WHO IS THIS?

What a fabulous weekend we’ve just had, it almost felt like summer had arrived and everybody was smiling.

Oban was buzzing with people enjoying sitting out, some in only t-shirts, which is a bit brave in March. It did give us a taste of, hopefully, things to come and it was great to see everyone taking advantage of the nice weather. While I was out I bumped into a very familiar face, whose photograph I took for this week’s column, and it reminded me of a discussion I followed on Facebook recently about people from Oban being called Obanites and the difference to being called ‘Old Oban’.

I’ve always called myself an Obanite, as did my parents and grandparents, and they also called themselves Old Oban, which was to indicate their families had lived here for generations. So I suppose I must be Old Oban too.

It reminds me of the Oban of my childhood when Oban was a much smaller place and it felt as if everyone knew each other. Thankfully we’ve not come too far from that. It’s lovely being able to walk down the street or round the shops and still recognise enough people to make your trip an hour longer than it should be because you keep stopping for a blether. I think that’s true, too, for the newer Obanites – it doesn’t take long in a place this size to start recognising the same faces and moving on to stopping for a chat. It’s one of the best things about Oban, the fact that new faces are made welcome and slot into the town so well. I’ve often been told that by people who’ve moved here and vowed never to leave again.

Last week’s photograph was the lovely Mary MacInnes, an Old Oban lady, as is this week’s gentleman.