Wednesday miscellany

A regular gurnite posed the question ”Where have the dolphins and the Golfer gone?  Are they away on their holidays and when are they coming back?"  They are referring to the flower displays which are usually at the top of Harbour Street and out by Balmakeith. Does anyone know where they’ve gone?

Irene MacKintosh provides us with a few details of the Old Free Kirk that will soon be vanishing from the landscape: “I believe it was started in 1842 by several notable people Sheriff Falconer, Dr. Bayne Firhall, Mr. Robertson of Newton,and others in anticipation of what would happen.  On the third Sunday after the disruption they held their first service, the church still not completed, no glazing in the windows  and pitch still dripping from the roof.  With the exception of one free church in Edinburgh our church in Nairn was the first Free Church opened in Scotland.  It continued until 1882 when a new church was erected on High Street at the cost of £8000.”

Nairn otters are in the news with orphans “Flash” and “Flood” being re-homed after their rescue from a Nairn burn in spate. Details and a picture on the Highland News site. Local otters get a mention in the Nairn blogosphere too. “One more predator for the Swans and ducks to worry about !” says the swan blogger. Sorry Joe, but if the odd duck or even a cygnet gets snacked by an otter then that’s just nature and let’s be glad that we have otters on the river too. The biggest disaster to befall the Nairn swans in recent years was from swan on swan violence when one pair of swans committed mass murder on another couple’s young. At the end of the day who are we as a species to make judgements about how other animals behave? Anyway last night the swans looked unconcerned about otters.

This observer notes from the Nairnshire Telegraph that Laurie is quoted: “I would love decentralisation. I’d love to see something like Nairn District Council recreated. Sadly, we’re not going to get that.”

Well Laurie, for several years you were part of an administration at Glenurquhart Road that was going full speed in the opposite direction to decentralisation. Supporting a single community council for the town too would have been a step in the right direction. Maybe most people don’t care these days but when asked in the past, the majority of respondents have said that they would prefer a single council. I appreciate there is a growing number of people who are concerned (perhaps alarmed is a better word) that such a body would be dominated by the present West CC members but the Westies would have to get themselves elected to the new body. The West is actually the smallest community council in Nairn with only around a thousand voters while River has around 5,000 voters in their area. Would the Westies come out on top in a town wide poll? 

Perhaps the first thing we should have is a referendum on a single CC? A Royal Burgh of Nairn Community Council would be the ideal body for the new Highland Council administration to hand back some power too.

Nice to see too that Cllr Michael Green is keen to get street markets and other events back on the agenda. I’m sure most of the residents of  Nairnshire would love to see a regular market during the summer months. Well done Michael, here’s hoping your vision of a regular series of events (commercial, cultural, sporting and artistic) comes to fruition.