BLACK MOUNT BUGLE

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

As I write this, I slightly wonder where our “Sizzling Barbecue Summer” has gone and I felt sorry for the family I saw in a photograph in a recent newspaper holidaying in a camp site, having their tent inspected by two swans and their cygnets swimming through it! The latter half of August is supposed to be hot, but I fear our barbecue set has rusted over! Remain optimistic for a warm ending to summer!

We have had two significant changes in the Black Mount Community Council (BMCC), as both Craig Allardice and Ian Kerry have decided after many years of Membership of the BMCC, to retire. Craig was our extremely hard working and efficient Secretary and Ian Kerry our dedicated Treasurer. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude. In their place Alasdair Macdonald has very kindly agreed to take over as Secretary and Alison Morton-Nicholls as Treasurer. We are now actively looking for 2 new Members of the BMCC, especially somebody from Newbigging as we have had nobody living there on the BMCC.

In my May Bugle Message I invited as many of you who would like to, to attend Black Mount Community Meetings. Please come along, and ‘watch this space’ as we have decided to occasionally hold BMCC Meetings in other venues apart from Elsrickle. Our September Meeting is to be held on Monday the 7th in Newbigging. However they are normally held at 7.30 p.m. in the Elsrickle Village Hall on the first Monday of each month. Please advise the Chair if you wish to address the Meeting or ask a question.

I would like to thank our Social Group for the very successful Annual Sports evening that was held at Newbigging on Friday the 29th of May. Well done all the participants and congratulations to the prizewinners. The next social event will be a Black Mount Community outing on Sunday the 6th of September to Little Sparta from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. This is the home of artist Ian Hamilton Finlay with an amazing garden containing some 250 of his works of art which lies 1 mile out of Dunsyre on the north side of the road to Newbigging. Further details of the event, at a special reduced cost to residents of the Black Mount Area, are in this issue of the Bugle.

I remain very grateful to Alasdair MacDonald and Barry Rosindale for the ongoing work they are doing to modernise and update our BMCC website.

Wishing you all a warm and sunny end to the summer.
Charles Ritchie – Chairman

BLACK MOUNT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Charles Ritchie Chairperson - 01968 682639

Alison Morton-Nicholls Treasurer - 01968 682676

Alasdair Macdonald Secretary - 01968 682259 - 07880 730431

Sam Cassels - 01968 682674

Barry Rosindale - 01899 810207

Lance Armstrong - 01899 810251

William Coulter - 01899 810339

Hamish Stewart Councillor - 07748 114582
hamish.stewart@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

BMCC MEETINGS


Members of the public are invited to attend any of our Community Council meetings, held on the first Monday of every month, starting on September 7th in Newbigging Hall. The remainder of the meetings will be held in Elsrickle Hall. Everyone will be made most welcome.
Please note: no meetings take place on Public Holiday Mondays

BLACK MOUNT COMMUNITY COUNCIL WEBSITE

The Community Council has decided to promote a new Community Website for the benefit of the whole community that will be capable of regular updates under their control and has set up a design group to develop the project. The site can be found at www.blackmount.org . Currently it is in the early stages of design to allow as much feedback to the authors as possible before the design is finalised. In designing the site particular importance was placed on communicating quickly across and between the six settlements and outlying dwellings. To this end each and every group in the Black Mount area will have a dedicated page and an email contact address. Groups not currently included are invited to make contact with the design group at webadmin@blackmount.org and make their ideas known. To help individuals and groups respond to the concerns and interests of the community at large the site will include a Forum facility. Registration via the website, to post on the Forum will be simple but necessary as will moderation to ensure that personal issues and unacceptable opinions are deleted at an early stage. All those involved in the project want the site to be used by people of all ages and backgrounds and to bind the community together despite the geographical distances that separate us. We look forward to hearing your comments and ideas as the project develops.
Barry Rosindale

SUNDAY WORSHIP

Church of Scotland, Dolphinton
Morning Service – Sundays 9.30am

St Isadore's Roman Catholic Church, Biggar.
Holy Mass - Sundays 12 noon
Weekdays (Mon,Tues-Thurs,Fri) 9.30 am

St Mungo's Scottish Episcopal Church, West Linton
Sung Communion - Sundays 10.00 am
Said Communion - Wednesdays 10.30 am

SPONSORED WALK

DATE – SUNDAY 6th SEPTEMBER

This year the Blackmount Sponsored Walk will take place on Sunday 6th September at 2p.m.
Starting and finishing point will be at Roberton Mains Farm, Dolphinton, by kind permission of Anne Hutchison.
As usual, sensible footwear will be required, and let’s hope that we don’t need brollies!

Sponsor forms will be available from Ross & Teresa (01968 682650), but walkers may give a donation instead if they prefer.

All funds raised are used for the events organised by the Social Group throughout the year, including the Bonfire (Nov. 5th at Dunsyre), the Senior Citizens Christmas Dinner, and the Sports.

Everyone is welcome to join in, from toddlers to golden oldies…we always have an alternative, easier route!
AND there will be tea, juice, sandwiches and cakes at the end.

Ross Barber

DOLPHINTON WRI


The Flower Show will be held in the village hall, Dolphinton on Saturday 22nd August. It will be opened by John Graham, Newbigging at 2.30pm. Teas will be served throughout the afternoon. Entries for the show will be accepted on the evening of Thursday 13th August from 7 to 8pm. Children who have been growing the potato should bring them along then to be judged.

The first meeting of the new session is September 16th at 7.30pm.
All old and new members will be made very welcome.

Jean Campbell

ARTHUR SMITH 19/2/1926 - 28/6/2009

Arthur died at the end of June after a long illness and a valiant struggle. We had lived in Elsrickle for nearly twenty years, and often reflected on the great fun and valuable friendships we enjoyed in that time. I was touched - and Arthur would have been overwhelmed - by the magnificent turn-out to his funeral. It looks odd in writing, but it really was a great day.

And thanks to your generosity we have been able to donate £600, in Arthur's memory, to the Marie Curie Foundation. Sue and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for that, for all the kindness people have shown throughout Arthur's illness, and for your extra support in these last few weeks. We feel very lucky to live among such caring folk. Special thanks to friends and neighbours, to all who helped make the funeral so special, and, of course, to Robert from Cancer Care, the Marie Curie and Macmillan nurses, and to the District and out-of-hours nursing teams.

Betty Smith

COUNCILLOR HAMISH STEWART

Shortly before I started to write this article, I received notification that Scottish and Southern Energy Generation Ltd intend to apply for planning permission to erect a 17 turbine windfarm on Harrows Law. The same company lodged an application in June 2005 for a 37 turbine windfarm that is still awaiting a ruling from the Scottish Government. The previous application straddled the boundary with West Lothian whereas this one is entirely in South Lanarkshire.

The deciding authority on these applications depends on the size of the development. The previous application had to be decided by the Scottish Government, this one, being smaller, will be decided by South Lanarkshire Council. Another significant change is the amount of consultation that must take place. Under the 2005 act, which is just about to come into force the applicant is obliged to consult much more widely than would have been required in the past so keep your eyes open for advertisements connected with the application.

South Lanarkshire Council objected to the previous application but it is too early to say what the recommendation from the planning officers is likely to be this time. I can say however that the proposed site falls outwith the areas designated under the South Lanarkshire Local Plan as being considered suitable for windfarm development. That would mean that if the application was approved by councillors it would still have to go to the ministers for final ratification.

Several roads in and around Blackmount have seen major repairs since the last issue of the Bugle and there are more on the way . While the work is going on it can be inconvenient but the benefits are plain to see.

Shortly before the school summer holidays I had the pleasure of attending a presentation given by the children of P6 and P7 at Walston School on their visions for the future of Blackmount. The quality of the presentations and the ideas presented were extremely impressive. I am hoping to be able to get back to the children with some answers for them when school resumes.

On the subject of the school I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the staff, pupils and parents at Walston on the excellent HMI report that the school received.

I hope everyone is enjoying a good summer and relaxing.

My surgeries will resume on 7th September at Newbigging from 1730 till 1800, Dolphinton from 1815 till 1845 and Elsrickle from 1900 till 1930 or I can be contacted on 07748 114 582 or at Hamish.stewart@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

ANNUAL WREATH LAYING CEREMONY.

On the 11th day of the 11th month at 11.a.m. (November) the annual wreath laying ceremony will take place at the SMALL war memorial at the top of Elsrickle village (TOWNHEAD).

There will be a special welcome to all those who wish to attend for this simple but nonetheless meaningful service of remembrance. Those attending should gather outside Townhead Cottage by 10.55a.m.
After the ceremony refreshments will be served.

ALL are most cordially invited to attend as we commemorate this special event of the cessation of hostilities after two World wars.

Strathclyde Police have been requested to provide protection on this occasion to ensure the safety of those present.

David Taylor

LITTLE SPARTA
The garden of Ian Hamilton Finlay

Special offer for residents of ML11, ML12 and EH46 on Sunday 20th September 2009.

On production of proof of local residence*, The Little Sparta Trust is offering half price admission to Little Sparta – that's £5 per person instead of the usual £10 – for this date only.

Little Sparta is Ian Hamilton Finlay’s greatest work of art. In it, he fused poetic and sculptural works in wood, stone and metal with the natural landscape to express moral and philosophical concepts.

The themes dealt with in the garden are those which underlie the structures of society. The French Revolution, pre-Socratic views of the nature of the world, the Second World War, the sea and its fishing fleets are among the sources of metaphor and image that are realised in the garden’s art works which now number over 275.

The garden is open to the public on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoons from 2.30 to 5 pm until the end of September.

There is a walk of about 700 metres (just less than half a mile) from the car park to the garden, so wear sensible shoes. You also need to dress appropriately for the weather on the day, as you will be outdoors at all times.

There are no refreshments available at the garden, so it's a good idea to take a bottle of water if the weather is warm. Don't worry, though, there is a modern lavatory for visitors' use.

Photography is allowed at Little Sparta on payment of a fee of £5 per camera. Please note that payment of this fee does not give any right of publication of images. No electronic forms of payment can be accepted.

For more information see www.littlesparta.co.uk.

*e.g. utilities bill, driving licence.

Ross Barber

ELSRICKLE WRI

The annual Elsrickle WRI Flower Show will take place on Saturday 29th August at 2pm in Elsrickle Village Hall. As usual on these occasions there will be teas and home baking during the afternoon.

The first meeting of the season for members and friends will be on Wednesday 9th September. A warm invitation is extended to all and new members are always welcome.

Norma Love

DOLPHINTON VILLAGE HALL

Bowling and the WRI have now finished for the 'season' and the Hall is far quieter from now until the Autumn, so if you wish to rent it for a children's party, badminton or table tennis, or any other social or sporting function, please do phone Pam Taylor on 01968 682203 to arrange dates.

Both Yoga and Pilates continue throughout the summer. Call Julie on 01968 661204 for details of yoga classes and Keeley on 01721 752746 about Pilates.

There is a regular Councillor's surgery on the first Monday evening of every month (except for May) from 6.15- 6.45 pm at the Hall.

The major event on the horizon at the village hall is the WRI Flower Show, which will take place on Saturday 22nd August, from 2 pm. For copies of the schedule and further information, please speak to Nan McQueenie on 01968 682355.

Our local MP, David Mundell, will be holding a surgery at the Hall on Tuesday, 25th August, from 4 - 4.30 pm. Councillor Stewart's regular surgeries, held on the first Monday of the month, re-commence in September on the 7th, from 6.15 - 6.45 pm.

Yoga, having continued throughout the summer, starts its Tuesday evening classes with Julie Anderson. Please phone Julie on 01968 661204 to obtain details of times and dates for the autumn/winter season.

Pilates will almost certainly not continue in the Hall this autumn. For final details of location, dates and times please contact Keeley Craigie on 01721 752746.

As always, the hall is available for members of the community to rent for social or sporting activities. Please contact Pam Taylor on 01968 682203 for further information.

Pam Taylor

WALSTON PRE-5 GROUP

The Walston Pre-5 Group meets at Walston Primary School on a Wednesday morning, for children from 2½ years up to school age. Each session runs from 9.15am until 11.30am.

We would welcome children of this age to come and join our group and if you would like to register them, please telephone Danielle Campbell or Beth Macdonald at the numbers below or call in on a Wednesday morning.

If you want to contact the playgroup, please call either
• Donna Gray 01899 221 811 (Playgroup Leader)
• Danielle Campbell 01899 810237
• Beth Macdonald 01968 682259

Please send your articles, dates, reports, news and advertisements to:
Norma Love : Tel: 01899 810285; e.mail - norma.love@btinternet.com