Community under strain

I have a great deal of sympathy with the residents of Forth Park and Vale Grove, communities near to the rail crossing linking Cornton with Bridge of Allan.

Network Rail want to replace the existing crossing with a new bridge further along the track, giving residents an additional one-mile journey if they want to walk into Bridge of Allan.

Network Rail wants to close all crossings that involve people or vehicles touching the rails, citing safety reasons. While that is Great to read in last week’s Stirling Observer that local author Rennie McOwan’s classic children’s book ‘Light on Dumyat’is being republished next month.

I’m one of the many hundreds of local people who remember fondly reading the book at school and I’m determined that this book will be wrapped and under the Christmas tree for my kids this year.

I’ll probably get the other book from my primary school days that sticks in my mind:‘Quest for a Kelpie’by Frances Hendry.

What I remember most about reading‘Light on Dumyat’as an eight-year-old isn’t the story. It’s being hugely impressed that there was an author from Stirling and that my teachers had actually met him.

The publishers have said that they’re constantly being contacted by adults asking where they can buy the book for their children, which is one of the reasons why they’ve decided to republish it.

While it isn’t easy to find a copy to purchase today, a quick search of Stirling’s libraries shows they have multiple copies in multiple locations.

‘Light On Dumyat’is republished on November 3.

Chris Kane is a journalist and marketing consultant with Bee Herd Media Ltd. Contact him at www.beeherdmedia.co.uk