BLACK MOUNT BUGLE

BLACK MOUNT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The Community Council is beginning its annual cycle of events with the Sport's Evening on Friday, 30 May at 6.30pm at Newbigging Playing Field. This is a most enjoyable occasion having events for both children and adults and I would like to encourage you all to come along and have some fun.

In the last edition of the Bugle, I requested information about your experiences with the 800 Lanark Ring 'n' Ride Service, as I had been approached by several people who had found this service difficult to access. I am delighted to report that you are now contacting me with very positive comments about this service, and its use by such groups as the BM Luncheon Club. I hope that as many people, as possible will use this bus so that we can justify its continued existence with Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Remember that this bus will collect you from your home anywhere in the Black Mount area, take you to your destination and bring you back again. For those with a senior citizen's bus pass this service is free. To book this bus telephone 0141 333 3200. The booking line is open between 9.00 & 16.00 Monday to Friday, and the service itself runs from Monday to Saturday. SPT need bookings to be made at least 2 hours before travelling and recommend that you book the day before travelling if at all possible.

This edition of The Bugle has been produced by Ian Kerry. If you wish to place articles or advertisements in our newsletter you will find Ian's contact details on the back of this edition. Finally, I would like to thank Andrew Highton for editing The Bugle over the last three years.

Joan Highton

ELECTIONS 2003

Scottish Parliament

Clydesdale Constituency

Karen Gillon (Lab) 14,800
John Brady (SNP) 8,129
Alistair Campbell (Con) 5,174
Fraser Grieve (LD) 2,338
Owen Meharry (SSP) 1,422
David Morrison (SPA) 579

List Members

Phil Gallie (Con), David Mundell (Con), Christine Graham (SNP), Alasdair Morgan (SNP), Adam Ingram (SNP), Chris Balance (Green), Rosemary Byrne (SSP)

South Lanarkshire Council

Biggar Symington and Black Mount

Tom McAlpine (SNP) 1,166
John Lyon (CON) 485
Angela McGranachan (Lab) 155

We congratulate our representatives on their re-election and look forward to continuing to work with them.

Black Mount Luncheon Club

The Club now has the services of the WRVS with transport from Biggar, calling at Carnwarth, Dunsyre, Walston and Elsrickle village to Elsrickle village hall on a Monday for lunch in the Hall at 12 O'Clock.

After lunch we do some exercises (sitting) and play board games. More members would be very welcome enabling us to entertainment and outings, so why not come along and join us.

Please phone 01555-840-523 or let any member know so arrangements can be made to pick you up.

Mary Muirhead - Organiser

BLACK MOUNT linked with CULTER linked with LIBBERTON and QUOTHQUAN

BLACK MOUNT KIRK NEWS May 2003

(This Newsletter is distributed, courtesy of The Bugle, throughout the Parish of Black Mount in the hope that your interest in our church might be stimulated and that you might be encouraged to visit Blackmount Kirk (Dolphinton) and join us in our worship. You will be made most welcome.)

MINISTER'S LETTER
Dear Friends,
When last I wrote the future of our three churches was quite uncertain. It was known that I am to retire in the middle of July, and there was much conjecture - some of it rather gloomy - as to what would happen after that. The future is still uncertain, of course, but I am delighted to say that both Lanark Presbytery and the Assembly Committee on Parish Re-appraisal have given the go-ahead for you to seek a minister and give him or her an unrestricted call, that is to say, there is no time limit imposed on the length of the new ministry. The vacancy machinery has already been set in motion and the Rev Alison Meikle, of Lanark: St. Nicholas, has been appointed Interim Moderator. She will be making herself known to you very soon. Please give her a warm welcome; I know she will serve you well.

Although many of you have kindly been inquiring what I hope to do after retirement, I must admit that in recent months my concerns have been far more about your future than my own! I am greatly heartened by recent developments, and I hope you are too. I shall have more to say in my next pastoral letter, but in the meantime I would leave you with some thoughts I have shared with you from the pulpit earlier this year.

"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?" (Acts 1: 11)

The work of God is never done. No generation of God's people can ever really say: "It is finished!" Even Jesus, when he uttered those words on the cross, could only mean, "My part is played, this stage is complete."

The company of God's people have always lived on the edge of expectation: Abram and his family went out to a place he knew not, fortified only with the promise of God that he would multiply and in his posterity be a blessing to the world; Moses set himself to bring a people out of a sure and certain servitude to an unseen, hitherto only dreamed of, Promised Land. The prophets called their people to repentance in order that they might enjoy a glorious future under the rule of the One who was to come. That expectation is boldly reiterated in the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, and the word of the two divine messengers (Acts: 1:11) is a sharp reminder to the disciples that they are not to be star-gazing dreamers, but workers to bring in the Kingdom and fulfil the purposes of God.

The first performance of Rachmaninov's First Symphony in 1897 was a disaster, and it was savaged by the critics, one of whom said that the music would have delighted the inmates of Hell. The 23 year old Rachmaniniov was devastated, and he would not let
again during his lifetime. Of this period of his life he said: "a paralysing apathy possessed me. I did nothing at all, and found no pleasure in anything. Half my days were spent lying on a couch and sighing over my ruined life.... I did not live; I vegetated, idle and hopeless." I can imagine it was that kind of feeling that gripped the disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus. Their defeat was total; hopes were dashed; the point had gone out of everything. Yet Jesus had told them to ...... wait.

Rachmaninov's story continues on a happier note. He went on to write his second piano concerto, which is today one of the most popular concertos in the repertoire. Like Rachmaninov, the disciples moved on to greater things, not by their own efforts alone, but by the impetus of the Holy Spirit - and indeed the book called The Acts of the Apostles might be better entitled the Acts of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian sometime loses his grip on God. There are times when he has to try to hold on grimly, in blind faith, because he cannot see what on earth is happening to him (or her). We are told not to give up, to hang in there, to persevere - and it is difficult. Many a time we feel the circumstances are bad enough - but if only God would show His face, show that he is still there and watching..... and working. I think the disciples could have identified with us in that experience, too.

Last week as I was driving through one of the parishes I saw a tractorman ploughing a field. There he was, making his purposeful way across the land, followed by a flock of seagulls. Ten seconds later I looked again - and he had disappeared - he had dipped down into a hollow in the field. But I could still see the birds, a sure sign of his presence in that hidden hollow. I think that's a parable that Jesus might have told. So often God disappears from our sight, and we have only a few faint traces of His presence. If only we could hold on to the fact - for fact it is - that, like the tractorman, He is still there.... and still working. It was a lesson that the disciples themselves had to learn - and their joy, and their astonishment, knew no bounds when the tractorman - God - re-appeared from the deep hollow.

The whole book of Acts is both a sharp rebuke and a glorious surprise. It is not only a rebuke to the disciples (and our) lack of faith, but a fulfilling and even an overturning of human expectation, showing that God's ways are more wonderful, more effective, and well worth waiting for. This is a word for ourselves at this testing, and challenging, and we may even say exciting, time in the history of our own little churches. It is a word of invitation to wait and see, yes. But it is also an invitation to work and see. It is a word of hope.

"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?" The work is here - and it is waiting to be done.

Yours sincerely, Stephen Pacitti

CHURCH REGISTER
WEDDING
Friday 2nd May, 2003
Laura Leiper and Graeme Watson, Skirling Mill, BIGGAR.
FUNERAL
Monday 30th December, 2002.

Mrs Margaret Templeton, 'Rosemount', Elsrickle.
Saturday 5th April, 2003
Mr Tom Malone, 'The Bield', Biggar.

CHILDREN'S SUNDAY CLUB / CRECHE

The Sunday Club meets on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Children should go into church with their families and leave, to go to the hall, towards the end of the second hymn. They should be collected from the church after the service. Activities will include songs, crafts, games and Bible stories.
Sunday Club dates for the summer term 2003:
(Service at 12 noon): May 11th, June 15th, June 29th. (Service at 9.30 a.m): July 13th.
Permission forms are required for all children. Please see a leader beforehand or accompany your child to the hall on their first visit.
Come along, join us and have fun! For more information contact:
Hazel Knight (01899) 810 348 Linda Harvey (01968) 682 292

Sunday Services in Black Mount Church (Dolphinton):

April - June 2003 .......... 12 noon. July - September 2003 9.30 a.m..
but on Sunday 6th July, 2003, the service will be a united one, in company with our friends from Culter and Libberton & Quothquan, held in Libberton Kirk at 10.45 a.m..

Cradle Roll Service:
It is hoped to hold a special Cradle Roll Service, to which all parents who have had their children baptised in recent years are cordially invited. This will be on Sunday, 18th May at 12 noon.

Visit of Rev Ian Sandilands, former minister of Black Mount:
On Sunday 1st June at 12 noon we will have the pleasure of a visit from Rev and Mrs Ian Sandilands. Ian will conduct the morning service, and there will be a snack lunch in the hall afterwards. Come and say hello!

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sunday 11th May, 2003. 12 noon. Rev Donald Scott, Abington.
Sunday, 18th May, 2003. 12 noon. Cradle Roll Service.
Sunday 1st June, 2003. 12 noon. Rev Ian Sandilands. Snack lunch in hall.
Sunday 8th June, 2003. 12 noon. Mr Alan Grant, Carluke.
Sunday 6th July, 2003. 10.45 a.m. United Service in Libberton Kirk.
Saturday 12th July, 2003. 6.30 p.m. Annual Duck Race. All welcome!

BLACK MOUNT PARISH CHURCH
Minister: Rev Stephen Pacitti - Tel. (01899) 220625
Session Clerk: Mr Don Barrie - Tel. (01899) 221771
Treasurer: Mr Stephen Harvey - Tel. (01968) 682292
Organists: Mrs Alice Barrie - Tel. (01899) 221771
Mrs Margaret Leiper -Tel. (01555) 841400
Clerk to Congregational Board - Mrs Grace Allison Tel. (01899) 220525
Interim Moderator - Rev Alison Meikle, Lanark. (01555) 662 600

Other Local Christian Denominational Services:

St Isadore's Roman Catholic Church, Biggar - Holy Mass Sunday 12 noon and weekdays (Tues-Fri) 9.30 am

St Mungo's Scottish Episcopal Church, West Linton - Sung Communion Sunday 11.00 am, Said Communion Wednesday 10.30 am

Talking to constituents throughout the ward during the recent election, I was continually made aware in nearly every village of serious concerns about the speed of traffic. In the case of the A702, a national trunk road through Carlops, West Linton, Dolphinton and Biggar, the volume as well as the speed of traffic is an increasing concern. We need long-term and short-term action to deal with this.

All the villages have speed limitation signs that are often ignored by drivers but you can't have a constant police presence in each place. Now and again, after complaints, traffic police make their presence felt, as in Newbigging, but this does not last for long.

Probably the best short-term solution is interactive signs in each village (similar to West Linton but now much smaller) that can be linked to speed cameras. This raises the problem of finance for such signs and we need to pursue this. I will take this up with the Roads Department and the Upper Clydesdale Community Alliance (the 10 community councils).

With the A702 the actual volume of traffic is a serious problem. It is estimated that traffic will double in 12 years. It will be very difficult to accommodate this traffic even although it is a trunk road. Together with UCCA I intend to pursue the proposal for what was originally a plan for a fast-link motorway from the M8 to Douglas Road End and the M74. This motorway that would start around Livingston on the M8, would proceed through open countryside around Wilsontown and Forth, pass along the side of Lanark Barracks, across a new Hyndford Bridge, along the Clyde at Rigside and on to the M74. The whole length of this motorway route was 17.5 miles and mainly passes through open ground and should, therefore, be comparatively less expensive. This could take away most of the lorry traffic and a considerable proportion of cars. Obviously this would have to be a decision of the Scottish Executive and will not be done in the short-term but we need to get it into the queue of projects that are considered important to have any hope of getting it implemented in the next decade.

Tom McAlpine

PUBLISHING ITEMS IN THE BUGLE

Is their anyone out there? Are you offering activities or events that might attract interest from other parts of the Black Mount area? Then why not let them know about it. It is no use complaining about dwindling membership or non-participation if you don't publicise your events! After all we are all part of the Black Mount community. At The Black Mount Bugle we can handle material either hand written or word processed, and sent to us on floppy or zip disc or via e-mail. You can also advertise items for sale or services. These attract a nominal fee of £1 per private entry, or £5 for commercial entries.

Dates for Your Diary 2003

Mondays (except School Holidays) - Black Mount Luncheon Club - Elsrickle Hall 12 noon
Alternate Wednesdays - Black Mount Church Coffee Morning - Church Hall, Dolphinton 10.30 am
Mon. 12th May - Community Council Meeting - Village Hall, Elsrickle 7.30 pm
Wed. 14th May - Elsrickle WRI outing: Falkirk Wheel
23th - 26nd May - SLC School Holiday (inclusive)
Fri. 30th May - Black Mount Social Group Sports Evening - Newbigging Playing Field 6.30 pm
Mon. 2nd June - Community Council Meeting - Village Hall, Elsrickle 7.30 pm
Fri. 27th June - SLC schools close : Summer break 1 pm
Sat. 12th July - Duck Race 6.30 pm
Mon. 18th August - SLC schools re-open: Autumn term
Sat. 23rd August - Dolphinton Flower Show - Village Hall, Dolphinton 2.00 pm
Sat. 30th August - Elsrickle Flower Show - Village Hall, Elsrickle 2.00 pm
Mon. 1st Sept - Community Council Meeting - Village Hall,Elsrickle 7.30 pm
TBA - Sponsored Walk

Last date for contributions to the next Bugle is 31st July 2003.

Please send all articles, dates, reports, news and advertisements to:-
Ian Kerry, The Beehive, Dolphinton, EH46 7HH.
Tel 01968-682239 - Email: Ian.Kerry@tiscali.co.uk

The Black Mount Bugle is published by the Black Mount Community Council, however views expressed therein are not necessarily those of the BMCC.