End of an era

Sad news that the army are pulling out of Stirling with the closure in the next five years of the military base at Forthside.

I feel for the 240 people who will either be leaving their jobs or leaving Stirling and I wish them all the best of luck for the future. Our politicians at all levels need to ensure that this sizable site is seamlessly transformed from military base to whatever form best ensures jobs and investment come to Stirling. The silver lining in all of this, and I realise this is cold comfort to anybody affected by the closure, is Stirling’s City Deal is on the immediate horizon and the harbour area of that plan borders the military base. Hopefully Stirling Council can swiftly act to ensure that Forthside and the Harbour can grow into the soon to be vacated space – it is worth remembering that all of the land between the riverside harbour and the Peak Leisure Centre was all army land until quite late in the 20th century. The base closure will bring to an end a long connection between Stirling and the Army, with Stirling Castle only ceasing to be a military barracks in 1964. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum at Stirling Castle is soon to be the only lasting physical connection with Stirling’s Army heritage and it sad to see the end of an era in our city’s story. organised this year after last year finding that the best dates and best seats are snapped up really early. This year’s pantomime is again written by Johnny McKnight and is called“Weans in the Wood”. Taking influence from a range of fairy tales, its got lots of familiar cast faces and I’m sure lots of good panto gags. I’m a big fan of the MacRobert’s panto; so while Stirling is perhaps not punching at its weight with a Hogmanay event, it has a pantomime to rival any of the big city theatres. Log onto www. macrobert.org for more information. The panto starts on November 25. Oh yes it does.