THE ARRAN BANNER 20 YEARS AGO

Saturday May 16, 1998

Cladach clearing

Charles Fforde of Arran Estates is clearing trees at Cladach, which will be a car park for those visiting his latest, and exciting, project which includes the refurbishment of Neary’s House.

In creating an entire visitor centre, an old cottage has been refurbished for a bistro and another cottage is earmarked for the Arran Brewery. There is also the possibility of Neary’s House housing the Museum of Childhood which is currently based in Pitlochry, but which is looking for a new home for the exhibits.

Mr Fforde said: ‘We are trying to get a variety of different interests so that people would spend a morning here.’

Title indemnity

Kildonan School and school house, which was advertised recently, has attracted considerable interest. At the time, under the previous authority, there had been some doubt about who might be the owner of the property.

The Banner has seen the schedule in which North Ayrshire Council specifies no price but asks to know what plans the purchaser might have. Most onerous, however, is the fact that no title has yet been found for the property and the buyer will receive a ‘title indemnity policy’. This has dissuaded a few potential purchasers off the property but there is still a great deal of interest in purchasing the property.

Tulip display

The council offices in Lamlash have some dark purple tulips decorating the garden at the front. Council officer Gus MacLeod said that they were not given any bulbs this year due to cutbacks but that gardener Stevie Bunyan had seen bulbs rotting unused at the Co-op and asked if he may have them. It was arranged and now the council offices have something akin to Dumas’ black tulip display.

01_B21twe02 Dave Tapson was one of 157 people who gave blood in Brodick Hall last Sunday. Attending him are the Blood Donor team of sister Joyce Campbell, staff nurse Pam Morrow and donor attendant Ann Cranney.

01_B21twe01 Lavinia Gibbs and Ann Banks of the Arran Civic Trust are hosting an exhibition on kit houses at the Brodick Library over the next two months.

01_B21twe05 Ellen Ferguson plays the first bowl of the season at the Whiting Bay Bowling Club opening last Saturday.

01_B21twe03 Former guide leader and now brownie leader Sheena Miller presented a Shiskine team of guides with a trophy for winning a cooking challenge at the Dyemill last Saturday.

01_B21twe04 A jubilant young Brodick team which defeated Shiskine 2-1 in last Saturday’s Arran Haulage Cup final at Lamlash. Brodick goals were scored by schoolboys Calum McFadzean and Russell Hendry.