Ah - Spring!

A Poem by Joey MacKenzie:

What other season plays such haunting tricks
Ev'n in January
Peeping from behind the skirts
Of winter!

Teasing, tantalising, ever-pleasing!
How often do we catch a glimpse of you
Before your season comes?

As in winter we await you
How eagerly we savour
Your delightful manifestations.

The indefinable feel of earth, air and sky
In the dun colours of east wind;
The pale emergent sun of February
Lighting on the hillside after rain.

Or in blustery March
The sudden song of lark
Caught up and borne along
The tearing wind.

As for all the signs and portents that you send –
Too fleet, too fugitive to apprehend –
We have oft been heard to say,
"Spring is in the air today."

Reproduced, with the family's permission, from Joey MacKenzie's publication 'A Handful of Verses', 1995.

Originally published in "Poetry Now Scotland" in 1992. Joey lived most of her life at Kilmory, on the north coast.
Picture shows Achateny Cottage, with the snow still on Rum beyond.

MacIains Cave

We've visited MacIains Cave twice before but, both times, the weather was grey.  The bay in which the cave lies is a dismal place, and the second time it rained so hard that no pictures could be taken so, on Monday, with the forecast fine, we decided to try again in the hope of obtaining some better photographs.

As the crow flies, the cave is about two kilometres northeast of Ockle, but is best approached by walking the Ockle to Gortenfern path and then dropping down to the coast.  The path is a glorious walk, as any one who has done it will know, but the last part of the approach to the cave is extremely steep.

This is the bay at the back of which the cave lies, looking roughly westwards with Ockle Point in the distance.  The cave's remoteness, the fact that, whichever direction one approaches it one cannot see it from the landward side, and its inaccessibility by sea, were the reasons why the last of Clan MacIain, expelled from their Ardnamurchan homelands by the Campbells early in the 17th century and turned to piracy, chose it as a secure refuge for their women and children if they were attacked.

This is the bay from the west.  It can't be seen, but the cave lies under that high, dark cliff to the right - one wonders whether the sun ever shines on it.

At some time in the 1620/30s the Campbells caught up with the MacIains.  History doesn't relate what happened to the men - perhaps they died fighting the Campbells, perhaps they were away raiding, perhaps they ran away, but whatever they did they left their dependents to the Campbells' mercy.

The cave is to the right.  It's eroded into ancient rock, Moine metamorphics aged at about a billion years. It's narrow, dank, and deep.

On the day the Campbells found the MacIain women, children and old people in the cave, mercy was in short supply.  The Campbells heaped brushwood and logs against the entrance, and set fire to them.

The story goes that Victorian archaeologists excavated the cave and found human bones, confirming the event.  Today there are still bones just inside the entrance, but I don't think they're human.

Now that we have pictures, I'm not terribly keen to go back.  It's a grim, cheerless place, in stark contrast to the rugged beauty all around and the stunning views out across the Minches to Rum, Eigg and Muck.

Naval Display

We had a treat around five this afternoon when the navy passed up the Sound of Mull past Kilchoan, five ships all in very precise line ahead.

They were led by M37, HMS Chiddingfold, a Hunt-class mine countermeasure vessel (MCMV), followed by....

 ....M108, HMS Grimsby, a mine countermeasures vessel, and then....

 ....one of her sister ships, M106, HMS Penzance, both Sandown Class.

 The three RN ships preceded M916, Bellis, a Tripartite-class minehunter of the Belgian Navy, and....

....M862, Zierikzee, an Alkmaar class mine hunter from the Dutch navy, though she again is one of the Tripartite class of mine hunters.  These were built by a co-operation of three European countries in the 1980s: France built the mine-hunting equipment, Belgium provided the electronics, and the Netherlands constructed the propulsion.

Many thanks to Ricky Clark for drawing my attention to the parade.

Free Crossing at Corran Demo

Many thanks to May McNicol for the first pictures of the well-supported demonstration which took place this morning at the Corran ferry.  It opens the campaign to get the crossing at Corran made free.

The 'free ford' was opened on the Ardgour side by Luke Alexander who own the Inn at Ardgour, and....

....on the Corran side by Morag MacIntosh whose family owned the Corran Inn for many years.  Her father worked the ferry in the days when it was a turntable ferry.

Many thanks, May, for pictures and story.

Opportunities with the Community Garden

Seasonal Community Gardening Sessions:

With the new developments at the Community Garden we will be introducing a community gardening session on the first Wednesday of every month, from 2pm-5pm. These informal gatherings provide an opportunity to meet with others interested in gardening and to work and learn together under the direction of our expert gardeners, Anna and Hanno. Tasks will vary according to the season and there will be activities to suit different abilities. Most importantly we stop for a short break for tea and cake! They are a great way of informally picking up seasonal skills for growing your own food in a polytunnel and outdoors on the west coast of Scotland.

The first session, Seed sowing, is this Wednesday 2nd April at 2pm. We will be:

• Sowing seeds outdoors such as onion sets, broad beans and peas
• Sowing lettuce and salad leaf seeds in module trays for germination in the poly-tunnel
• planting out lettuce and salad leaves seedlings from module trays into poly-tunnel beds
• potting on brassica seedlings from module trays into pots.

Details of the monthly Community Gardening Session will be circulated in advance so if you want to join our mailing list, we can let you know what is planned so you can decide whether you would like to participate in a particular session. In the next few months these will include sowing seeds, potting on and planting out seedlings, removing crops that have finished and preparing ground for this seasons crops and much more.

Several folk come regularly so if you need a lift get in touch with Dale on 510322 or at dalemeegan@yahoo.com

Facebook:

Anna and Hanno have set up a Facebook page called Ardnamurchan Garden Produce. It will include regular posts about the vegetables being grown in the community garden and ‘veg bag’ information and recipes, as well as reminders about the monthly gardening afternoons. It’s a good way for to find out about what is going on at the community garden.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ardnamurchan-Garden-Produce/294148890643434

Having your own Garden Area:

In addition to the community gardening sessions, there are other opportunities for local people to benefit from the Community Garden by having their own dedicated and prepared outside raised bed or poly-tunnel bed. These are available to rent for a small annual fee. There is also some land available in the lower field for anyone who is keen to cultivate a new piece of land to start their own allotment.

‘Raised beds’ and poly-tunnel beds are limited and will need to be taken over by the end of April as beds not taken will be planted to ensure no ground is wasted for cultivation this year. If you are interested in any of these options please let us know as soon as possible.

Finally if other there are other small scale local producers who would like the opportunity to sell items from the Garden Stall, please get in touch. (Please note that items would need to not conflict with current items being sold).

For further information about any of these opportunities, please contact -
Ritchie Dinnes (Chair): 01972 510247 or at ritchie.dinnes@btinternet.com
Dale Meegan (Secretary): 01972 510322 or at dalmeegan@yahoo.com