Peatstack

Power Station refused - at last, the decision has been made and, thankfully, it's the correct one. The proposed wind-fired power station would have been a disaster for the island, its environment and economy - and I for one am very angry at the way in which the pro-environemnt argument is always seen as an obstacle to progress in the Outer Hebrides, when the opposite is true, if only the Comhairle and HIE would think drag themselves into the C21.
The Comhairle got it wrong - again - HIE backed it, all the powers that be wading in with their cheque books and promises of jobs galore. Doubtless they'll blame those amongst us who think the environment should be protected, and indeed embraced as the key to a strong economic future for the islands.
The Peatstack blames the Comhairle and the then government for this mess. This scheme should never have been given the green light to develop even a proposal - it should not have been encouraged by votes at the Comhairle and should not have been turned into some Great White Hope for the future economy of these islands. It was an attempt by a very large company to make profit from the unique environment of the islands. The jobs were only ever really in the construction phase, they would soon disappear and we'd be left with the biggest wind-fired power station in Europe, on one of Europe's rarest habitats and most endangered environment.
But that's the problem, the pro-environment argument is constantly painted by the Comhairle and the industralists as the enemy of so-called 'progress', and that is not right. Its time that the Comhairle asked us, the residents of thes eislands, what we want for the environment, adn then they should set out to deliver that not make this a constant matter of reaction and struggle.
The Peatstack ahs called for this before and will do so again - we need a fuel policy for the Outer Hebrides, encompassing the opportuntites of real community owned wind power establishments, wave power and self sufficient all on a sustainable scale; we need to address fuel poverty and the resources we have in these islands, and we need to think and plan for the future - not for the short-term.

Have you looked outside recently - unbelievable! Wall to wall sunshine and a steady forecast for a day or two. What's more, it coincides with the Peatstack taking a little time away from the coal-face, and this unique combination of events can only mean one thing at this time of year, it's time to go turfing! For a Peatstack, this is, of course, a strange (unique) process of self-renewal.
Sadly, over the years, cutting the peats has become an increasingly isolated process, and I wonder this year who will be with me out on the moor - maybe one or two others, and that's it, probably.
Given the price of oil you'd think the peat banks would be heaving with cutters but I doubt it. For many scunnered with the peats in childhood, the idea of cutting peat is now a nightmare they can do without. Time is always a factor, it does mean a considerable commitment, even if just cutting a little for the sitting room grate on a cold winter night. For the Peatstack all of this is full of promise of a great early summer spent in the open, and with a good supply of free fuel at the end of it!
But also, many have given up their Rayburns and open grates and have built homes without an open fire, just radiators. The Peatstack can't help but think that such decisions are not just a bid for warm, comfortable life free from the drudge of peat cutting, but also on some level an attempt to cut off the past, to put faith in the new and modern world, and this of course runs contrary to the very origins of crofting. Odd that we now show faith in the apparent certainties of the modern world - with oil being the stuff of war and of poverty closer to home, surely a return to the past is not far away.

The Peatstack has not been able to contribute much over the last couple of months, just the sheer weight of work, but a walk with the dog this evening bought an unexpected sign that spring is upon us - the first time this year that I've heard the snipe (naosg) drumming over head. It is difficult to imagine a sound that is more evocative of the island than the whirling, shimmering sound of the snipe flying on a spring evening. At this time of year I often find myself standing at the end of the house listening to the dusk-time sounds of the moor - the plover, the snipe - if I had to take one such experience on Desert island Discs, that sound would be my luxury.

Reports (on BBC gaidhlig radio) of the Scottish Government's rejection of AMEC's plans for a giant, wind-fuelled, powerstation for Lewis, is the best possible start to the new year for the island's economy. A victory for the environment, culture and community.
It struck me the other day that whilst we blame the greed and irresponsibility of globalised big business for much of the pollution and atmospheric damage suffered by our small planet, we must also be on our guard that the same money-grabbing concerns do not quickly move to exploit the economic opportunities offered in the clean-up, and in so doing cause further damage to the environment.
I hope the reported decision is a lesson for us all in really valuing the last great open, unexploited spaces and wildernesses locally, nationally and internationally. We can't let Mammon have it all.
A happy new year to all IB'ers.

This morning's news that the company running Arnish Yard have been selected by Lewis Wind Farms as a preferred tender, is surely a dangerous development for all those, like the Peatstack, opposed to the wind factory development. What is also shocking is the relatively small and short-term nature of the employment opportunities supposedly on offer.
The recent history of Arnish is evidence itself that local authorities, business enterprise and others in government, will blindly accept and support any scheme that offers the prospect of jobs, no matter how ill-conceived they might be.
In the islands we suffer from an addiction to old-fashioned notions of economic development. That is, proper jobs = manual work.
This is of course rubbish. We are ruinning our future tourism development for the sake of a few short term opportunities. We are best placed in the islands to develop high-tech / high earning employment, based on offering the best people globally a unique quality of life option. To do that we must not ruin our greatest natural asset, which isn't the chance to blunder the forces of nature, but the unspoilt nature of our natural environment.
To this I add the options for self-employment, home working etc. I think HIE and the Comhairle should set a target of creating and supporting at least 250 new, incomer self-employments over the next few years. To do that we should provide a unique system of business support (finance/ tech, marketing) to self-employed people. This could be done for a fraction of the cost of constantly propping up heavy industry at Arnish.
Self-employment is more likely to mean long-term settled habitation, families, economic growth etc., than the constant relance on the unholy grail of heavy industry.
In conclusion of the first part of this missive - we must oppose the wind factory in order to secure the future economy of the islands.

Now, part two. Cal Mac & RET.
The Peatstack is firmly of the belief that Cal Mac has lost sight of its mission. That is, it has gone from being a public service ferry company rooted in the Highlands and Islands with a mission to genuinely serve and support our fragile communities and economies, to being an agency dominated by narrow-minded commercial policies that have serious implications for those on low or no incomes. Two examples - First, the need to pay for a ticket when you book it on the phone. Second, the ridiculous and cumbersome refunds policy.
Cal Mac used to accept bookings over the phone thsat you could pay for when you arrived at the terminal. This facility ended we are told because of the quantity of no-shows and multiple bookings. For those with no or low incomes this creates a real financial hardship, stopping the ability to book ahead and then save for the ticket. Cal Mac could stop the no-shows by simply keeping a database of vehicle registrations. Persistant offenders could then be identified and have the booking facility withdrawn. But no, Cal Mac insists on a blanket policy that discriminates against those on lower incomes.
My second example is that of Cal Mac's refunds policy. To get a refund for a ticket not used - even if the reason is because of a cancelled sailing - you can't go back to the ticket office with the tickets and claim a refund there and then. No. It's company policy that you must post them to an office in Gourock and wait for the money to be returned to your account. Why?
This means that those with low incomes might have to wait days and days for their money and all because of a totally bureaucratic policy. Not because of technology but policy. Cal Mac is of course in the meantime sitting on your £120 fare making interest no doubt.
That brings me to the conclusion. I think we need competition on key routes and the introduction of RET would be a very good time to offer that possibility. Cal Mac should have to share its public subsidy with any suitable competition on main routes and let the market place decide, especially as the market grows through RET.

When I look out of the window on winter nights, across the village and beyond, where once there was only the faint glow of distant house lights dotted here and there, now there's a hideous mass of orange light coming from the hordes of street lights. If I'd have known that the future was really going to be this orange then maybe I would have protested more about the coming of this intrusion when it was first proposed.
Worst of all is the light pollution these sub-urban invaders bring, blocking out the night sky. The immense, star-lit sky is one of the great things about living on the island, and the fact that in many areas it is now not visible in all its glory until the early hours of the morning when the lights go out, is a real shame.
So here's a proposal for a compromise solution to this problem.
The Peatstack is very proud of his Irish ancestry. Mullingar in the County of the Westmeath being the starting-out point for a good, high percentage of the Peatstack's inner being, not to mention is truly unforgetable looks.
Many years ago, Mullingar acquired its first gas fired street lamps, but the town councillors, in their wisdom, decided that they would only be lit 17 nights in every month, allowing the moon to light the remainder. Genius! And that is my proposed solution for the villages of Lewis. We'd see the night sky again, and we'd have achieved a very eco-friendly compromise!

School Children & Lunch Breaks - Congratulations to BBC Scotland News this morning for reading out one of the most ludicrous listener e-mails I've heard in a long time!
In that e-mail the listener concerned suggested that a ban in Glasgow Schools on children leaving the premises at lunchtime would be in breach of their human rights.
Now, forgive me if I'm wrong on this but I thought that Schools were in loco parentis (if that's the spelling - my Latin not so good), and had therefore some kind of parental responsibility.
Surely, the rights of children (which I uphold and I am a very strong believer in the ban on smacking etc) do not extend to a complete right to wander off at any time.
How would this work at home? When my child comes in for lunch, I say to him lunch is ready and I expect him to sit down and eat his food. I don't expect him to turn around and say, no I'm not eating that I'm going to the chip shop up town instead with my mates, and there's nothing you can do about it, that's my human right.
A truly bonkers suggestion from the listener concerned.
But, to the issue itself. The call this morning by some in Glasgow for a ban in letting children leave school premises at lunchtime, is one that The Peatstack has full agreement with especially with regard to Stornoway and the children of the Nicolson Institute.
Lunchtime in Stornoway is a horror show of fast food being crammed down hungry mouths in shop doorways. Have a look at what they are eating everyday -chips, chinese, pizza etc - and this is not high quality stuff but cheap, fat-laden food prepared by unscrupulous fast food outlets who discount their lunchtime menus to obtain a slice of what is surely a constant and lucrative market. Have they no shame? Do their children eat this stuff everyday? Are we powerless to protect our children from this and move to ensure that they have a good diet?
These children are eating a diet that is so poor and harmful that I think it will harm their health for the rest of their lives - obesity, cholestoral, blood pressure etc. Not to mention the fact that many use this freedom to smoke.
I know that it is the human right of every adult to make a complete mess of his/her own life in every legal way they might choose. But that is not the same for children. We surely have a duty to protect children, and that includes their health.
I am not, by the way some naive, shocked parent. I think we're letting these kids down and if a lunchtime lock-in is what is required to protect them, then let's do it.

First, congrats to Jock on his calendar. The Peatstack lost a brother to leukemia and therefore urges everyone to get behind Jock's venture in calendars, he's asking £5 each, I'd say give him at least £10. Not the first time Jock has used his fertile imagination for the benefit of others, of course, make it an annual charity event on the BBC (don't have enough of those at present), perhaps under the working title Lemon-Aid. Abair tairsgeir balach! And when are the women of Gress going to reveal (not quite) all cheekily discreet behind a fold or two of washing? Don't know where the calendar is available, don't want to give out Jock's phone number on a website, so look aroudn the Back / Stornoway area, I'm sure Gordon's will stock it.
It's good to see local Gress produce being showcased, though. The new range of croft lingerie is really something. The Peat range replaces the knotted head scarf and Sunday best hat as the lingerie of choice for the boireannaich 's cailleachs of the district, but it got the Peatstack thinking...what range of new croft fragrances could add to the coffers of Lemon-Aid. A few suggestions...
'Eau de Cremola' by Prem de Van
'Guga' by Dods of Ness
'Duff' by Calum Klein
'Diesel Red' by Gordons
'Marrag Dearg' |& 'Barley' by Charlie
Currently working on brand names for new essences of sgadan sailte, ceann cropach etc. All suggestions welcome.
By the way, has anyone out there ever looked up the Gaidhlig for perfume in Dwelly's. Quite rightly the man lists the terms as cubhraidh (can't put the accent on the u here). It's always interesting to read the little examples he provides, but can't for the life of me work out why adn how he choose the entry for this one...rinn mi mo leabadh cubhraidh...meaning, I have perfumed my bed.

With changing weather patterns, the calendar-based division of the year into neat seasons of about three months each is, for me, and many others, a pointless exercise. Instead, I find myself looking for new patterns and faithful markers in the such things as bird migration, and I'd be very happy to know of yours.
My particular, sure-fire proof of the coming of winter is the arrival on Lewis of flocks of red wings and fieldfares. These northern species, both thrush-like, make their way down to the islands and other places in Scotland from Scandinavia around this time of year. And yes, this weekend, as thought they knew the clocks were going back, they arrived on the croft and are now here in quite large numbers.
They'll be gone again in a day next spring, maybe around April or later into May, and then begins the only other season we seem to have now.
A happy and fruitful winter to all.

More evidence today that at the very heart of the problems we face with the future of education in the Outer Hebrides is a lack of leadership, direction and creativity in the highest ranks of the Comhairle.
This morning we learn (from BBC Radio News for The Highlands & Islands) that the Comhairle are to ask the minister for education in Scotland to explain to them her comments - made in the Islands weeks and weeks ago - that there is no incompatibility between the S1/2 Units in our schools and the new Curriculum for Excellence.
The minister made these comments because that is a fundamental truth about the new Curriculum. In reality it is more a philosophical and aspirational tract than a new hard-wired replacement curriculum, and is open to wide and creative interpretation. One example given in a previous post to this blog, is the idea that the new curriculum is actually designed to remove the strict aged / year-base to learning, and in fact would be a good basis to extend the current S1/2 units to become S1-3 units.
Locally, the new curriculum could and should mean embracing the many excellent qualities of our schools and schooling, and utilising the new curriculum to cement the many positive aspects of small, village school education - especially in terms of their community base and spirtitual education (I don't mean theology or RE by this but something far wider), and the way in which these schools create confident, self-assured young people - factors absolutely central to the new curriculum.
But no, we won't do this in the Islands, not in the Outer Hebrides, it seems our (meaning the highest ranks of councillor) interpretation of the curriculum means we must centralise and unify our schooling destroying anything unique and rooted in the community,and we seem to be destined to be led by sheep rather than real leaders prepared to defend and extend our values and culture.
Instead, of course, they'll gladly rub their hands together and condemn those who favour ferries on a Sunday - that's easy pickings - but when it comes to really working to defend this place and its culture by standing up against central government - their high words suddenly disappear.
Frankly, I worry for the future prosperity of these islands when the council is so weak and reactive. Why not go to Edinburgh and really tell the Minister how we are going to embrace and implement the new curriculum locally within the existing structure of schools and schooling rather than flouncing about waiting to be told?