Church Historical Find
An old iron anchor which has been recovered from Loch Sunart is thought to have played an important part in West Highland history. It is believed to be the anchor which held the famous floating church which the people of Strontian used to reach by rowing boat in the mid 1800s. Father and son Gordon and Peter Blakeway, who run the Kilcamb Lodge Hotel at Strontian, discovered the relic while out walking on the loch shore. And they commissioned divers to retrieve the one and a half tonne hook, which is almost six feet long. Peter Blakeway said he and his father had seen only a small part of the anchor jutting out of the water. He said: "We first saw it in an extremely low tide. We just saw the top two inches sticking out of the water. It was half buried in the sand and it was impossible for us to lift it, so we sent the divers in." The floating church was created because in 1843 the disagreement within the Church of Scotland over the right of congregations to choose their own ministers resulted in the Disruption. That led to the then laird of Strontian refusing to give the Free Church anywhere to build a place of worship. In 1846, local people got round the problem by having a floating church built in Port Glasgow and towed to Loch Sunart.
Safeguard for Birds Hope
A massive tree planting operation near Inverness could help stem the alarming decline of the capercaillie. Around 65,000 trees have been planted at the Corriemony Nature Reserve near Cannich as part of an ambitious project to extend the Affric and Cannich native Caledonian pine forest. The first phase has been developed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds with support from the Forestry Commission's Woodland Grants Scheme and backing from Scottish Natural Heritage and the Bank fo Scotland. The trees, which include pine, birch and juniper were grown from Glen Affric seed. Explained RSPB warden, David O'Hara: "We have been working closely with the Forestry Commission and Scottish Natural Heritage to develop a scheme which will significantly change the look of the reserve over the next 10 to 20 year's. "The aim is to extend the existing native woodland and in the process provide a habitat which will benefit the black grouse and, in the longer term, capercaillie."
Midge Misery Over?
An aromatherapist is claiming to have created an effective natural deterrent for the common midge. Marina Heasman, who moved to midge ridden Borgie on Sutherland's north coast with her husband eight years ago, explained her motive for seeking a remedy arose from severe personal experience of insect bites. It was only after her experiments began to show success that she realised the commercial potential of her potions. She said: "The healing powers of natural oils are well documented, and the only damaging effect of this treatment is to the midge." Mrs Heasman's husband said: "I have used chemical antimidge preparations before I met Marina, but this is more user friendly and kinder to the skin." At Mackay's Shop, Durness, John MacKenzie said: "It sells well, and though I haven't tried it myself I think it definitely works, because tourists keep coming back for more and some locals are also buying it." Janet Cordiner, who works at Durness camp site, is an enthusiastic convert. "I suffer very badly from midge bites and it certainly works for me. It's great, and it smells nice as well," she said.
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No Mod Cons
A long gone way of Highland life has been revived - with the first shieling to be built in some 200 years. But the shieling on the heights of Abriachan will not be lived in through this summer by young people herding cattle and making cheese of old. It will help today's recreational visitors imagine and understand how life was lived on these uplands when the clans still lived in the glens. Walkers will be able to use it as a rain shelter. In fine weather, this high ground offers stunning views of Loch Ness and the Moray Firth. Suzann Barr, of Abriachan Forest Trust said: "This is a work of art, really quite a deluxe shieling compared with the crude structures they would throw up each year in the old days. "They would put the children or older folk on the hill over the summer months to keep the cattle off the grain growing on the lower ground, and to make cheese with milk." The builder of the year 200 structure was Ullapool based drystane dyker and thatcher Brian Wilson, along with a small team. He said: "The shieling was the Highland equivalent off an igloo, in having a quite similar domeshape. "There have been no shielings standing for a very long time. They had mostly disappeared by the mid 18th century."
New Bridge
An extra dimension has been added to a popular walk at Flowerdale Glen, near Gairloch with the construction of a new bridge above the glen's picturesque waterfalls. Until recently, the thousands of walkers who use the footpath every year came to the end of the road at the waterfall, preventing them from completing the route as a circular walk. The project that also included the clearing of windblown trees around the falls and the construction of additional footpaths in the area has been driven by the local Gairloch and Conan Estate with funding also being provided by various partners. Estate manager Roger McDonald said: "This has provided walkers with a circular route which is more enjoyable than walking out to the falls and returning the same way."
World Wide Green Contact
A big hello was sent from the Highlands by pupils at Teanassie primary school when they showed off their personalised greeting cards recently, which were sent to welcome delegates to a major children's conference. The pupils had been working on a school project focusing on the Third World and were encouraged to get involved with the United Nations conference by visiting a workshop tutor. Held in Eastbourne, the UN's Millennium International Children's Conference on the Environment invited 1000 child delegates from around the world to present their projects on the environment to an audience. The nature workshop tutor who visits Teanassie, Marian Logie, approached the class about sending some of their project work to the conference. She said: " I thought about taking a pupil from Teanassie as a delegate but it would not have been fair for just one to go so we thought about taking their project work instead. "They decided on the idea of sending greeting cards with their individual photographs and addresses in them so they can strike up a correspondence with some of the other children. When I come back I will have direct feedback on the pupils' work from the delegates there."
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