TEN YEARS AGO
Friday November 15 2013
Engineers to design fish quay extension at Tarbert Harbour
Engineers have been appointed to design the extension to the fish quay at Tarbert
Harbour, which will accommodate the new hybrid ferry for the Tarbert to Portavadie
route.
Tarbert Harbour Authority (THA) has appointed Mott Macdonald and is working with
the team to agree on a temporary and final design, which will allow MV Lochinvar to
dock.
A temporary mooring is expected to be in place by February and the vessel, one of only two roll-on, roll-off ferries in the world to incorporate a low-carbon hybrid diesel system and lithium battery power, will be in operation by spring.
The final extension will be approximately 12 metres long and include work to
increase the power supply for charging the ferry, operated by CalMac Ferries Limited.
The extension will be completed by the end of the summer.
The vessel has a larger capacity and is longer than the existing ferry. It can
accommodate 10 passengers, 23 cars and two HGVs.
Andrew Macdonald, chairman of THA, said: “We are delighted CalMac has
chosen Tarbert for its operating route and overnight base. We are thrilled to be one of
the first places in the world to have the ferry operating from it.
“We hope the ferry will encourage more people to use the route and make the trip to
Tarbert. Last year 60,000 foot passengers and 10,000 cars used the ferry service and
we hope, with a bigger capacity, this will increase, which will have an economic benefit to the village.”
Mr Macdonald added: “We hope disruption of the quayside will be kept to a minimum during the work.”
The cost of the entire project is expected to be in the region of £835,000, which will
be paid for through grant funding and a contribution from THA.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
Friday November 21 2003
Learning about the law
Children from Badden Farm Nursery found out what can happen to naughty grown-
ups when they visited Lochgilphead Police Office this week.
Community Constable Trish Collins took the children on a tour of the building,
including the overnight cells and “mugshot” and fingerprinting room. She also showed them the lights on a police car.
Most of the children had their photograph taken which was marked with their name, date and a “crime number”. They took the prints home with them at the end of the
visit.
Big birthday for Port Ellen bank branch
There were celebrations on Islay this month when The Royal Bank of Scotland’s
Port Ellen branch marked its 125th birthday.
The City of Glasgow Bank originally opened a branch in Port Ellen in 1856 but
following a financial crisis in 1857, which eventually led to the collapse of the City of
Glasgow Bank, the Royal Bank took ownership of the branch and has maintained a
presence since.
At the time the original branch was opened, Port Ellen was a new settlement, with the
distillery having been built in 1827 and a number of new buildings built over the next
few years.
Whilst agriculture remained the mainstay of the island economy, local businesses
increased and there was clearly a need to provide a banking service to those in the
village.
The Royal Bank opened the branch in 1878, retaining the staff and premises. James Stein was the first appointed agent when the branch opened.
By the 1950s, the branch had been managed by only six agents. In 1972, Port
Ellen eventually became linked to the Bowmore branch, which opened in 1891.
George Paterson, Regional Manager for The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “The business of banking has moved on considerably in the last 125 years with people now able to do their banking with The Royal Bank 24 hours a day, either by telephone or on the internet.
“However, in this age of modern technology, we still believe it is vitally important for
our customers to know they have a branch they can visit and we are proud of our long
standing association with Islay.
“We are delighted to continue supporting the communities in which we operate.”
FORTY YEARS AGO
Friday November 18 1983
Tourism bosses in town
A group of high ranking tourism bosses were in Lochgilphead yesterday, Thursday, to
discuss the development of tourism in Argyll.
Among those at Kilmory Castle, headquarters of Argyll and Bute District Council, were the chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board Alan Devereux, the board’s chief executive David Pattison and their director of area operations David McIntyre.
Representatives from the Highlands and Islands Development Board included its
board member for tourism R A Fasken and Dr Maurice Cantley, the board’s head of tourism. They met the council’s tourism leisure and recreation committee to discuss the future development of tourism in the district.
SIXTY YEARS AGO
Tuesday November 19 1963
TV to cost more in Lochgilphead
Viewers in Lochgilphead will have to find another 10 shillings – 50 pence – next year if
they wish to continue receiving the programmes relayed by a Clydebank company.
But on Monday, at its monthly meeting, the town council strongly opposed the
proposal by GPT Ltd, Clydebank, which operate the relay system to the town, to
increase the annual rent from £5 to £5/10/- owing to rising costs.
In Oban, which has a relay system embracing BBC and STV, operated by
another firm, the annual charges have always been £6, with an installation charge of
£10.
The council is to inform GPT, which operates a similar service at Campbeltown, Dumbarton and Fort William, where the annual rental is £6 10s, that to increase the rental would constitute a breach of contract, which Councillor David Wilson claimed was due to run for 15 years.
GPT proposes to increase the rental from February 1 1964, but a GPT spokesman claimed on Wednesday that his company was entitled to impose an increase if rising costs compelled them. “Our agreement with the town council states categorically that should we find it necessary to increase the charges, all we are required to do is to give the local authority three months’ notice of our intentions.”
He added that while the charges were going up, they still compared favourably
with other similar relay systems in Scotland.