spring 2014.indd - Harburn Village Hall

hT
The
Also available on harburnvillagehall.org.uk
Litter Pick
Pp 1-3
Juliet on Pottery ......................P3
SWRI..........................................P4
Bennie the Cycle ..........................P5
Wilkie’s Take.................................P6
And another thing ........................P7
Wind Farms etc ...........................P8
Spring 2014
IT WASN’T GREAT WEATHER, NOR WAS IT ON SUNDAY ON WHICH MANY
TURNED OUT FOR THAT POPULAR ANNUAL EVENT: THE GRAND HARBURN
LITTER PICK. IT WAS GREY AND A BIT NIPPY. THIS HARDY PERENNIAL SEES
A VARYING NUMBER OF HARBURNIANS TURNING OUT TO PICK UP AND
DISPOSE OF THE GARBAGE GENEROUSLY DONATED TO THE VILLAGE BY
PASSING MOTORISTS. FOR OUR PAINS WE ARE GREETED BY A NUMBER OF
SPEEDING VISITORS USING A VARIETY OF SIGNS, NORMALLY INVOLVING A
STRAIGHTENED MIDDLE FINGER.
Grey and nippy or not, there was a great attendance and all the more so because of the
excellent turn-out by the young and the very young. What inducements or threats had been
used we may never know, but their presence was one of the best aspects of a successful and
well-attended Litter Pick, which we believe established a record number of black bags.
One re-enactment of trench warfare that
Chairman Dave reminisces in a report
was held in Harburn over Christmas and
headed The Return of the Fag Packet:
New Year.
As usual my route was the Golf Club to the
Even more could have been picked but due
Waterhouse. Busiest and most dangerous of
to wet conditions many fields
the routes we have for the
and ditches were not entered.
litter walk. I choose to do this
After a few years of food
route as I have done so for many
and energy drinks becoming
years and know the appropriate
the most popular items to be
areas to move into and the
thrown from vehicles, this was
bits where you have to run...
the year of a return to Fags and
It may not look it, but I was
Booze...lots more fag ends and
my secondary school athletics
empty packets, loads of beer
champion specialising in the
bottles, Budwieser seemed to
100 metres and long jump...
be the bottle of choice...indeed
however I think many drivers
an American theme here as
would be concerned at what
there were many McDonald
damage could be caused to them
packs in the food category. After their
if they hit the lumbering fat bloke with the
dabble with “health” foods and drinks, it
Hi - Vis vest on.
was good to see that White Van man and
This year the rubbish on this stretch
Corsa boy have returned to their default
reached 15 bags...a world record. Perhaps
setting.
this is the ongoing cost of the World War
This Newsletter produced and distributed by the Harburn & District Residents Association
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An interesting point here...... a sign of
changing times possibly, White Van man
and Corsa boy had, amongst their other
contributions, donated at least 6 empty
Viagra blister packs.
Yes, a Buckfast bottle was spotted,
but out of my reach, it still stands as a
monument to the Litterati of West Lothian.
Finally, we must thank Guy, chief
organiser and a special thanks to those he
liaises with, WLC and the Keep Scotland
Tidy group who help with materials and
taking the rubbish away. But the biggest
thank you has to be to the good people of
Harburn (these are the ones I spotted...Idle
family, Pearce family, Young family, the
Durhams, the Nicols, Kilgour family, the
Boultings, the Wilkinsons, the Vernhams,
the Shephards, the McChesneys and the
Hendersons...apologies if I have missed
anyone) who spend many hours over our
“litter pick” weekend to help make our
Village environment a joy to live in.
Picture:Fiona toasts other litter-pickers
with a festive irn-bru!
Further comment
comes from Fiona
and Stephen:
Perhaps not a
council worker, they
JW, resident artist, contributes his
pennyworth under the heading YOU ARE
WHAT YOU DISCARD
‘You are what you eat’. they say....
Here at Torphin we say, ‘You are what you
leave behind you’. We’ve always known
that Torphinians are a cut or two above the
run of Harburnites, and that’s been shown
this weekend by the more discriminatory
nature of our litter-louts. John W (cartoon
see P 6) continues..........
While the back streets of downtown
Harburn are home to drug-crazed and
priapic smokers in white vans swilling
American rice beer, our quiet spring lanes
are the haunt of joggers who used to smoke
but now discard their water bottles into our
hedges, their Irn Bru and sugar fixes into our
ditches and their Spanish lager bottles all
over the place.
Only one fag-packet this year, and that an
old one, but enough bottles in the two-mile
stretch to win the West Lothian competition
on our own. One selfless jogger even left a
full unopened bottle of San Miguel atop a
fence-stob to tempt our swithering pickerupper. But the Irn Bru that wasn’t Irn Bru
had been warning enough, and the empty
urn tied to another stob, its human ashes
long scattered by the winds, another. It’s
still there.
One aged litter-picker was heard to be
singing the ancient litter-picking ditty as
he tripped gaily along, his black binbags
bobbing and bouncing behind him:
‘Oh, the road to Cobbinshae, where the
month-old lambkins play,
And the beer-cans, lager-bottles, plastic
bags bedeck the way;
Ah, the road towards Pate’s Hill, where the
wind-turbines are still,
And the bright crisp-packets gleam like
sunlit flowers beside Baads Mill...’
But sadly the rest of the song was lost to
write with reference
to the photo , but
she did stop for a
cup of tea at Park
House. A big thanks
to Duncan and Mandy for a cup served on
the lawn
It greatly helped the litter picking task
and, by the way.....
Given the amountof McDonald rubbish
I do feel we should approach them for a
contribution to village funds for the mess
their customers make.
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sight as the aged litter-picker skipped
slowly round the bend..
Snippet from Chairman Guy: Staggering
number of Budweiser bottles and other
rubbish was collected. Only David McD
made a profit (a fiver found), but that
amounted to little more than £1 for every 3
bags he collected on the road between the
Golf Club & the Waterhouse, so we cannot
begrudge him that.
Louise Nicol writes: Isabel and Maeve had a
fantastic time collecting litter at the weekend.
They were fascinated with the variety
of litter that they found, from Christmas
decorations to tyres, bags of wood shavings
to bags of rocks. They were asking why
people would drive out to Harburn in their
cars and leave bags of wood shavings and
rocks instead of putting them in their own
bins at home?’ Good question!
They did the walk with Duncan and also
found lots of the usual cans and bottles
too. Towards the end of the walk they were
getting a bit tired - (please see picture taken at
start of walk: Page 1)All in all one of the most
successful Litter Walks. A great turn out, an
enthusiastic and purposful labour force and
bags and bags of the stuff removed.
NB writes: Mr Rennie, he of Phantassie,
often mocks me when I am attacking the
leaves in the autumn. ‘You’ll have just as
many by the afternoon,’ he glooms.
Yes, Robert, but at least this lot are out of
the way! Same with the black bags loaded
during the 2014 litter Walk. As Chairman
Dave points out, something approaching a
record.
Well done all.
Pottering around
There is a popular misconception that
all we Rural Ladies do is potter around
when we are not being “good ladies of
Harburn” and baking to order. Recently,
however we did Potter Around to great
effect at the excellent workshop of that
name in Kirknewton. Inspired by Karen’s
enthusiasm and gaining confidence
through her encouragement, we painted
a wide variety of ceramics using a wide
variety of techniques. We surprised
ourselves by our achievements and await
the glazed and fired end results with
excitement.
I can thoroughly recommend Potter
Around www.potteraround.co.uk for a one
off experience or regular sessions for any
age or level of ability. Pictured: It is reported
that Lilian was ‘seeking inspiration’ !
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away with individual successes but special
congratulations go to Helen B who gained
two 1st places, both of which won her
a trophy, as well as a 3rd and a Highly
Commended. The standard of work on
display was really impressive and it was
good to see so many Institutes
involved especially as the
event, in Balerno, was staged
for the first time this side of the
county.
SWRI Jottings
Anyone looking back to the Autumn
edition would gain the impression that
Rural life is all parties, competitions and
performances. Ok, I hold my
hands up!
December.....party. This time
for some 40 or so local Primary
School children and yes, it
was noisy, and, yes it was fun,
and yes Father Christmas was
present with presents.
Our main business is of course
our monthly meetings and
recent speakers/demonstrators
have given us much to
think about, to admire and
to indulge ourselves with.
I refer in reverse order to
Alasdair McEwen’s Delightful
Chocolates, Laura Nelson’s
flower arranging and Joanna’s
inspiring talk on the work she has been
doing with Art Therapy in Zambia.
Members donated very generously to help
buy basic art supplies and we heard from
her recently from Zambia as to how these
have been put to good use. As this goes to
print we have our pottery evening to look
forward to and the talk by John Donaldson
on The Stirling Heads about which events
more later. Now it is all hands to the
plough for the Festival in June. Get baking
and look out your bric a brac and contact
Isobel if you are still to sign up to help.
January ........party. Our own
88th Birthday. The usual
wonderful cake from Jean Brash
and delicious dinner by Thistle
Caterers. Last year people
managed to duck out of playing
any games so this time, as I still had t in
the bag and before anyone left the table, I
allowed no escape! Many thanks to Joan
for organising the evening.
February ........performance. The Church
Hill Theatre once again was the show case
for Rural talent. Variations on a Theme
they certainly were and proudly the newly
formed Midlothian Choir opened and
closed the evening with song. Our troupe,
Joan, Isobel, Sandra, Morag, Nicola, Fay,
Jill and Edingell entertained with gusto
adding dance, conjuring and poetry to their
repertoire. You can read a full report on the
website. (see P1)
Pictured above: High standard, this
magnificent arrangement only got 3rd place for
Harburn. Below: chocolate making afternoon.
April ........competition. Harburn held
their heads high at the recent Midlothian
Federation Show. Our composite entry
gained a respectable 146/200, helped
by Shelagh’s full marks for her damson
vodka. Betty,Sandra, Shelagh, both
Helens, Morag, Isobel and Ray all came
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Tour de Camilty
Before that the most challenging race he had
entered was the famous La Marmotte which
stretches over 180k and includes some
Alpine terrain. Just the way to pass a sunny
Sunday. Allan claims he really enjoyed the
Ronde, though when I saw him a few days
later, it must be said that he was not moving
quite as freely as normal.
Until, what, about five years ago, the only
cyclist you saw round the Village was
the proud owner of a shiny new birthday
present making his or her wobbly way along
a straight.. Or, maybe, a senior citizen on
clunky cross-barred museum piece, out
searching for blackberries. Nowadays the
picture is very different. Today you can’t
round a corner without having to take
evasive action as lycra flashes past in all its
gaudy glory. Pounds of it. And I don’t mean
weight. These dedicated followers of Sir
Wiggo lavish NatWests full of their hardearned on fibre-glass
frames and ever more
complicated de rallier
gearing. I’m told that the
old and trusted 3-speed
option has long gone.
Now 12, 17 and even 27
gears are what turns the
aspiring Cavendish on.
Allan says there are quite a few Harburnians
who have been bitten by the bug. You
may not recognise them in the full gear.
Dark glasses, lycra-svelte, helmeted and
not given to stopping to pick daises, they
are to be found daily, but the invasion
really gains momentum over
weekends. Allan’s plans for the
future involve many more miles
of racing to gain his cat 3 licence.
Probably a bob or two involved as
well. Don’t cash in your shares in
Pedal Power!
Of the (much overstated?) car/
bike conflict he shows remarkable
calm. Says it ruins a good day’s ride if
there’s been a slanging match en route;
claims he has ridden some 600k in the
last few weeks without any stand-off or
hairy moment. Allan obviously would like
to claim the yellow jersey in the Tour de
Camilty, a sponsor for which race has yet to
be found.
He’s mad, of course! A long and painful
course at that!
The success and busy-ness of Pedal Power
in West Calder is in no small part, down
to enthusiastic support from a number of
Lothian cycle nuts. Among these is Allan
Crosbie, aka Bennie the Tree.
Alan has been a fan of the sport for some
years and admits that much of the family
budget goes – with scarcely a backward
glance – into the tills of Pedal Power. For
modern cycling is no cheap hobby and
many thousands of pounds can be spent on
a frame alone. Allan’s latest little jaunt was
to take himself to Belgium for the Ronde
van Vlaanderen. A bit of a step up from
the Tour de Skivo and other local courses,
this involves some 270k of mixed terrain.
Oh yes, it may be in Flanders but some
climbs sort out the men from the Men!
Pictured: Allan and mate in Flanders last month
Dates for your Diary........
Harburn’s own QUIZ NITE with the
prospect of an awkward couple of
hours for Team SMARTYPANTS.Roll
up on FRI MAY 16 in the Hall.
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Wilkie’s Take
Quiz Nite May 16th
invincible. Sensational headlines have
been seen in less august West Lothian
columns than these. For instance.........
“Smartypants Manager Sacked”....
”Smartypants team look for Overseas
buyer”...
”Disruptive Team Member Disciplined”
“Breakaway Smartypants Team finish 8th
in Tarbrax”
.”Smartypants go into Administration”
”Supporters of Smartypants tear up season
tickets”
“Current Champions face humiliation at
Harburn”... “Will they defend Trophy?”...
Chairman Dave draws your attention to the
upcoming QUIZ NITE:
It time for the Harburn Quiz Nite.
Friday 16th May at Harburn Village Hall 7
for a 7.30 Kick Off.
Quiz Master...if he says yes... David
Dobson.
There will be a break for sandwiches
and cakes supplied by the good ladies of
Harburn.
Teams of 4, cost £10 per team.
Some of you may be thinking, why turn up,
the Smartypants team always win?
Well there have been signs that the
invincibilisty is becoming, well, less than
Its all to play for...come along, have a
laugh and a chat, and argue over answers.
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P.S. Those with Trophies...please bring
them...and if you have a team please email
me to let me know numbers...thank you.
describes as not so much a brown course as
a yellow one. Despite weather that further
baked the links he ended up with the course
in a condition that meant that those with the
greatest skill were likely to triumph. Though
some were doubtful, Peter Alliss and others
enthused and the quality of play proved
Craig right.
And where was the man trained? Who took
him on as a green (sorry!) YTS apprentice?
HARBURN Golf Club - naturally.
And another thing..........
THE NEWS FROM THEATRE Harburn
gets worse and worse. First we got reports
of the cancellation of the traditional
Christmas Panto which has been a fixture
since Alan Tuffs and Jimmy Rennie were
to be seen as the baddies shortly after their
voices had broken! Now comes the news
that, as we stand at the moment, the Spring
Prroduction is unlikely to see curtain-up.
and that , after some tremendous successes
in the last few years. The Steamie and Loot
spring to mind immediately.
All the more regrettable since it seemed
that we were running into a rich seam of
talent. A number of actors and directors had
offered the audience some really interesting
material. The young in the last Panto (Puss
in Boots) were particularly impressive and
Nicola Tuxworth and Grant Holden (with
support from other promising younger
members of the cast - Lewis Clarke and
Ross Laird for instance - seemed to assure
a bright future for the Company.Particularly
when you looked at the wealth of talent
amongst their seniors.
What a shame then, that the lights are out
in the Hall. Let’s hope someone can breathe
new life into a body that is in sore need of
resuscitation.
Another local the centre of further praise is
Alasdair MacEwan of Delightful Chocolates
the young entrepreneur who has for
some years been running an increasingly
successful enterprise producing quality
chocolates which he markets not only
locally, but in Edinburgh, other venues in
Scotland and even in various select outlets
in the Lakelands and elsewhere.
Recently Alasdair kept a packed house
entertained and informed when appearing
as the guest speaker at the SWRI meeting.
(See photo of the Connexions afternoon).
For further information please contact
Alasdair or see his site at http://www.
delightfulchocolates.co.uk/
Good to see an ‘Old Boy’ doing
great things on the Golf Course. Allan
MacLaughlan came upon an article in
Scotland on Sunday which featured one
Craig Gilholm, of Aberlady, who for the last
eleven years has held the all-important post
of Head Greenkeeper at Hoylake where, for
the second time in ten years he is preparing
the course for the golfing event of the year:
The Open.
Last time, in 2005, that Hoylake played
host to the golfing elite, Craig caused a deal
of controversy when he produced what he
I know for a fact that there have been recent
births in the Community. Some are recorded
on the Village site (www.harburnvillagehall.
org.uk.) There are lovely pics of recent
additions. Please suppport this page with
word and photos.
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Round up: Wind Farms et quite a bit of al
with Allan Maclaughlan at maglox@sky.
com.
Allan MacLaughan reports on the
state of play in the various Wind Farm
projects, the position with the roads and
a surprising bit of news from Murieston
Castle.
MURIESTON CASTLE HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT -- A Planning Application
in Principle to construct a housing
development on the land to the west of
Murieston Road, Livingston (between
Brucefield Industrial Estate and Murieston
Castle) has been lodged with WLC by
Messrs Claredon Planning and Development
Ltd of Semple Street, Edinburgh. Map can
be viewed. Contact via website contact
page.
WIND FARM Update -- The Reporters
have reported to the Scottish Government
with their recommendations re the
Pearie Law, Harburnhead and Fauch Hill
It’s FESTIVAL
JUNE 14 SATURDAY,
in case you needed
reminding, is the day
of the next GRAND
HARBURN FESTIVAL.
As well as hoping you tell your friends there are loads of posters available (Norry
on 871339), we draw your attention to a
number of requests for help.
Two major areas in which we urgently need
aassistance are during the setting up period
(tents, kids’ games, signage etc) when there
will be some working parties. These are
fun-affairs that get a lot done in a short
time, but David the Chair ( 872501) would
greatly appreciate any offers even if only for
a limited time.
Also appreciative of any help would be
Juliet (871339) who could do with a hand at
Broadshaw and in other areas. This would
involve a ‘slot’ or two on the great day!
Planning Applications. In the short term
there is however no sign of smoke, either
black or white. This is likely to continue
to be the case pending the outcome of an
application to the Court of Session on
behalf of a group of objectors to a planning
application in the Highland Region.
They are challenging the means whereby
Electricity can be generated and by whom
it can be generated. A date for the hearing
has yet to be confirmed.
HARBURN ROADS Saga -- The meeting
to consider the reinstatement of Harburn’s
fine road system scheduled for 27th April
was unavoidably postponed and will
now take place in the 3rd week of May.
Any issues which residents want to be
considered at that meeting should be raised
Any offers gratefully received.
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