Chain reaction to bringing pieces of Oban heritage home
A heritage group wants Oban’s provost chain to come back home, writes Kathie Griffiths.
For now the chain of office is kept in a safe at the council’s Kilmory HQ and only makes an appearance in public when the provost or deputy provost of Argyll and Bute carries out official duties in the Oban and Lorn area.
It was donated to the town by Flora Macaulay, a long-time editor of The Oban Times, back in 1955 but went out of frequent use when local authority restructuring happened and Argyll and Bute Council was created.
While the chain, along with others from the likes of Tobermory, Dunoon and Helensburgh, is kept under lock and key in Lochgilphead, the Oban provost’s chair that used to be kept in the municipal buildings in Albany Street was sold off some time ago.
Now Oban and Ganavan Heritage Group is on a mission to bring the chain back to where they say it belongs.
The group plans to bring the issue up at a community council meeting in the town soon to see if they can gather support.
Argyll and Bute’s deputy provost Roddy McCuish wore the chain during a site visit to Ganavan earlier this month.
He and fellow veteran councillor Elaine Robertson were invited to meet Oban and Ganavan Heritage group for an update on plans for a wartime mural to be painted on the gable end of the car park’s toilet block marking the important role Ganavan played during the Second World War. It was used by the Royal Air Force as a training and maintenance base servicing and repairing Sunderland Flying Boats and Catalinas.
‘We’d very much like to see the Oban provost’s chain be kept here in Oban where it belongs - we’d also like to see the role of Oban provost returned too. We will be asking if we can talk about it at a community council meeting soon,’ said a spokesperson for the heritage group.
Councillor McCuish said the chain was ‘a little bit of Oban history’ and added: ‘Why not let the most senior Oban councillor wear it at functions, for example the chairperson of the Oban and Lorn area committee, then the chain would be seen by the public more.
‘The provost’s chair was sold off but it would be good to see these chains returned to their own areas and brought back to more use.’