The Diary has said this before, and will probably say it many times again - this must be the best educated small community in the world. It's not simply the number and variety of courses that are currently being run at manager Pat Glenday's Kilchoan Learning Centre, which is part of West Highland College UHI, it's Pat's ability to attract students from all walks of life, some of whom are going away with the first 'academic' certificate they have ever received - and then coming back for more.
A good example of a recent course was welding. Pat says, "Donald Houston was kind enough to allow us to use his premises, so the course was run in the Ardnamurchan Estate workshop. Ten students joined it, five on each day. All of them reported learning lots of useful things, even those who had done some welding previously. The tutor, Stuart Whyte, also teaches welding at the underwater centre in Fort William, and as he’s a contestant in the forthcoming Scottish strong man championships, he didn’t get any trouble from the participants! If I can find some more funding, everyone wants to do another course and learn some more advanced techniques."
Pat added, "It’s Fruit Growing tonight, and Herbal Remedies is coming in a couple of weeks - and I’ve got so many people signed up I think I’m going to have to run it twice. And I’m busy trying to organise a Snaring course.
Pat added, "It’s Fruit Growing tonight, and Herbal Remedies is coming in a couple of weeks - and I’ve got so many people signed up I think I’m going to have to run it twice. And I’m busy trying to organise a Snaring course.
"The latter is interesting, because there is new legislation coming into force on 1st April. This is from the Scottish Government website:
All snaring operators will need to undergo a training course and to use a unique identification number on their snares under new legislation.
The change in legislation applies to all snares and snaring operators who currently use snares as a means of pest and predator control including farmers, crofters, gamekeepers, and greenkeepers on golf courses.
Snare operators have been able to undergo training courses, which are run by Scottish Government approved bodies, since 2010. From today, a snaring operator who has successfully completed the training course can apply to their local police station for a unique identification number which must be attached to all snares set from April 1, 2013.
Successful completion of the one-day training course will provide an indication that the applicant has sufficient knowledge and experience to use snares responsibly and within the legislative requirements. The identification numbers and tags will make snaring operators more accountable for their actions as the identification number and tag will help identify the individual snaring operator.
"If we run the course, it will once again be in partnership with the Estate. I’ve tried to interest BBC Alba in coming back to do a story about it. They said they might, because now I have the satellite link there is no issue with getting the story back to head office quickly!"
All snaring operators will need to undergo a training course and to use a unique identification number on their snares under new legislation.
The change in legislation applies to all snares and snaring operators who currently use snares as a means of pest and predator control including farmers, crofters, gamekeepers, and greenkeepers on golf courses.
Snare operators have been able to undergo training courses, which are run by Scottish Government approved bodies, since 2010. From today, a snaring operator who has successfully completed the training course can apply to their local police station for a unique identification number which must be attached to all snares set from April 1, 2013.
Successful completion of the one-day training course will provide an indication that the applicant has sufficient knowledge and experience to use snares responsibly and within the legislative requirements. The identification numbers and tags will make snaring operators more accountable for their actions as the identification number and tag will help identify the individual snaring operator.
"If we run the course, it will once again be in partnership with the Estate. I’ve tried to interest BBC Alba in coming back to do a story about it. They said they might, because now I have the satellite link there is no issue with getting the story back to head office quickly!"
There's a list of Kilchoan Learning Centre courses here,
and contact details are on a tab at the same site.
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