Tuesday miscellany - 29 times more pollution at traffic lights?

One of our regular readers points us in the direction of an on line article that suggests that there is a lot more pollution at traffic lights. It states:

"With drivers decelerating and stopping at lights, then revving up to move quickly when lights go green, peak particle concentration was found to be 29 times higher than that during free-flowing traffic conditions. Also of course, while travelling by road we are generally pretty close to the air pollution source, which is the tailpipe of preceding road vehicle." 

There's certainly plenty of opportunities for us to get a times 29 dose of particles in Nairn if that is the case. More information here on an article entitled "Stopping at red lights could be slowly killing you."

We read online over at Nairn when you were a Bairn that the paper and tin collection bank containers have vanished from Harbour Street. There is a theory that they may have been made redundant because everyone has those recycling facilities at home now. 

Another of our readers points us in the direction of the website of local artist Mary Wilson, her site reads:

"Working in the Glasgow School of Art Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a big influence, Art Nouveau was also a strong influence and a very high point in the Eighties was to have purchased two chairs at an auction for just £3.00 only to have Roger Billcliffe identify them as Mackintoshes! They now sit in The Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow and the Scottish Gallery in Chamber Street, Edinburgh. She worked mainly on commissions while teaching and bringing up her family. 

Within teaching she worked extensively with pupils with special needs and pupils preparing portfolios for Art Colleges . She was an assessor for the Scottish Exam Board at Sixth Year study level. She is still involved with further Education and tutors her own adult art group in Nairn." More here

Ian wonders if Cawdor has been relocated to the east of Nairn as the sign at the

Bailey Bridge could send unwary visitors in the wrong direction (see image on right).  

This observer still thinks it a great shame that there is not much progress in establishing a coastal walk that would allow locals and visitors to walk to Inverness (and beyond to the Great Glen if they wished). It would bring day walkers and other long distance hikers and their spending money into town too. We have gurned about this "missing link" before, in a Gurn article here.