Lochaber Times - From our files April 14

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO - Saturday April 17 1999
We are in the money!

There was good news for the Corpach Paper Mill and its 180 employees with the announcement of an investment of several million pounds which will ensure the viability of the plant into the millennium.

After much speculation as to the future of the paper making facility, operators Arjo Wiggins Appleton have set local minds at rest, and given a boost to the Lochaber economy by including their Corpach Mill in new manufacturing plans for their European Carbonless Paper business.

In financial terms Corpach will be aligned to the Belgian and Dartford outlets - although the Cardiff Mill, at Ely, with which the Lochaber workforce has had considerable rapport over the past 30 years, is to close by the end of 1999.

The construction of a new £1 million primary effluent treatment works will commence at the Corpach Mill in the near future. This will allow the site to meet the relevant environmental standards well into the next century.

Mill manager, Andy Rogers, held a series of briefing meetings with the Corpach workforce, advising them of the Arjo Wiggins Appleton plans.

Mr Rogers said: "In announcing a new manufacturing configuration for the European Carbonless business, AWA has confirmed its commitment to this market by endorsing a strategy to focus on key sites and invest in world class processes.

"Our mill is one of these key sites and will receive investment to improve its capability in base and CF paper production. In addition to the imminent start to the construction of the primary effluent treatment plant, a project has commenced to determine what the capital requirements will be to re-engineer both the papermaking and finishing operations to enable us to meet the new demands.

"Many years of effort to achieve world-class levels of safety and production performance, combined with maintaining a low cost base, have paid dividends. Several million pounds of investment will ensure that the mill is well prepared for the year 2000 and beyond.

"Once the detailed design of the various projects has been finalised, it is expected that there will be a positive impact on employment levels on site. I would like to heartily congratulate the workforce for their contribution to this success."

SEVENTY FIVE YEARS AGO - Saturday April 16 1949
Town council meeting - Amenities to be improved.

Reports on improving the amenities of the town were considered at a meeting of Fort William Town Council on Monday evening.

Provost Cameron presided over a full attendance of councillors. The Clerk reported on matters arising out of the recent meeting with local hotelkeepers with a view to improving the amenities of the burgh. He had had a visit from a representative of British Railways in connection with an improvement in the train service, and this representative was very sanguine that something should be done in this direction.

He had also a visit from an agent in connection with the proposed installation of a deep freezing plant in the burgh. This agent had undertaken to supply figures of costs, which had not yet come to hand, but the clerk was afraid, from the information available, that this would be a costly business.

Other matters arising from this meeting were in hand, and he would report as information became available. In this connection the Provost felt that something might be done in the way of tidying up the town for the tourist season. He had heard visitors remark that Fort William was not a very tidy town to come into, and he felt that they should do everything in their power to eradicate this impression, even if it meant adding something to the rates.

The council were in full agreement, and the Provost added that it would be a great help if shopkeepers, when sweeping up their shops last thing at night, would also include the pavement outside. This would help considerably, and he was sure the merchants would respond.

Camanachd Association AGM

At the annual general meeting of the Camanachd, Association in Glasgow on the
morning of the final, Lord Lovat, D.S.O., M.C., the Chief, welcomed the
representatives present, and introduced the President, Mr J. W. MacKillop, Inverness,
who took the chair.
The reports submitted by the secretary and treasurer Mr William MacPherson,
Inverness, showed a satisfactory year’s working, with a substantial credit balance.
Lord Lovat was re-elected Chief, and Mr Ian MacLeod, Torgorm, Conon-Bridge, was
elected Vice-Chief to succeed his brother, the late Mr Duncan MacLeod of Skeabost.
Bailie Robert Morrison was by a majority vote, elected a vice president.
Minor alterations in the Constitution and Rules, submitted by Clubs, were approved.
It was suggested by Ballachulish that it would be advisable to impress on referees and
hail-judges that the decisions of the latter should not be given unless so desired by the
referee, and that referees should adhere strictly to the rule which states that the heads
of Camans must not be of a size larger than can pass through a ring of diameter of 21
inches.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO - Saturday April 19 1924
Skye man’s career in Australia

An interesting visitor from Australia, who has just arrived in London, is Mr John McCrimmon, who left his native Skye nearly fifty years ago. He was born at Glenbrittle, the son of a shepherd, and his brother is Mr Allan McCrimmon, farmer, Sleat.

Mr McCrimmon went out to Australia as a sheep farmer, and afterwards joined the police force in Sydney, from which he has now retired. As a police officer his outstanding work was in raiding gambling clubs and arresting as many as 200 men at a time.

He is a member of the Council of the Highland Society of New South Wales, and a prominent and well-known figure among the Scottish people in that part of Australia. He, accompanied by his daughter, is visiting Skye this summer for the first time for 16 years.