Running to up the end of 2013...
Regular commuters through Bridge of Weir might recognise the front banner picture as one of Gibb Stuart’s (Home Hardware) windows. Every year without fail, Sandy and his team go to great efforts to create a colourful and dynamic display; this year is no exception - a visual extravaganza to brighten up the dark winter evenings.
For those with hectic schedules and unable to make the shops during normal hours, Gibb Stuart is staying open on Thursday evenings in the run up to Christmas. The shop will be open until 8pm on Thursdays 28th November, 5th and 12th December, with special offers in-store on those nights.
In Lochwinnoch, the following shops will also be staying open on Thursday 28th November: Calder Gallery and Framing, Now and Then and Little Now and Then, the Charity shop, Post Office, Quirky Florist, Penman’s Pharmacy and Castle Semple visitor centre - more info on the website http://lochwinnochextra.co.uk/whatson-late-night-opening.html
I was delighted to receive an invitation to visit the Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre for their Grand Opening. The highlight of the day was being allowed to hold Orla, the Golden Eagle. I can’t tell you how fantastic it was to be that close to such an amazing creature. Closer than half an arm’s length, to make eye to eye contact was quite nerve-racking, but an unforgettable experience, one which I would encourage anyone to share.
If you are stuck for that unique Christmas gift, how about the ‘Hawk Walk’ for £35, where you will get to fly one of the hawks for an hour through the trees? Or ‘Meet the Birds Experience’ where, for £100, you can enjoy an action packed, four hour close encounter at the Centre with tuition on some of the basics of falconry, learn the falconers’ knot, encounter an Eagle Owl, meet and handle a selection of hawks, falcons, and owls, fly a hawk, and possibly handle “Orla” the Golden Eagle. Vouchers are available at the Centre, or online at the website www.llbopc.co.uk
Finally, I would like to wish you all a happy and restful (if possible) festive season. I am looking forward to 2014 and hope you will be too!
It's great to see continuing improvements at the frontage at Neva Place. On this occasion, many thanks to the Brighter Bridge of Weir group for planting the border in front of Bernie's, and thanks too to Bull's Garage for donating the red stone chips, and the efforts of Willie Carruth, Roy Holmes and the Brighter girls who managed to move enough red chips to cover from the edge of Bernie's paving all the way down to the bank. Well done!
Sadly, the availability of these stone chips is due to the, now obvious, closure of Bull's Garage. This was a business at the core of village life and will be sorely missed. For those villagers who live and work within the locality it provided a convenient and essential resource, even if only for filling-up your vehicle. Locals will now have to make a conscious decision to go elsewhere and in doing so may change their local shopping habits. Please remember that a village without local shops can be a very soul-less place, so please do your utmost to continue to support your local retailers and help keep the community alive.
It's Panto season....
"Oh no it's not" you say, "Oh yes it is!" And we are so excited at The Advertizer this year as one of our very own team is taking part - we'll leave it to our eagle-eyed readers out there to go along to the show and find out who!
On that same theme, we've got a special section in our centre pages, "Spotlight", with details of pantomimes, theatre events and fireworks displays- plenty going on for all tastes.
If you've got any events for our December issue, please get these to us by our deadline of Friday 15th November
Mixed news for October
I was delighted to hear that the group, “Weir Saving our Village”, has offered to help meet the costs of improving the play area in Moss Road Park, Bridge of Weir. The group – formed to save the park from a sell-off for retail development – successfully campaigned for the Council to retain ownership of the park. The funds raised during their campaign became surplus to requirements.
On a sad note, I’m sure that you will share my surprise and disappointment at the imminent closure of Bull’s Garage (see the adjacent page). If local rumours are to be believed the possibility of the business continuing as a going concern is not an option and consequently the buildings may be demolished. If true, what is to become of the site?
The site of the garage includes the vacant land towards the River Gryffe, currently used for casual parking. This vacant land was referenced on the local plan and designated residential development, however, with the removal of the garage what is to become of this significantly larger plot. Rumours abound; more housing, affordable housing, a supermarket, a railway station, etc? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure, the convenience of the local garage which has been there as long as I can remember will be sadly missed. Not to forget the service which the Crawford family has afforded the community, having built the business over the years.
Finally, and on a lighter note, I was highly amused to hear that there were, in fact, no nearly new babies for sale at the recent ‘Nearly New Baby Sale’ in Kilmacolm. I’ve no doubt though that some big brothers and sisters might have thought this would be a really good idea.
Renfrewshire residents turned out in their numbers to grab a glimpse of some vintage vehicles during the Fire Engine Rally held in Paisley in August. Hundreds of people gathered in Paisley town centre for the popular annual event, which is now in its fifth year.
A mixture of old-style and current fire appliances paraded through the town from Canal Street Fire Station before parking in County Square and Gilmour Street. The event was run by Renfrewshire Council and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Heritage Trust.
Gibb Stuart’s CookLive 2013 event will be held over three days, in-store at the Bridge of Weir shop. Events kick off on Friday 13th until Sunday 15th September, with in-store promotions and demonstrations in abundance. See their advert on page 23 for details.
Rehearsals are already underway for the pantomime season.... Oh no they’re not!.... OH YES THEY ARE! This year we will be treated to ‘Cinderella’ by the Kilmacolm Dramatic Society and the “Flint Street Nativity” by Kilbarchan East Drama group. I’m sure there are plenty of others - if you are involved and would like us to publicise your event please get in touch.
An idea for Christmas (we can’t be thinking of that already!?) is the must buy for 2014 – The Bridge of Weir calendar. After last year’s success the Trustees of The Bridge have produced a local calendar for 2014 with the invaluable assistance of members of Paisley Colour Photographic Club.
The hanging A4 sized calendar incorporates 12 colourful photographs of scenes/landmarks around Bridge of Weir, along with a diary section to note all your important dates. The calendar will be on sale in The Bridge from Monday 9th September for £5.75.
And finally, to help get us all off the couch, Renfrewshire Leisure are hosting an ‘Open Weekend’ on 14th and 15th September when you can go along to Paisley Lagoon, ON-X Linwood, Renfrew Leisure Centre or Erskine Sports Centre, and find out which sport might be right for you. More details in their ad on page 39.
As I write, PHEW! It’s hot!
In the June editorial I reflected on the somewhat distressing and variable weather which we were suffering at that time. And, trying to remain upbeat, I recalled the weather pattern from 1976 when there was a very cold Spring, culminating in a snow blizzard on the 2nd June, only to be followed by one of the hottest summers on record, with the temperature sitting above 80’C for four weeks mid June and into July. So similar to this year’s weather!
Apologies for not managing to include photos of Bridge of Weir Gala last month, but to make amends I’ve managed to save a page this month for a montage. Lots of smiley faces enjoying the freedom of the great outdoors and wall to wall sunshine. Again, congratulations to Gordon Lethorn and his support team for another wonderful day.
Over the last few years we’ve been following our local karting star, Tom Thickpenny. This month we don’t have an article from him since he has been invited to the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix, not to compete but to rub shoulders with the superstars, undoubtedly an experience which will help his blossoming racing career. I hope that once he gets to F1 himself as a driver, I might receive a personal invite to watch him (well, no harm in asking!).
A call to action Ladies! We’re looking for pre-loved, gently used, vintage or designer handbags. On the 20th September, in The Cargill Centre (Kilmacolm), an auction in aid of Orkidstudio is being held and more donations of handbags are required to ensure the night is a great success. See page 5 (over there --->) for further details.
We also have the welcome news that following a successful event last year, Gibb Stuart Home Hardware has decided to again host their CookLive! event in September. More news about this on page 14 and in our next issue.
Happy August everyone!
It feels like we’ve had a good share of rogues and scams already this year, and we’ve just been alerted to another - the Madrid inheritance letter, claiming the reader is set to inherit a small fortune. They seem to have just enough personal information to cause the reader to consider the letter as genuine. As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and our advice is - BIN IT!, or at least solicit a second opinion before even thinking about responding.
Talking of a response, our old Advertizer phone number “874385” will be stopped from September. Previously, calling 01505 874385 would re-direct through to our Bridge of Weir office, but from September we will be cancelling this line since it is effectively obsolete. Please call us on 01505 613340 from now on.
Thank you very much to Brighter Bridge of Weir who have planted some lovely tubs for our frontage. The volunteers put so much time and effort into these beautiful displays around Bridge of Weir and I’m sure we’re all appreciative of the ‘Brighter’ village they provide.
On the subject of the frontage, we’ve been waiting for planning permission from the Council to go ahead with our plans and, after a couple of iterations, we finally got there. However, now into the midst of the outdoor landscaping season, most local companies are busy. Bear with us - we think we are just about there; although I am sure I’ve said that before – but trust me!
Apologies if we’ve missed any news items, but our email was a bit ‘iffy’ through the month. If you send something in, please make sure you get an auto-reply. If in any doubt, please don’t hesitate to call us to make sure.
Finally, many of you will be heading off on holiday soon, but please don’t forget to send us your news and photos - our deadline for August will be Friday 19th July, so plenty of time before then.
COMPETITION WINNERS!
Winners of the Gibb Stuart Weekend Giveaway as follows:
Weber BBQ - Iain Anthony - Houston
Easiyo Yogurt Maker + Years Supply - Maureen Brennan - Houston
Dulux Dog Soft Toy - Irene McLaughlin - Bridge of Weir
Dulux Puppy & Blanket Soft Toy - Emma Gibbs - Bridge of Weir
Winner of the Ferringtons hypno-chill day:
WINNER: Marie Brown, Bridge of Weir
RUNNERS-UP: Helen Qayum, Johnstone; Isobel Evans, Kilmacolm; Jackie Morrison, Houston; Meg Millar, Bridge of Weir; Dorothy Murray, Motherwell
Congratulations to everyone who won and thank you for all the entries!
Isn’t the weather just maddening right now; warm, summery, cold, wet, windy and even snow; as Crowded House sang in 1992, “Four Seasons in One Day”; clearly intended as a metaphor in the song, but apparently becoming a reality as we struggle to know what to wear when leaving the house in the morning. It’s never been like this before?
If you remember last year, we had a scorching March followed by a freezing April and then storms in May. This year, a warm and dry February followed by a freezing March and, as I am writing on 23rd May, snow blizzards.
As the old saying goes, “Ne’er cast a clout till May be out”, commonly used but what of the meaning? Generally the accepted interpretation would be, don’t discard your warm winter clothing until the month of May is behind us. However, another interpretation exists that makes more sense, by tying the changing seasons with nature; that you should take the same precaution regarding your apparel until the Hawthorn, also known as the May Tree, is in full bloom, thus signalling the beginning of summer. There you go, you learn something every day.
Still on the weather front (no pun intended), I happened to bump into a village worthy this morning and, in discussing the chilly start to the day, he recalled 1976 when they had to stop work on the 2nd June because of a snow blizzard. However, that year then turned out to be one of the hottest summers on record, with the temperature sitting above 80’C for four weeks mid June and into July. Maybe our selective memory recall makes us believe that things right now are a little random, but in fact it may not really be that different at all; expressed more eloquently, “It was one of those perfect Spring days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.” And, staying with quotes, Charles Dickens said, “Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade”; isn’t that just how it feels right now. Therefore, remaining optimistic and knowing that the trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it, let’s just hope; hope for a recurrence of ‘76 and keep the sunscreen and BBQ tongs at the ready.
June is the month for lots of fun at the various gala days and shows in the local area. We’ve got Lilias Day in Kilbarchan, Bridge of Weir’s Gala Day followed by their Gala Week events, Bishopton Gala Day and events, Kilbarchan Agricultural Show, Houston Agricultural Show and Accord Hospice Summer Fayre. Apologies if we’ve missed any - please make sure we get the details next year! Go to our village news pages and our diary to get details of when and where these various events take place.
Lastly, but by no means least, we were also delighted to hear that this month Gibb Stuart celebrates being in their “new” shop in Bridge of Weir for 20 years. However, their history in the area is far longer - in 1880 William Gibb Stuart established himself in the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir as an Ironmonger, Painter and Decorator. The business is now managed by the fourth generation with the fifth in hot pursuit; more on this inside our June issue.
