jan-11 - Lochwinnoch Online

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What is that wire for? I suddenly realised I was from a different age when a visitor asked, when looking at my radio aerial ” What is that wire for?” How times have changed. When I was a lad almost everyone had some sort of piece of wire up in the garden to receive the National or Regional Wireless stations. As an eight year old it was that 'wireless' part on the end that puzzled me as I looked around the box in the corner of the dining room and wondered how a man's voice could come out of that box with just a wiggly wire. My Dad and I had to use a tight string between two cans! “It's a wireless” Auntie said and when I asked how could that be because it had a wire going to the out doors where it dangled from another one. “Ask Charles at the weekend” came the prompt reply so as soon as Charles my cousin put his head in the front door I put it to him. And he was really helpful. “After lunch, we will build a crystal set and then you will find out what this wireless business is all about”. That was eighty years and a few days ago and I am still finding things out. The piece of wire some of you have seen at my house is one of my windows on the world. At any time of the day or night I can go into my back room, turn the radio on and put out a call and somewhere in the World another Radio operator will answer and no matter what nationality he is we can talk to one another. I often have the most wonderful days discussing everything under the Sun with like minded friends. The aerial that stands on top of my TV aerial enables me to talk to people much closer at hand mainly in or around Paisley where we also have a club at Kerr College. It is from there that we set off to discover how other people use radio communications. Last week it was with the people who control and fly the helicopters we see. Not so long ago it was the Police and before that the Fire Brigade. In an emergency the Police or the local authority can commandeer my station and ask me to use the radios in the National interest. There is one thing that we can do that not all of the public services can do. We can talk to other amateurs. Not many public services can talk to each other. Police can talk to police but not to the Fire Brigade or the Ambulance service or the Army, Navy or Air Force. These matters are being resolved but as at Locherbie, it is often the amateurs who bridge the communications gaps. People are quite often surprised that Radio is used as we use it and they forget that TV and mobile phones are also radio machines but going at different speeds. What is even less known is that a lot of the research that has brought these devices about starts with amateurs in back rooms making things. I think they would be even more surprised to know that some members of the University space exploration teams currently building the next generation of satellites here in Scotland belong to our radio club. They’ve come along to find out how we do things and to get themselves qualified and licenced so that when the satellite is launched they will talk to it using our kind of equipment and our special frequencies. Look on the Internet for: http:// www.paisleyarc.wordpress.com Alan Lovegreen Teenage Cancer Trust Thanks A big “Thanks” from The Teenage Cancer Trust to Laura and Fergus and staff at the Brown Bull for organising the Annual Christmas Auction for TCT. Big thanks too to everyone who donated their skills or an item for the auction and raffle. The auction raised a magnificent total of £4,300 for the charity on the night, with more to come from the raffle, which will be drawn at Christmas. Finally, thanks to everyone who came along to the auction for their generosity and support. John Delaney 6 Met Iona Biggar-Carr HELLO DAHLING! How lovely to see you again. GREAT NEWS in the Biggar-Carr household, ISOLDE is ENGAGED! Yes dear, a WHIRLWIND ROMANCE! Apparently Isolde was holding one of her deportment classes (which have to be held outdoors, KAYAKS, you understand), when a dashing chap appeared and asked if she was at school with Itsy Castenellenbogan. Isolde and Itsy were practically inseparable at school until Isolde... hum....left. This chap, Walter Chambyre-Potte – one of THE Chambyre-Pottes !– had been on a sort of Grand Tour, got a little lost, spotted a friendly face (they'd met at a Castenellenbogan shoot in Perthshire) and two weeks later they're engaged! SOOO romantic! DAHLING, SUCH a match! The Chambyre-Pottes are an ancient and noble family. They were VERY BIG under Henry VIII and there apparently hasn't been a monarch since who hasn't had a Chambyre- Potte to hand in an emergency. NO DEAR, they're NOT one of those that lost all the money. Quite the contrary! Apparently they were ahead of their time - got into waste management very early and made PILES! Walter (his friends call him Glazed, and so shall we), is SOMETHING in the CITY. No darling, I don't know exactly what but he dresses BEAUTIFULLY. He is apparently being trained-up before entering the family business. I'm in SUCH a tizzy – a wedding to plan! Darling, with all my charity commitments I don't know how I'll cope. It has become so complicated, I mean one wouldn't want to clash with dear William and Kate's nuptials (I think the Chambyre-Potts are EXPECTING an INVITATION!). We're thinking a Spring wedding and a reception on the West Lawn (need to keep people away from the East Wing). I was thinking of hiring a marquee (have you seen the prices!) but Ivor thinks the Sea Scouts may have something suitable and as we discussed before khaki is SO practical. There is a TEENSY bit of tension with the Chambyre-Pottes. They wanted the wedding in Westminster Abbey and a reception for 500 at the Dorchester – CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! – and they're NOT offering to pay! I suggested that the Abbey and
Dorchester are rather old hat and, dare I say it, the Dorchester a touch VULGAR! Well, darling, EYEBROWS were raised. I'm trying to promote the idea of the tasteful, exclusive, country wedding with just the immediate family – say 25 (or whatever the tent - I mean marquee – holds). WATCH THIS SPACE! When we last met I was off to demonstrate my famous liquorice and fig traybake to the Ancients' Circus. They were so appreciative! The following day I was inundated with requests for the recipe from people telling me how moved they were by it. It is so wonderful to be appreciated for one's gifts! Have you HEARD about Fenella Fishslice? Apparently she was locked all weekend in a laboratory at the University of the West of Renfrewshire! They found her in an awful state – DRUNK and DISHEVELED! Although she WAS smiling! She had been visiting a Visiting Professor (nudge) and mistook a cupboard door for the way out and was locked in. Sounds fishy to me! Apparently, in the dark, she found a big bottle of alcohol - of which she imbibed - and only later discovered there was a giant hissing cockroach pickled in it. I'm surprised she didn't recognise it – it takes one to know one! OH, I am NAUGHTY! MUST DASH - I'm off to help a man with double vision rig his ship-in-abottle. BYEEE! DRAUGHT BUSTERS Draught Busters are in Town ! Do you have wooden windows or doors that are letting in cold draughts ? Can you feel the breeze of cold air where your wooden window frame or door surround meets the walls or floor ? LEAP is running a number of DRAUGHT BUSTER WORKSHOPS at the end of January. The workshops are a fun, hands-on opportunity to learn how to use the right materials to draught proof wooden framed sash or casement windows and wooden doors. We will show you how easy and inexpensive it is to draught proof your windows and doors, making a big difference to the heat loss and comfort in your home. If you’d like to attend a workshop or find out more please go to: www.lochwinnoch.info/leap e mail leap@lochwinnoch.info or phone Carol Gemmell on 842 040 Councillor Arthur’s Report It was great to see such a large turnout for our Christmas Lights switchon back in early December. It is this support that makes the event so worthwhile. For those who don’t know, this is the 5th year that the lights have been organised on a voluntary basis by LMEG (Lochwinnoch Millennium Events Group) but the whole event would not be possible without the support of our helpers, our sponsors, Renfrewshire Council’s Amanda Moulson, Renfrewshire Council’s Environmental Services Department and our Community Police team who made sure that our procession was safe from road traffic. My thanks to you all and to the other members of LMEG, Mr Christmas Lights himself Graeme Skelton, David McCusker, Duncan Bremner, Carol Gemmell, and Sue Richardson for their continued enthusiasm. Our thanks to Renfrewshire Council’s Local Area Committee (LAC) and Leader fund for the grants that we received and also to Dan Morrison, who keeps the clock at 7 Auld Simon ticking to the second, for performing the first switch-on of the evening. Well done to Zoe Dutch, the winner of the Community Council competition, your Christmas tree on the wall of the McKillop looks great. My next Surgery is on Saturday 15th January at 11:30am in the McKillop Institute but there is no need to wait for a Surgery if you require my help, you can contact me on 843507 or e m a i l m e a t cllr.david.arthur@renfrewshire.gov.uk and we can agree a time when we can meet. May I take this opportunity to wish all our community groups, organisations and clubs a prosperous 2011. Lochwinnoch Online www.lochwinnoch.info/ weather Live Weather—the village has a digital weather station which feeds data into the website. Temperature, pressure, rainfall, humidity wind speed and direction can all be viewed live on the site. Another useful feature is the historical data. Use the Graphs section to view varations over the day/week/month/ year etc. Use the data to practice your weather forecasting skills! Great for school geography projects too. Bin Uplifts—Lost track of the bin uplift rota? The front page shows when the bin schedule. Snow photos—a selection of photos sent in by website users can be seen on page 4. Check ot the Photo Gallery online for more.
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jan-11 - Lochwinnoch Online

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