’ obdurate pride as reflected in the lines “ My stomach’s as proud as them a’ man “. The hu-mour of “ SIC A WIFE AS WIL-LIE HAD “ was delivered with ex-pressive gusto by the same Cronie who also provided the audience with a fine rendition of the ballad extolling the worth of “ JOHN BARLEYCORN “. MALKY BLAIR reminded the au-dience just how good his version is of one of Burns’ best-loved tribute poems, “TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY“. Then, in a recitation of a poem central to the “ drink “ theme of the evening’s narrative, the au-dience was left in no doubt as to the worth of “SCOTCH DRINK“. Burns used the poem to rail against the tax on whisky with the immor-tal line “thae curst horse-leeches o’ th’ Excise“ and these were said

SAVE YOUR SAVE YOUR SAVE YOUR SAVE YOUR REGIONAL PARKREGIONAL PARKREGIONAL PARKREGIONAL PARK

NewsNewsNewsNews The public meeting on Wednesday 11th November in Kilbirnie was very well attended. The meeting was opened by SYRP Chairman, Nigel Willis and committee member, Robert Maund, introduced our guest speaker, James Mackinnon, the Scot-tish Government’s Chief Planner for Scotland. Robert Maund is also chairman of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks. He was formerly the Director of Planning for Strathclyde Region and was responsible for the actual establishment of Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. Robert led our combined Save Your Regional Park and Scottish Cam-paign for National Parks team of volunteers at the Kelburn windfarm Public Local Inquiry in a most pro-fessional manner and we are enor-mously grateful to him for agreeing to do the same for the upcoming Millour Hill PLI and the Wings Law windfarm PLI. Mr Mackinnon explained how he sees the future planning system in Scotland and the role of Regional Parks within the overall plan for Scotland. This was followed by a useful question and answer session.

WINDFARM ROUNDUP

Millour Hill A Public Inquiry has been arranged for what we call Millour Hill wind-farm, for another 6 turbines immedi-ately beside the existing Wardlaw Wood windfarm, Dalry and the 14 turbine Kelburn windfarm approved by Ministers following a 10 day In-quiry in June 2008 but as yet, not constructed. Not content with an Inquiry, the developer has submitted a second application, exactly the same as had already been rejected by North Ayrshire Council and is the subject of the PLI. This will be held in Radio City, Kilbirnie in April 2010. This is likely to last about 6

musical skills contributed signifi-cantly to the success of the pro-gramme. JULIE DONN, arguably our most accomplished local piper, was a delight to listen to. WILLIE GRAHAM’S guitar and keyboard accompaniments in the song segment were to a high stan-dard and much enjoyed by all. It is now axiomatic to say that the Community Library team puts on a standard of function which is sec-ond to none in the village. But some things should be said “loud and often“ if only to waken up those residents who haven’t come along to any of the events ! Be warned though that tickets are al-ways in high demand. The hospi-tality at this event had a Scottish food theme and, though the wine was French, the “John Barleycorn“ was very definitely Scottish ! So, many thanks to Margaret Sweenie, Dorothy Donn and Janet Stirrat. Finally, the GARTHLAND ST WINNOCH CRONIES have added a dimension to the long-standing excellence in locally delivered en-tertainment. They are to be espe-cially congratulated for their ef-forts to adhere to the original plan that 2009, the 250th Anniversary of Burns’ Birth, was to be a year sin-gularly dedicated by the country to the recognition of Burns’ place in our national culture and in the wider world. Lochwinnoch should be justifiably proud that Burns was properly rec-ognised in a series of events held throughout the year and which cul-minated in this outstanding eve-ning at the Community Library.

CRONIES AND LIBRARY STAFF – YOU ARE REAL

LOCHENYOCHIAN STARS

days. It seems quite extraordinary that planning regulations allow these two processes to be ongoing at the same time. Wings Law, Kilbirnie A Public Inquiry has been announced for this windfarm and the Pre-meeting will be on 2nd December at which the date of the Inquiry will be announced. To have all the preparation work for two PLIs at the same time would be well nigh impossible and totally un-reasonable and we have made this point to the Reporters office. Kaim Hill, Fairlie The application for Kaim Hill wind-farm above Fairlie, is expected to be before North Ayrshire Council next month. If this too is refused we will no doubt be involved in our 4th Inquiry. Waterhead Moor, Largs The Environmental impact statements for The Waterhead moor application behind Largs, with 26 of the 29 pro-posed turbines within the Special Pro-tection Area, are still not completed. No doubt this too will require a Public Inquiry.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Meetings were held at the Consents Unit in October, concerning a resur-rected proposal to place 25 turbines behind Skelmorlie, with the developer making out that there is capacity for 100 turbines. This is at the scoping stage, as is a single turbine proposal at Glenlora, near Lochwinnoch. Lochwinnoch Community Council have a standing objection to the siting of wind farms of any size in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park and will therefore always aim to object to any such proposals. The latest form of industrial-sized de-velopment is in the form of an appli-cation to Renfrewshire Council for an 18,500 tonne per year capacity anaerobic digester being proposed, alongside a single track Core Path in the Regional Park at Glenlora.

For more information, visit our website at: -

www.saveyourregionalpark.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A HAPPY NEW

YEAR TO ALL from Clyde Muirshiel

Regional Park This has been a busy year at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. Consulta-tion continues on the Parkhill Wood-land Plan until 30th December 2009. There has been quite a lot of interest in the draft proposals, which are avail-able on the website - www.clydemuirshiel.co.uk or on hard copy at Castle Semple. If there is sufficient interest, the Park Authority would like to support a “Friends of Parkhill Wood “ group that could be the focus of both planning and practical work in the wood.

Stargazing has become very popular at Muirshiel Centre with monthly meetings over the winter period from October 2008 to the end of March 2009 - starting again in October 2009. The site is ideally suited as there is no light pollution up in the hills, despite being so close to Glasgow and Paisley. Homecoming 2009 was a national project to which Clyde Muirshiel linked an event and activities pro-gramme. This has provided a legacy for the Park of:

• Improved facilities at Castle Sem-ple Centre;

• A stock of publications, including “Castle Semple Rediscovered” (with some financial support from Clyde Muirshiel Park Authority)

• The Semple Flag and Visitors Book

• An archaeological survey report for the Collegiate Church

• Semple Displays & DVD presentations

• Photographic competition pho-tographs. What a year this has been at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. As well as their duties of patrolling the area, conservation, biological recording, and facilities management the Ranger Service provided a myriad of events and activities, predominately FREE for the visitors to Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. January saw a successful Stargazing night up at Muirshiel with clear skies and wonderful views of the stars, galaxies and even some meteorites flashing overhead. Conservation work was continued with more Rhododendron removal at Muirshiel, opening up the area for native plants and wildlife, and a Beach Clean at Lunderston Bay – after the winter storms. The Ranger Service also brought Johnstone High School pupils to the community garden one very cold January day, to help clear up the plots and move the compost bins – ready for the burst of spring activity at the garden. Homecoming 2009 saw Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park running a programme of linked events, starting in January with three shadow puppet shows at Cornalees on the popular Burns poem ‘Tam O’ Shanter’, and also a winter walk through Parkhill Woods.

Lochwinnoch Art Club held their annual exhibition at Castle Semple

Centre, displaying their works for a couple of weeks.

Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park also played hosts to a visit by members of the board of Eurosite (which is the largest european network of organisa-tions devoted to nature conservation management across Europe with over 27 countries and 100 member organi-sations) who were very impressed with the whole park and the various pro-grammes, events and activities which are undertaken here. February saw lots of activity about birds from making birdfeeders and food, through a coastal bird survey to the RSPB visiting the Castle Semple Centre to talk about Swans. March was the first Farmers Market of the season and also the first Craft Fair of the year both at Castle Semple. The Stargazing evenings continued at Muirshiel, concentrating on Saturn in March and then on the Moon at the start of April. The Seasonal Rangers arrived on the 1st April but were no fools,and they were soon in the thick of things with schools and events. The 6th of April saw the first ‘raising of the Semple Flag’ (a Homecoming 2009 initiative) by Jim Semple.

There was an Easter Bunny hunt at Castle Semple and a Ranger-led ‘Spring walk’ through Ardgowan Es-tate at Inverkip. Volunteers helped with a Spring clean up at the Peel (Tower) at Castle Semple Loch, and also another Beach Clean at Lunder-ston Bay. People were encouraged to take the newly improved road back to Muirshiel and to walk up on the moor-land tracks to spot the elusive Hen Harriers and other moorland birds. There was also ‘Pawsitivity’, a dog ori-entated day with a sponsored dog walk, facepainting and other activites to raise some funds for St Vincents Hospice.

events in the Regional Park, starting with the Photographic exhibition of pictures taken as part of the Homecoming 2009 Photographic Competition. Outdoor activities began to get a little quieter, although there are still groups making regular use of the facilties throughout the winter month. Club nights finished on the water with a ‘Rescue Me’ training day on the loch for all the clubs, kindly organised and themed for Hallowe’en by the Windsurfing Club. In November there was a demonstration of how a sheep’s fleece is turned into wool and clothing, a talk on Bats, conservation volunteer work and another Stargazing evening at Muirshiel, and an autumn ramble in Parkhill Woods. Castle Semple held a second Craft Fair at the end of November for all the people buying early Christmas presents. Students from Kilmarnock College organised their own charity triathlon using Park boats and bikes. Coming up in December there is the Christmas Farmers Market, the annual Tinsel walk, Stargazing at

Muirshiel, making natural Christmas decorations at Castle Semple and Cornalees, and then a chance to have a day outdoors doing conservation work on the 30th December to complete this year’s events. So there is still time to come and enjoy the Regional Park for the remainder of 2009 – why not make a date to visit us?

See the back page of this issue of Chatterbox for Winter Opening hours for all Visitor Centres.

May was a lovely month weather wise, and saw lots of people out and about in the Regional Park. The clubs – rowing, sailing, windsurfing all got busy with lots of activity on club nights and at weekends, our activity staff helped with training, equipment and the provision of facilities. Cor-nalees was host to a Wildfood Cook School. Jim Carruth a local poet gave people a taste of his poetry on a walk. There was a Kids pond survey at Cor-nalees for Scottish Biodiversity Week, a moorland walk at Muirshiel, a Coastal walk at Fairlie and the RSPB

visiting to look at moths and a spring walk in Parkhill Wood. June had the second Farmers Market of the year at Castle Semple, and the third annual ‘Pound and Pace’ walk around the Greenock Cut from Cor-nalees this year raising funds for St Vincents Hospice. The RSPB were once again at Castle Semple for a day, and this was the start of six free bus trip days up to Muirshiel for their Moorland Walks programme.

May and June saw the Green woodworking team visiting several agricultural shows and also Eglinton Park to show off this skilled craft and to promote the park. April to June were, as usual, a very busy few months for school visits to all park centres with students engaging in environ-mental education as well as taking part in a variety of activities such as sailing, kayaking, archery, map-reading skills and mountain biking with our Outdoor Activities team. In July the Muirshiel Wildlife Won-ders short summer programme aimed at children ran Watery Wildlife, Hid-den Worlds, Woodland Wander, Drag-ons and Damsels. There were Sea-shore days at Lunderston and Largs, a Funday at Kilbirnie and more Moor-land and Poetry walks.

In August the Wildlife Wonders were Natural Artworks and Bird-brained day (making nestboxes), more

woodland, moorland, seashore and poetry walks all over the Regional Park.

The biggest event of the summer was the ‘Knights & Princesses Day’ held at Castle Semple on the 9th August, with over 350 people attending over the day – costume parades, dragon mountain, the Water Dragon and the jousting arena gave people lots of FREE things to do with their chil-dren. There was a Semple Estate walk – giving the history of the area in relation to the Semples and Mac-Dowalls, as part of the Parks Home-coming 2009 programme. During this time there was a visit by 12 international volunteers who partici-pated in a variety of projects around the Regional Park. Renfrewshire Active Weekend saw nearly 100 peo-ple 'Walkaboutabit’ - basically 10 miles from Paisely to Castle Semple.

September was a good time for the Farmers Market, outdoor activities, early autumn walks, a very success-ful Bat walk and another Beach Watch at Lunderston Bay. The Doors Open Day weekend gave ac-cess to the Watch Tower as well as some interesting history on the area: in photographs with the ‘Then and Now’ display and in an archaeologi-cal ‘dig’ in Parkhill Wood. Cornalees also held an Archaeology day where people could try their hand at an-cient skills or take part in a simu-lated ‘dig’.

October saw the beginning of the autumn/winter programme of

Wildlife Action Awards are given for doing four things – finding out what wildlife is around, looking after it, being environmentally friendly and spreading the word. Wildlife Explorers is for children aged 5 to 14, with most of the Loch-winnoch group being under 12.

Why not come along to our next event

the Art Masterclass, which will be take place on Saturday 5th December

from 10am - 12 noon at Lochwinnoch Library.

All are welcome to attend for indoor and outdoor activities.

To find out more about the group and how to join, contact Margaret and Michael Jarvis on 01505 842 563 or e-mail them at: mikej@chem.gla.ac.uk

Barrmill Community Association

Lochwinnoch Annual Christmas Farmers’ Market

Get into the Christmas mood at Castle Semple Centre on Sunday 6th December 2009.

Castle Semple will host a Christ-mas Farmers’ Market on Sunday 6th December from 11 am until 2.30 pm or until sold out—so try and come early! This annual festive market gives everyone the opportunity to taste and buy fresh local products, direct from the producers.

This year there is something for the WHOLE family with live music provided by the Gryffe High School Jazz Band, seasonal children’s ac-tivities provided by the Ranger Service, the Climbing Wall will be back (staffed by the Activities team) and the Lochwinnoch Fair-trade stall with goods from Rain-bow Turtle. There will be a small stall from the Juniper conservation project (a joint promotion by Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park and the Pentland Hills Regional Park) and the opportunity for some Gin tast-ing, supplied by Hendrick’s.

This is a good chance to buy some special festive food and drink, as well as the normal supplies. Or perhaps make some special Christ-mas orders too such as your Christmas tree, which will just be going on sale. Stalls will be both inside the centre and outside at this scenic loch side location.

There will be a free prize draw for a hamper of goodies. Refresh-ments are available all day in the Centre, so why not have a day out, get some shopping, try some fun activities perhaps followed by a walk along the loch shore and through the woods, before finish-ing with a refreshing hot drink and then heading home.

Lochwinnoch RSPB

Wildlife Explorers

The Wildlife Explorers Group at Lochwinnoch has just been given a bronze Wildlife Action Award by the RSPB.

The Group’s leaders were astonished because they had never applied for one of these awards, but it seems that the group’s meetings over a number of years had unintentionally met all the conditions.

Annual Christmas Whist Drive

on Wednesday 16th December at 7.30pm in Barrmill Community Centre, Barrmill, Beith. Anyone wishing to take a table, please con-tact Jean on 01505 502521 or just come along on your own. You will be most welcome.

Tai Chi Classes Re-start on Thursday 14th January 2010 from 7.30pm - 8.30pm in the Community Centre.

Craft Fair on Sunday 6th December from 12am to 4pm in Barrmill Com-munity Centre, Barrmill, Beith. Stalls cost £8. If anybody would like to take a stall, please contact Jean on 01505 502521.

Art Classes Classes re-start on Monday 11th January 2010 at 7.30pm in Barr-mill Community Centre. £2 per class. For more information, contact Jean on 01505 502521.

RSPB LOCHWINNOCH Wildlife viewing all year round, nature trails and hides open at all times, Visitor Centre open from 10am-5pm daily, Bird Feeding Station and Treetop Tower, daily activi-ties for families, school holiday activities, drinks, snacks and a superb RSPB Shop.

For bookings and information, Tel: 01505 842663 or e-mail us at: lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk

or visit: www.rspb.org.uk/scotland

Keep up to date with the latest RSPB gossip.

Find us on Facebook: Search ‘RSPB Lochwinnoch’, click on us and

receive regular updates.

Follow us on Twitter: at http://twitter.com/RSPBLochwinnoch

Subscribe to the RSPB Lochwinnoch Blog!

For weekly updates, visit:

http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/lochwinnoch/default.aspx

and subscribe using the RSS link.

The plant is notoriously difficult to control; it grows back very easily when cut, cannot be killed by herbi-cides (without killing everything else!) and can spread from one wa-ter body to another from only one small fragment (1cm) of plant mate-rial. One of the most extreme examples of the effect that this plant can have, is found in Derwent Water in the Lake District. This water body has now been so widely affected, that from the air, the water appears to be emerald green, because the plant has formed a mat on the floor of the lake. The ecology of the lake has com-pletely changed, crowding out na-tive plant species and affecting other water life such as inverte-brates and fish. For us, the course of action is that we will have to drain the affected area of water, treat the plant with rock salt and cover the plant with plastic sheeting, and then fill the pond in. Once we are sure the plant is under control, we will create a new pond near to the feeding sta-tion, so that our visitors can con-tinue to enjoy close up views of the ducks. We will have to act quickly to

RSPB LOCHWINNOCH NEWS prevent the spread, so you may notice this work beginning to happen within the next few weeks.

What can you do?

1. Check your own pond/water bodies for this plant, you might have already found it to be a problem. The plant is sometimes found in garden centres and is mislabelled as Tillea recurva, so be on the look out for this.

2. Have a look at other water bodies when you’re out and about, and in-form landowners/managers where possible.

3. Please do not bring your own pond dipping equipment to the re-serve. We have many nets that we are happy to provide you with. This will also stop it from spreading to your own or other sites water bodies.

4. Visit the UK non-native species website to find out more information about this species and what you can do to limit its spread. www.nonnativespecies.org/ and search for New Zealand Pygmy-weed.

Alternatively, pop in to see us at the visitor centre, where we can provide you with more information and an ID chart to take home with you, email us at lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk or phone us on 01505 842663.

Something to be on the look out

for: New Zealand Pygmy-weed

(Crassula helmsii)

New Zealand Pygmy-weed has just been discovered at RSPB Lochwin-noch nature reserve. This plant was introduced to the UK by people in 1911 as an oxygenator for ponds, but unfor-tunately has become one of the UK’s most damaging species, especially when found on a wetland site, because of its ability to spread and the difficul-ties in controlling it. This was not good news for us, as you can imagine, but luckily, the patch of plant that has been found is limited to one of our small ponds.

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FREE ESTIMATES 0141 950 1423 GLASGOW FREE SURVEYS 01505 842176 AYRSHIRE FREE INSURANCE REPORTS 01786 820130 STIRLING

The Cross, Lochwinnoch PA12 4DB (10 mins from Glasgow Airport on A737)

ESTABLISHED 1989ESTABLISHED 1989ESTABLISHED 1989ESTABLISHED 1989 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS GO ON AND ON … 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS GO ON AND ON … 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS GO ON AND ON … 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS GO ON AND ON …

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OUR PRODUCTS ARE INSTALLED OUR PRODUCTS ARE INSTALLED OUR PRODUCTS ARE INSTALLED OUR PRODUCTS ARE INSTALLED IN OVER ONE HUNDRED IN OVER ONE HUNDRED IN OVER ONE HUNDRED IN OVER ONE HUNDRED

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Contact Contact Contact Contact ---- PETER McGARVEYPETER McGARVEYPETER McGARVEYPETER McGARVEY Tel: 01505 614654Tel: 01505 614654Tel: 01505 614654Tel: 01505 614654

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What’s On at RSPB, Muirshiel,

Cornalees & Castle Semple Centres

• Monday mornings - Loch- winnoch Community Walks - Mondays (ex. Public Holidays), 10.30am at The Cross.

• Thursday mornings - Slinky Strollers walks (for parents & pushchairs) - meet at 10.30am at Castle Semple Centre.

• Saturday 31st October-Sunday 10th January 2010 - Homecoming Photographic Exhi-bition at Castle Semple Centre during opening hours.

• Saturday 5th December - RSPB Wildlife Explorers: Art Masterclass from 10am - 12 noon at Lochwinnoch Library. (See in-side back pages for more details.)

• Saturday 5th December - Teenage Volunteers Group join us from 11am-4pm at the RSPB Re-serve and take part in bird survey-ing, outdoor work, etc. Booking essential. Tel: 01505 842663.

• Sunday 6th December—Lochwinnoch Festive Farmers’ Market at Castle Semple Centre from 11am-2.30pm or until sold out. (See inside for more details.)

• Wednesday 9th December—Annual Tinsel Walk around Loch-winnoch. Meet at 11am at Castle Semple Visitor Centre.

• Friday 11th December - Stargazing Evening (or indoor lecture if weather is poor) at Muir-shiel Centre from 7pm-9pm Booking essential as spaces are limited. Tel: 01505 842803.

• Saturday 12th December - Festive Fun Day from 1pm—4pm! Crafts, Stalls, meet Father Christ-mas, mince pies, mulled wine (for adults!) at the RSPB Centre. Entry £2 for non-RSPB members, FREE entry to RSPB members.

VISITOR CENTRES

NORMAL OPENING HOURS

RSPB Reserve The Reserve is open at all times; Visitor Centre open daily, 10am-5pm. Tel: 01505 842663.

Castle Semple Centre Open daily from 10am—4pm from 25 October to 29 March 2010. Tel: 01505 842882.

Cornalees Centre Open weekends only from 11am-3pm from 25 October to 29 March 2010. Tel: 01475 521458

Muirshiel Centre Open weekends only from 11am-3pm from 25 October to 29 March 2010. Tel: 01505 842803

FESTIVE OPENING HOURS: Thursday 24th December - Castle Semple Centre closes at 2pm, until Saturday 26th December - All Visitor Centres Open at 12 noon. Sunday 27th December - All Visitor Centres OPEN normal winter hours. Thursday 31st December - Castle Semple Centre closes at 2pm, until Saturday 2nd January - All Visitor Cen-tres Open at 12 noon. Sunday 3rd January - All Visitor Centres OPEN normal winter hours.

• Sunday 13th December - Wildlife Wander Plus: Wonder-ful Winter from 10am—12 noon. Enjoy the RSPB Reserve’s winter life, make the most of the cold, crisp days ahead. Booking essential - stout footwear and waterproofs recommended. Tel: 01505 842663.

• Monday 14th December - Twilight Talk: South African Adventure. Annual talk by RSPB Lochwinnoch Reserve Manager, Zul Bhatia from 7.30pm-9pm at the RSPB Cen-tre. Booking essential, Tel: 01505 842663.

• Thursday 17th December - join us for a Coffee morning from 11am-1pm at the RSPB Centre. Cost £2.

• Sunday 20th December - Christmas Decorations. Join the Regional Park Rangers to make decorations from natural materi-als - from 1pm at Castle Semple Centre (Tel: 01505 842882) and at Cornalees Centre (Tel: 01475 521458). Booking essential.

• Wednesday 30th December - Conservation Volunteers. Get some fresh air, keep fit and help nature at the same time. Gloves & equipment provided, come dressed to get dirty! At Muir-shiel Centre, from 1pm for 2 hrs.

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