Argyllshire Advertiser - From our files - Friday June 5

TWENTY YEARS AGO
Friday June 9 2006

 

Mrs Paterson comes top of the class in Head Teacher of the Year Award

 

The Education Oscars’ have proved what the people of Inveraray already knew: that their primary school has a fantastic head teacher.

 

Anne Paterson won the Head Teacher of the Year Award at the Scottish Education Awards held in Glasgow.

 

Mrs Paterson received a trophy and a personal cheque for £500.

 

She was presented with £1,000 for the school and will go on to represent Scotland at the UK Teaching Awards in October.

 

Lynn Kidd, principal teacher, said that the staff all sat down together and nominated Mrs Paterson for the award: ‘For her commitment over the last eight years to the school and her enthusiasm for teaching as well as for leading us.’

 

Mrs Paterson said she was stunned and delighted: ‘Everybody has been so pleased for me, you just feel that it’s not only for me, it’s for the whole community.’

 

First Minister Jack McConnell congratulated Mrs Paterson.

 

He said: ‘These awards allow us to celebrate the hard work and success which has taken place in Scottish education and recognise the achievements of those who dedicate their lives to ensuring young Scots have the best possible start in life.

 

‘Inveraray School is really leading the way and showing what can be achieved. That’s why it’s great their efforts are being recognised with an Education Award.’

FORTY YEARS AGO
Friday June 6 1986

 

Guard after explosives found at Castlesween

 

Local police had to put a guard on a section of the shore near Castlesween Caravan Park last Wednesday after live anti-aircraft shells were found on the beach.

 

The three shells, thought to be fairly old, were found by young boys who had been playing on the shore.

 

The shells were brass, about eight to ten inches long and slightly corroded.

 

They were lying between rocks about 50 yards from the shore and just below the high-water mark.

 

A Navy bomb disposal team from Rosyth came to Castlesween the following day and blew the shells up.

 

Local police say that anyone should contact the police immediately and stress such devices should never be touched.

 

They praised the action of the boys who found the shells at Castlesween in reporting them promptly.

 

Tribute to 26 years’ work for old folk

 

Members of Age Concern in Lochgilphead gathered to pay tribute to their treasurer, Mr Duncan Hunter, who was retiring after giving 26 years’ service to the elderly in Lochgilphead.

 

Mr Hunter joined the Old Peoples’ Welfare Committee in 1960 and has served ever since.

 

A retired teacher, he lives in Lorne Street, Lochgilphead.

 

The presentation was made by Mrs Frances Clark, president of Age Concern, who expressed the thanks of the committee and the elderly for the work done by Mr Hunter.

 

Mr Hunter then replied.

 

Age Concern is a very active organisation in Lochgilphead, having 402 members looked after by 11 committee members.

Their next venture is a bus trip to Oban.

 

Much of the fund-raising for Age Concern is carried out by Mr Roy Clark of the Victoria Hotel.

SIXTY YEARS AGO
Tuesday June 7 1966

 

Laundry closure means more jobless in Lochgilphead

 

The shock closure of Lochgilphead’s Drim Laundry, officially announced this week, will leave 22 local people out of work and set Mid Argyll hoteliers problems in the middle of the tourist season.

 

News of the closure was given in a terse statement issued on Friday by the manager at Drim, Mr James Paisley.

 

It read: ‘As a result of the reorganisation of the types of activities in the laundry, and dry-cleaning facilities, it has been decided, with regret, to close Drim Laundry, Lochgilphead, on June 18.

 

All the employees have been given the required notice of termination of employment, and each is being interviewed with a view to securing other employment.’

 

The Drim Laundry is owned by the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, who took it over 20 years ago from a local family.

One of them, Miss M. Cuthbertson, still lives in Poltalloch Street, Lochgilphead.

 

Mid Argyll hoteliers are deeply concerned by the closure of the laundry.

 

With the tourist season nearing its peak, the closure could not have come at a worse time for them.

 

Mr Donald MacDonald, proprietor of Lochgilphead’s Stag Hotel, said: ‘I’m in trouble. With 400 sheets a week to be done, this affects me badly.’

 

Mr MacDonald was under the impression that another laundry had been going to take over the Drim, but the deal did not go through.

 

‘Why do they have to close down? I can’t understand it,’ he added.

 

During the past few years, large amounts of money have been spent in making improvements to the laundry, and recently the management switched over from solid fuel heating to oil fired burners.

 

Drim Laundry employs 20 women and two van drivers who will all be jobless as a result of the laundry’s closure.

One of them said at the weekend: ‘I don’t really know what will happen now.’

 

It is doubtful if the laundry’s redundant workers can be reabsorbed in their own trade.

 

Laundering is a specialised job, and many of the workers at the Drim have been there for years.

 

One of the biggest laundries in Argyll, Drim served an area stretching from Oban to Campbeltown, and covered Tarbert, Lochgilphead, Ardrishaig, Minard, Furnace and Inveraray.