THE ARRAN BANNER 20 YEARS AGO
Saturday November 14, 1998
Board games
Three Arran hoteliers, who were elected to the Ayrshire and Arran Tourist Board at the AGM last December, have resigned.
Geoffrey Botterill, Assya Baumgartner and Fred Wood resigned after they were asked to accept a package they could not agree with. If they did not, the acting chief executive Ian Robertson threatened to stop production of the accommodation register, to make all staff redundant and close down the tourist board.
Resigning with them were also trade directors from Ayrshire leaving only two elected members – one whom was away, the other abstaining.
This is not encouraging for those tourist operators who look to the tourist board to help fill their premises. What the future holds for the Ayrshire and Arran Tourist Board we do not know. What seems pretty clear is that it is too embroiled in its own mire at the moment to even think of looking after the interests of its members.
Club changes
An elegant little building, the old clubhouse at Corrie Golf Club which is Edwardian in style and painted green with a red roof, is the subject of much discussion of late. The club plans to enlarge the building and in the view of some people living in Sannox and Corrie, destroy its character. The newer clubhouse is used mostly as a tearoom and meetings are often held in the Ingledene with the old clubhouse being used for changing. Some members of the club are keen that it is enlarged to be of more use but not everyone agrees. ‘There are a lot of people, particularly natives, against this. They’re probably doing it without thinking,’ one member said.
Garden rededicated
Around 100 people from the Pirnmill area gathered at the village War Memorial on Saturday to rededicate it. The ceremony was held on the day before Remembrance Sunday so that the memorial and garden would be ready for the laying of the wreath on Sunday.
It was Campbell Laing of Pirnmill who, two years ago, had been tidying around the War Memorial. He touched the column and it moved.
Closer inspection showed that it was very unstable and in a state of disrepair. So he investigated having it refurbished and the ball was set in motion for refurbishing the entire garden.
Now it is complete and makes Pirnmill’s War Memorial look like a cherished part of the village, so much so that nearly the whole village gathered to pay their respects to the dead and also to mark their renewed memorial.