FOLLOWING on from the last article regarding the Garvie Burn private water supply, Sam Anderson of Scottish Power (SP) reports that the existing water main has been investigated by Scottish Water (SW) and found to be up to specification for SW to adopt.

Inspections have also been carried out on the seventeen properties by SW, which is the next part of the process in terms of the potential take over of the system by them. The summer holidays etc, have slowed things up a bit, but now that they are over SP should see  some progress in the ongoing discussions with SW.

After four hundred years the old Achanelid Bridge is no more. Its graceful curving arch spanning the ten feet over the burn is replaced by a gaping 40 foot canyon of mud.

Curiously, no one - not the engineers, not our local councillor, not the farmers who use it - can explain why. As soon as its replacement was mooted, I went under to have look. It appeared sound. Well, nothing that two men and a bucket of cement couldn’t fix in an hour including tea breaks - and without disturbing the resident bats.

Of course, the high hiedyins, as in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Mikado, have ‘got a little list’ of bridges in Argyll to be upgraded whether they need it or not. Unfortunately Achanelid is spelt with an ‘A’. Were it Zebra Bridge we could well wait another 400 years - when the old bridge would still be standing sound.

One consequence of the works is that we’ve had no visitors for six weeks and we’re spending a fortune on fuel. Another is that the burn has taken on the consistency of oxtail soup. We, the Fyne & Awe Fisheries and SEPA are not amused.

Of course, we elect thecoucillors not the executive. This was an executive decision. Council-lors only do the really important things like deciding if you can build that conservatory and claiming their expenses. Shakespeare understood -
“… but man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s
most assured …”
Angry? Me? What about the bats?
Michael Kaufmann

In the last newsletter our Councillor reported on discussions between Scottish Power (SP) and Scottish Water (SW) with a view to connecting the Garvie Burn private main at the top of the Glen with the public system at the Clachan.
Residents on the Garvie Burn supply recently received notification from Sam Anderson of SP stating that SW would be investigating the existing water main with a view to potentially adopt it.
Sam Anderson tells me that SW’s inspection is now completed and he awaits the final report. He explained that the water treatment plant had just completed routine maintenance and water sampling.
Will the Garvie Burn residents end up on the Scottish Water supply, will they remain as they are, or on a similar version of their current system? Watch this space!
Iyline Wilson

You may have noticed an occasional temporary addition to Glendaruel at certain times during the last eight months. Photographer Heike Löwenstein, based in Suffolk, has set out to create a portrait of the whole of Glendaruel. She is pursuing a specific angle on this. Her interest is in the relationship between the people of a particular area with the spaces and places they inhabit and how this relationship forms part of their identity as well as forming the identity of the area in return.
In order to explore and document this complex interaction she uses panoramic photography and aims to portray individuals in a place of personal significance to them in Glendaruel. The accumulation of a number of portraits, to be shown in an exhibition, online and a book, will she hopes, form a ‘portrait’ of the whole area.
Heike intends to support the photographic work through interviews with the subjects about themselves, their relationship to the space and their knowledge of it. She also plans to use sound recordings made in the place of a portrait in conjunction with the photographic work.
When asked why the use of a panorama camera was so important for this project, she explained,  “I think panorama’s unique representation of time and space, its narrative qualities, and its capacity to transcend the traditional boundaries of image making is the perfect vehicle for the PeopleSpaces project. The images are produced on film with a 360o  panoramic camera that rotates around its own axis rather than digitally stitched together.”
“I hope to use the panoramas in their two-dimensional form, in an exhibition and a book. This is more challenging for the viewer because what was opposite in the real three-dimensional world is now confined to a rectangular two-dimensional space.  I am very interested in the presentation aspect in itself. The use of colour, choice of focal length and resulting frame and depth of field will be of utmost importance in communicating the emotional nature of the relationship between subject and space.”
By nature the project involves and requires the input of the members of the community. Heike has been coming to the Glen for some years now and was inspired to start her project here, because of the environment that she finds to be both spectacular and challenging, and because of the unique nature of our small community. One of her interests is to investigate change in areas undergoing regeneration and its effect on communities. She says: “I hope that all residents will be interested in participating and I am very grateful for the support and the very positive response I have received so far. I will be in touch.”
Heike has a website with some of her other photographic work (www.peoplespaces.co.uk), and the Glendaruel project will be documented in due course on www.peoplespaces.net.
She can be contacted on heike@peoplespaces.co.uk or at 07711 316 210.
Image caption:
Willie MacVicar in his chicken pen at Bealachandrain
August 2007
© Heike Löwenstein

They say that time flies by when you are enjoying yourself. It is hard to believe that a year has passed since my induction. Although it’s been hectic, ithas been enjoyable. I’m much better at finding my way around now, though still struggle to work out what’s happening when.

Alternating Sunday services with Kyles and Kilfinan does not make for any real continuity. Folk regularly ask me, “Where are you this Sunday?” To which my answer is, “I don’t know, where’s my diary?”

Maintaining church buildings is not easy these days - if it ever was. Where you feel it most is wgen you want to make a change and it costs money. We are updating the hymnals we use in church and need to raise about£1,500. It is over 30 years since the Hymn Book was last revised. The new version brings back old favourites that missed the last edition and introduces some new hymns that you may have heard on ‘Songs of Praise’.

The Hymn Books cost £12 for words onlt, £16 with melody and £20 in large print. That is about the same price as any hard back book these days and will be used every Sunday and at weddings and funerals for another 30 years.

Our hope is that members of the community might consider gifting a book to the church to help us on our way. There is a leaflet in this issue with details.

Enjoy the summer with its lighter nights, colour and, perhaps eventually, sunshine. If you are heading off on holiday, have a safe journey
Rev. David Mitchell