Friday 23 September 2016

Notices, Notices

Yesterday's post suggested that major changes are happening at the CalMac pier. As well as the re-painting of the waiting lanes for cars, a bollard has appeared at the land end of the pier itself, preventing vehicles from accessing it. This must be a blow to the creel fishermen, both local and from the outer isles, since the vans which take their shellfish to market used to drive along it to make transferring the crates from the boats easy.

Along with such changes, CalMac is suffering a bad dose of notice fever, even worse than Highland Council at Corran. As well as their helpful notices, they now have around twenty warning and prohibitive notices like this one, which seems to make it clear that creel fishermen's boats are no longer welcome. There is a rumour in the community that gates are going across the top of the slipway, so it will no longer be possible to launch boats from there. And, just to check, CalMac has installed CCTV cameras.

I have some sympathy with CalMac. In these litigious days, owners of any sort of property are nervous about being sued by people using it for the wrong purposes, but it does seem a great shame that a facility like the slipway is no longer available for use, even if a fee has to be paid.

Other notices have appeared, such as this one for the Kilchoan Hotel, which is in good taste and helpful, and will, perhaps, help to draw aside some of the many cars which are driving straight through the village without stopping. However....

....what should be the most important and warmly welcoming notice refers to the slightly confusing concept of the "UK mainland". Surely the UK mainland has always been called Great Britain?

5 comments:

  1. No, Peter, I blame the managers.
    Good to hear from you. Jon

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  2. I hope that the 'berth closed' notice is temporary and results from the poor state of repair of the dock-blocks at that mooring. The last time I looked, most of the attachments were loose and some oak members missing.

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  3. I totally agree, its such a pity that nameless 'officials', buried in their council offices, have to plaster notices explaining that "Keep off, Climbing on the rocks can be dangerous!". I partly blame the legal system that has allowed a vexatious claims culture to develop, a culture where someone else is alway to blame for stupid people (or inexperienced people) doing stupid things or 'having accidents'. We find signs erected in areas of natural beauty which we used to climb all over 4-50 years ago. They are no more dangerous now that they were then........society has moved on and not in a positive way. Some of these officials should get out more - especially to countries such as NZ and France where you can live with out being told how to every moment of the day.

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  4. And Canada, Ian, where the vertical drop to the basin of the Niagara falls is protected by a low concrete wall. Jon

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