Issue 27

The Rowan Singers invite you to attend their Spring Concert on Friday 12th April 2013 at 7.30pm in the Arran High School Community Theatre. A ticket costs £8 (adult) and £3 (child), which includes a programme and refreshments. Proceeds will be donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care. Our programme includes sacred songs, folk songs, traditional songs and songs from the shows. There are songs from America, England and Scotland.

Making a welcome return to Arran is Kerrie Calder, a gifted flautist who will perform at the concert as well as singing with the choir. Those of you who have attended previous Rowan Singers’ concerts or Lochranza Choir concerts, will have heard Kerrie’s hauntingly beautiful renditions on the flute.

We are delighted to welcome John Harrington back to Arran to join us in concert. Everyone who attended the McLellan festival concert in 2012 will know what a splendid viola player he is and the warmth of tone he gets from his viola. He played the famous Meditation from Thais by Massenet, usually played on the violin and it was a real treat to hear it played by him on the viola.

John began learning piano at the age of six and violin at eleven. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, joined the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra as violinist and then gained valuable experience in Chamber Music, joining the “Ad Solem Ensemble” which was affiliated to Manchester University. John left Manchester in 1973 to become Principal Second violin with the SNO under Sir Alexander Gibson. In 1977 he became Principal Viola, and continued to hold that position until his retirement last year.

What better way to celebrate the beginning of spring than with what promises to be a most enjoyable evening ~ come and sample the Rowan Singers’ Springtime Selection. There’s something for everyone!

This great young Scottish band, who field a variety of folk and Americana music, will be playing at Lochranza Village Hall on Friday 26th April at 7.30pm. As their picture shows, they are a lively lot, with heaps of talent, and a thoroughly good evening is guaranteed.

Tickets priced £16 are available from Lochranza Distillery Shop and Brodick Post Office, or through Arran Events. See their website, www.skerryvore.com , for a taster.

Corrie Film Club’s choice for April is the award-winning film by Paddy Considine, Tyrannosaur, made in 2011. It focuses on Joseph, brilliantly played by Peter Mullan, an unemployed hard drinker whose wife has died and who is crippled by his own uncontrollable anger. One day, to escape from a violent episode resulting from his explosive rage, Joe dives into a handy charity shop and finds himself being befriended by the shop's manager, Hannah (Olivia Colman.) Hannah is a committed Christian, and perhaps out of missionary duty in the first place, she insists on attempting to talk to Joe, only to receive abuse and insults in return. But Hannah has a violent and abusive husband, James, chillingly played by Eddie Marsan. Joe does not know this at first, yet, as she continues to offer him kindness and warmth, he starts to recognise himself as someone who can be better than that, and the relationship shifts. It’s a deeply felt story, a stunning debut from actor-turned-writer/director Paddy Considine. As one critic said, the film is about ‘the emergence of grace and redemption from the least likely of places.’

Screening begins at 8.00pm in Corrie Hall, and all are welcome. There is no charge for entry, though small donations to the hall’s expenses are gratefully welcomed.

On Sunday, March 24th, when Arran was in the grip of the power cut, this magnificent group came off the ferry as promised despite a communication blackout. They carried their instruments (including a double bass and a harpsichord) into a Whiting Bay Hall that had turned into a community refuge serving hot drinks and food, and happily pushed three tables together to enjoy bowls of tasty soup. They then changed into evening dress and put on a classical concert that staggered everyone.

The programme began with Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin No 4, La Stravaganza, giving a first taste of the liveliness and superb professionalism of the group, and then came Ponchielli’s glorious Concerto in F major for Trumpet and Orchestra, featuring Kirill Gusarov as a brilliant soloist. A highlight was Bach’s delectable Double Concerto for Two Violins in D. Pavel Zuzanski and Fedor Roudine wove the sinuous lines together with breath-taking skill, taking the second movement with a voluptuous slowness that held everyone spellbound.

In the second half, Corelli’s Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 4 in D was followed by Fauré’s lovely Pavane Op 50 and Grieg’s immensely tuneful Holberg Suite Op 4. Summoned back by a standing ovation from the lucky few who were there (many being shut away behind snow-blocked roads) the group further delighted everyone with a Piazzolla tango and an exuberantly jazzy piece.

Loading instruments back into the hired bus, the players passed totally gob-smacked workers at the counter of the mobile burger van, one of whom said, ‘I can’t believe this. Some guy turning up with a concertina for a bit of entertainment, fine, but in the middle of all this, you put on a full-scale symphony concert?’ She shook her head in astonishment.

But that’s Arran for you.

After the power returned, a modest press release was issued. It ran as follows:

… To date we have issued, dispatched to sites and installed :

• Over 350 poles to replace broken ones
• 25,000m of overhead line conductor
• 50 pole mounted transformers
• 5000 sets of tee shirts, underwear, socks and personal hygiene kits delivered to our hard-pressed field staff
• 30 large generators - 17 in Arran and 13 in Kintyre
• Over 200 smaller generators
• Over 450 People working in the field

Over 450 people were working in the field, both day and night, in appalling weather conditions. We would like to thank every one of them.

The slide show below shows the snow conditions on Machrie Moor during and after the storm.

When Oban Distillery celebrated its bicentenary in the 1990s it gifted a hogshead - 250 litres - of whisky to the local RNLI. And no, they didn’t drink it. Far more sensibly, they stored it in a darkened warehouse to mature for eighteen years, with an eye to their own 40th anniversary in 2012.

Bottling and packaging of the unique single malt Oban Lifeboat whisky is being done by Douglas Laing and Company Ltd of Glasgow, and the first two bottles of 297 were sold on 19th March at Mulberry Bank Auction House in Glasgow. The auctioneers had expected it to fetch £140-£180 per bottle, but each one sold for £260.

At 49.7% alcohol by volume, the whisky is destined to become a collector's item. The auction house, which accepts bids online, has put an estimated sale price on it of £140-£180 a bottle. Ronnie Whiteford, Operations Manager at Oban Distillery, said: ‘It should become a collector's item as it is unique. I can assure you, from the samples that were drawn from it, that it is absolutely spectacular. It is an absolutely beautiful whisky.’

Oban Lifeboat hopes to make a profit of over £30,000 from the sales of the whisky to help with the station’s crucial lifesaving work. Some of the whisky may be sold at auction, but it is also to be made available locally through the Birchwood Service Station, Oban, from April 9th. Internet buyers will be able to purchase it online from the whisky shop website of the Green Welly Stop, at Tyndrum. See www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk. Slainte!

Dr Mauvis Gore of Marine Conservation International gave a fascinating talk on basking sharks to Arran Natural History Society last week. Research using satellite tags attached to the sharks have already shown the immense distances basking sharks can travel. Some of them remain in Scotland until months after they may be observed at the surface, while others migrate much further, with two individuals recorded crossing the Atlantic.

Dr Gore will be tagging these wonderful creatures again this year and tags may wash up on the beaches around the Clyde and western Scotland from late summer onwards. The picture shows what the tags look like, so if you find one, please don’t bin it, because the information it contains may be very important. There is a reward for any tag found and returned to Dr Gore. and it is enormously helpful if members of the public can help to find them.

UK Shark Trust has a basking shark photo-identification website at www.baskingshark.org.

‘Goodness the Arran Voice is impressive, editorially wide-ranging, easy to read, puts the national rags to shame.’

from Jamie Jauncey, a writer who lives in Edinburgh. Thank you, Jamie!

A BRITISH MEP who recently joined the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, felt obliged to intervene during a meeting on 20 March, after the Committee “had spent 45 minutes debating about what to debate.”

Stuart Agnew, the UKIP MEP, was incredibly frustrated by the lack of focus, stating: “This meeting has now been going on for 45 minutes. We have reached agenda item 9. We have postponed decisions on all the agenda items. I haven't been a member of this committee for very long but I have lived on the coast of Britain or close to it for most of my life and I have watched the devastation of the fishing industry there. I come to this committee where decisions are made and I'm beginning to see why things are going wrong.”

Donald Trump will rue the day when he opposed Alex Salmond over his technically innovative wind farm in the North Sea, visible from the new golf course. ‘A purely political decision,’ Trump trumpeted, and went on to deride his previously cosy buddy as a man obsessed with ‘obsolete wind technology’. But he has met his match in our Alex. As mere spectators in this sport of the giants, we take an unholy delight in the falling-out between them. Pity it didn’t happen earlier.

Well! What a month - not very conducive to being out in the garden. But there are a lot of things waiting to be done.

I’m told that Good Friday is the traditional day to plant potatoes, though my governor used to say it was time when you could sit bare-bottomed on the soil without discomfort. That, of course, might be never, in these parts. I think the best and most reliable potato variety to use is Cara, or for fine flavour, Pink Fir Apple - though the Arran varieties are always good to bear in mind.

Lettuces can now be sown, specially loose leaf varieties for ‘cut and come again’ cropping. Lollo Rossa and Oakleaf are both tasty and decorative. For a heart lettuce, my favourite is the stunning Marvel of Four Seasons, or for a crisphead variety, try Saladin, which is slow to bolt. And don’t forget the endives, which can add zest to any salad. Sow successively in small amounts.

When the soil has warmed it will be time to sow peas - personally, I prefer Sugar Snap and Mangetout varieties, which are so much less fuss than a podded pea. In a couple of weeks, carrots can be thinly sown, along with beetroot. Try Fursno and Boltardy.

If your ground is clear of snow, tidy up the strawberry bed, clearing away old leaves. And go out at night with a torch and collect slugs and snails before they start breeding. Don’t just throw them next door, which is nasty for your neighbour and no good for you, either - it’s a proven fact that a determined slug will travel ‘home’ from up to half a mile away!

Margaret Kay

After some mega-organising we arrived in Birmingham the night before the show with four dogs in the car, Lila, Evie, Autumn and Summer. Evie, who is normally a shy wee thing, picked up the excited atmosphere at once and went into overdrive, schmoozing everyone who visited the Yorkshire Terrier stand.

Mid-morrning we were taken out with the film crew to talk about Yorkies and what I love about the breed, then it was over to the dogs. They were filmed walking alongside me on the lead with the cameraman holding the camera down at Yorkie level then running loose, and they really ‘played to the gallery’. A DVD will be produced, either to be viewed online at the Kennel Club or sent out to anyone interested in owning a Yorkie. No prizes for guessing what my friends will be getting for Christmas this year! For a bit of retail therapy among the dozens of stalls, I pushed the Yorkies around the halls in a dog buggy, (courtesy of ARCAS) so they were again the centre of attention and much photographed.

A really nice thing about the Show is the huge number of Assistance Dogs, including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs and dogs who help people with physical disabilities. This year there were a considerable number of Medical Alert Dogs, trained to detect medical conditions such as hypoglycaemic attacks or the onset of epileptic seizures. There are even dogs who are trained to detect some forms of cancer - amazing!

We had a great day, and to top it all Lila got a fourth in her class - a certificate and a HUGE rosette to take home to Fife.

Positive News, that cheery little quarterly that only reports on upbeat good things, used to be slightly hand-knitted in general quality, but in the latest edition, all that has changed. It’s smartly designed and well illustrated, and packed with upbeat stories about sleeves-rolled-up activities that make a nice change from the morass of official idiocy. It has a wide international range, with news of visas for journalists in Burma and Nepal’s plans to eliminate illiteracy, but has a beady eye on home events as well. The Mayor of Bristol is taking his salary in their local currency, the Bristol Pound, East London Furniture is making useful stuff out of scrap pallets, Southwark has set up a college for homeless people.

Added to that, there are some thoughtful articles about money and its stranglehold on our way of life. It’s useful stuff, right enough, but Positive News prints some inventive ideas about ways to get round its domination. Links are given throughout the paper to sites that provide more detailed information, and it really is a handbook of positive, chirpy confidence. There’s no quoted price, though for £15 a year you can become a member and get your paper delivered to your door. Distribution is of course up to members. We’re not talking systems here so much a straight co-operation. Have a look.

positivenews.org.uk or phone 0845 458 4758

Since our Corrie Hall showing of Gasland, the alarming film about shale gas, the conflict about fracking has heated up. In Britain, which common sense would see as too small a country to contain the environmental devastation of this technology, the determined frackers are buckling on their gun belts.

‘We’ll spend whatever it takes,’ thundered Lord Browne, former BP chairman and now Fracker-in-Chief of Quadrilla Resources, Britain’s sole contender for the riches of shale gas. He added, ‘We did the North Sea very well. This nation can do extraordinary things.’ Um - up to a point, Lord Browne. Scotland is not too happy about what happened in the North Sea. And very few people are happy about the prospect of contaminated water, vastly increased carbons emissions and the occasional earthquake.

Even the US, albeit belatedly, is getting worried about the toxic process. The New York State Assembly has just voted by a 95-40 majority to impose a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and if passed by the Senate this will close the state's doors to fracking in New York's portion of the Marcellus Shale basin until May 2015.

A fracking fracas in Bulgaria …

Zornitsa Hristova posted a report on the Occupy.com site on March 9th.

‘Last January I was going out for a protest again. My husband was helping me tie the sling for the baby and my ten-year-old was asking whether she could borrow my camera, because she wanted to be a journalist …This particular protest was against shale gas fracking - a subject that looked too abstract to provoke mass interest.’

‘There were thousands of people, and the meeting point simply couldn’t hold them. They were mostly young, and they looked civil and educated. We were not the only ones who had brought kids. As the march started, we had no idea just how many we were - the street was too narrow to see. But then we went on to the broad central street that goes to the House of Parliament, and we saw there were thousands of us. People were laughing, because the media were wrong - they were not alone.’

But the media had the upper hand, Zomitsa found. The three main TV channels made no mention of what was taking place, even though the protests went on for two days. National radio preserved its independence, though, and mounted a strong presence online, where people were posting their own photos and videos. The campaign went on.

‘Ecological organisations managed to attract a huge number of young people who occupied the most central traffic point in the city, Orlov Most (Eagles Bridge). They started gathering in the adjacent park, then blocked traffic, sat down on the streets and sang. The police tried to pull out individual protesters but the crowd pulled them back. Some girls hugged the policemen, trying to speak to the humans behind the helmets. Others danced. …The invariably young, middle-class, well-educated profile of the participants later prompted some commentator to say that they were politically futile, that this was a lifestyle act and it would never be politically important.’

Whatever the reason, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister suddenly gave in and announced that fracking plans were to be stopped. Zomitsa takes a disillusioned view of this, saying that the ‘notoriously populist’ prime minister had grabbed the chance to step out of the limelight because his police files had been published, proving that he was both part of the Mafia and a police informer. ‘People are now making jokes about the Mafia feeling socially disgraced,’ Zomitsa remarks, then goes on shrewdly, ‘But none of the major political parties want to rule at a moment when people are shouting against the political class as a whole. After all, parliamentary elections are just a few months away, scheduled for May 12. And for a government that clearly failed, unpredictability is not a bad thing.’

… and the effect of Gasland

A consulting firm called Control Risks has produced a report titled The Global Anti-Fracking Movement: What It Wants, How It Operates, and What’s Next. It makes clear that protests against fracking are going on in more than thirty countries, across six continents.

Although the report is intended to provide gas companies with a plan for squashing the anti-fracking movement, people concerned about the environment or public health will find it worth reading for at least three reasons (besides entertainment). It contains reams of hard data about the movement, it identifies the tactics that have been most successful so far, and it ultimately backs up many of the movement’s key arguments.

Arran’s tireless MP, Katy Clark, has been defending Arran’s interests on several fronts this month. She is concerned that people who are not on mains gas pay over the odds for gas in bottled form, and welcomes a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Off-Gas Grid costs.

The Bedroom Tax, Katy holds, will hit North Ayrshire people very hard, particularly those living in temporary accommodation and suffering a cut in benefits. The Government’s view that people should live in the smallest house possible is unrealistic, she points out, as local authorities do not build single-bedroom houses that have very limited use.

Fuel prices on Arran continue to be a pressing concern. Katy wrote to George Osborne requesting a reduction in the cost of fuel, and spoke of the large number of people who have contacted her about fuel costs.

… for bees, too

Katy has signed the Bee Cause petition run by Friends of the Earth. As a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, she is acutely aware that neonicotinoid pesticides may be causing the catastrophic wipe-out of honey-bee colonies. However, the English Government voted against an EU proposal to ban the use of these systemic insecticides.

The National Farmers Union, always inclined to back the use of helpful chemicals, admitted in its statement to the Government that there are ‘inadequacies in the way regulatory authorities assess the long-term and sub-lethal effects of systemic pesticides (such as neonicotinoids) on insects.’ They add, ‘It is very well known that the current pesticide risk assessment systems for bees were not developed to assess systemic pesticides.’

New research reported on the BBC World Service has found that neonicotinoid pesticides damage the brains of honey-bees, affecting their ability to learn and remember, thus destroying their function as pollinators.

Syngenta and Bayer, the giant chemical firms that manufacture neonicotinoids, say the impact of pesticides on bees is unproven and suggest that planting more flowering margins around fields to provide bee habitats. Campaign group Avaaz, which has collected more than 2.5 million signatures on a petition asking the EU to ban the products, was sceptical. ‘Putting the pesticides industry in charge of protecting bees is like putting a fox in charge of a henhouse,’ said campaign director Alice Jay.

If you would like to add your name to the Bee Cause, click on the following link:

www.foe.co.uk

North Ayrshire residents will have the opportunity to express their views of the Council and its services this spring, when there will be a door-to door enquiry put to 3000 householders. Views will be sought on such topics as Council services; public satisfaction; communication and engagement with residents.

The Council also hopes to find out whether residents agree with its priorities on such things as urban regeneration, attracting more jobs to North Ayrshire and improving the health of local communities. Long-term goals will seek to involve communities in the design and delivery of the services they use.

The accelerating Move Your Money campaign is urging London Borough Councils to shift their accounts to ethical banks, thus setting a good example to everyone else. Choosing an ethical bank such as Triodos or the Co-op means that funds will not be gambled with or used to line the pockets of its fat men at the top. Finances in a mutually owned bank do not go into the international Bingo game, but can be invested in small business and local community schemes, and in renewable energy. So the new rallying call is ‘Move Your Council’s Money’.

How about it, North Ayrshire? If you want to sample public opinion, this could be a good place to start.

Fiona Doubleday

The moment I stepped in the Women’s Library, then housed in the same block as the Mitchell Library, I was greeted with a warm smile and a gentle introduction to what lay before me. A meeting was taking place at one end of the book-lined room, art was on display in the middle and a space was available at the other end for quiet study. I felt instantly comfortable, and spent a fascinating hour or so looking at some of what it had to offer.

Back at home I went online (where I had first found the library) to look through their considerable archive catalogue - and found the work of the Glasgow artist Hannah Frank, who lived for a hundred years, from 1908 to 2008. Her work is magnificent, reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley in its fin-de-siècle decorativeness. See: hannahfrank.org.uk

The Library is currently on the move to new and much larger premises at 23 Landressy Street, Bridgeton in Glasgow’s East End, G40 2AN. Meanwhile, it is running a project called ‘illuminated letters’. They are asking people to write to a heroine who is no longer with us, and all entries are welcome. If you can’t think of anyone, a useful list of women can be found at: Illuminated Letters Launch

If you are interested in submitting a letter you can email me at fionadoubleday@me.com

We are very fortunate to have such a great resource at hand in Glasgow. If you sign up on line to their newsletter they will send you news of the many and varied projects they offer. Just click on: www.womenslibrary.org.uk

Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca, is an extraordinary account by a woman who managed to live with Gypsy people for long periods in a variety of countries. Anyone who saw the magical film, Latcho Drom, shown at the Corrie Film Club a couple of months ago, will have kept those images of independent, beautiful people, obstinately clinging to their rich-flavoured way of life in the face of all suppression and cruelty, and it has not changed. Despite the nod of respect that has given Gypsies the ancient name of Roma and made them half-recognised as an endangered species, the prejudice and fear remain. All the more remarkable, then, that a woman on her own managed to learn Romani and become accepted by Gypsy communities all across Europe from Albania to Poland. The long Albanian section is particularly fascinating, written as it was during the time when hardly any foreigner was able to enter that country.

Isabel Fonseca, who is the wife of Martin Amis and mother of two daughters, has the dark hair and lean, intense face that could well mark her as a member of a travelling tribe. It is clear from her perceptive, never self-indulgent writing, that she found a vital connection with these fiercely independent people. This book is in sharp contrast to her earlier, sub-Amis, angsty novel called Attachment, which is best avoided. Bury Me Standing takes its title from words spoken by an old fighter for Gypsy rights, who said, ‘Bury me standing - I have been on my knees all my life.’

A thundering good read, and a deeply moving human document. Easy to pick up second-hand on the Internet - try the ever-useful Abe Books.

Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca, Vintage, ISBN 0-679-73743-X.

Power Cut

Tasks from a lost time come again.
Prise set wax from candlesticks
and put those that have burned down
on the oil stove to melt. Bed in
new white candles for the coming night.

Bed in the self, as well, soon after dark.
No coloured screen will titillate,
no music from rotating disc beguile
and slide time by. Each minute is
a noted process, each in-breath
an unearned small success
in this pattern that is not yet death.

Power will return, a travelled son
back in his room yet somehow magical,
a trapeze flier whose nonchalant skill
makes perfect connection seem simple.
Wonder fades. The audience
will cease to marvel, and will soon forget
that the slightest hand-slip brings the cold.

Alison Prince

Tunisian Cake

Ingredients - Cake

45g Polenta
200g Caster Sugar
100g Ground Almonds
1½ teaspoons Baking Powder
215ml Olive Oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Icing Sugar

Ingredients - Syrup

45g Granulated Sugar
Juice of 1 orange & 1 lemon
1 small Cinnamon stick

Method

1. Grease and line a 21cm cake tin. Don't be tempted to use a loose-bottomed tin as the mixture will leak out during cooking.
2. Mix the polenta, caster sugar, almonds and baking powder in a large bowl. With a wooden spoon beat in the oil, eggs and zests. Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin.
3. Place the cake tin in a COLD oven and turn it on at 180°C (170°C for a fan oven).
4. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5. Place the citrus juices with the sugar and cinnamon stick in a small pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and pour the syrup over the top whilst it is still warm.
7. Serve with a dusting of Icing sugar.

The giant biotech firm, Monsanto, whose GM seeds are rapidly putting the world in its pocket, has proofed itself against litigation by people who claim that they have been harmed by its products. On the Tuesday of last week, President Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law as part of the Spending Bill, and this removes the public right to sue for any damage the firm may cause.

People in the States are furious. A petition opposing the measure has already gathered 250,000 signatures, and activists have gathered outside the White House to protest. Reports suggest that many members of Congress were not even aware that Monsanto Protection had been slipped into the spending bill. The International Business Times, hardly a revolutionary organ, worried that the bill meant ‘corporations can get around consumer safety protections if they get Congress on their side.’ Their report continued, ‘Furthermore, it sets a precedent that suggests that court challenges are a privilege, not a right.’

Thom Hartmann,in a video report on the Thom Hartmann Program on March 29th, contended that it is a human right to know what is in our food, and should also be ‘a right to hold companies liable when they poison consumers.’ He urged viewers to call Congress and tell them to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act. But don’t hold your breath.

Another recipe from Jan Inglis' kitchen

1 onion, chopped
50grms (7 oz) bacon, chopped
olive oil or butter
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small tin of tomatoes or half a large one
half a red pepper, chopped
vegetable or chicken stock
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried basil
cream or crème fraiche to serve
and croutons if you wish.

Method

sauté bacon & onion in the fat
add garlic & cook for a minute
tomatoes, red pepper, sugar, basil & stock
simmer until tender, then liquidise
add parsley and season to taste.
serve with cream etc.