Chimneysweep Roads & Lighting 703959 Shearwater Chandlers Mrs J Brannan 706666 Tourist Information Centre 703785 Western Ferries Hunter’s Quay 704452 Window Cleaner Mr J (Goldie) Campbell 840398 07830389895 Woodcarver & Green Oak Framer Mr Guy Elder 810370 07785 257723 HOTELS Benmore Lodges 706591 LEISURE Benmore Café & Shop Ms N Potts 840509 TOURISM Benmore Home Farm Holiday Let Mr N McVicar 706264 Benmore Gardens Mr P Baxter 706261 Mrs Sybil Gray, Secretary Blairmore Gallery Steve & Sylvia Boyce 840253 B&B St Munn’s Manse Mr & Mrs Burke 840311 B& B&B Duncreggan House Mr & Mrs M Rice 07973129490 Cot House Caravan Park 840351 Cottage Lets Mrs A Barnes 840206 Coylet Inn Mr & Mrs C Wilson 840426 Gairletter Caravan Park Mr N Stirrat 840257 Holiday Village Hunter’s Quay Mr D Dain 707772 Holy Loch Coffee Shop Lisa & Lachie 707054 Invereck Caravan Park Mrs J Haddon 705544 Loch Eck Caravan Park Mr & Mrs Ineson 840086 Loch Eck Lodges Mr D Bertram 840775 Pier Hotel/Bistro Kilmun Mr I Murray 840418 Pucks Glen Lodges Mrs Liz Fairclough 840672 Quadmania Blairmore Mr D Marshall 810289 Rashfield Sheilings Mr Stephen Fairclough 840672 Shiela’s Diner 840333 Stonefield Farm Cottage Ms Thea Groves 706640 Accommodation Stratheck International 840472 Strone Inn Mr & Mrs Perry 840227 Whistlefield Inn Pete Etheridge 860440 A&B Mr B Marshall 840346 COUNCIL Mr G Blair 707943 Mr A McNaughton 01700841269 CHURCHES Minister Rev David Mill 840313 Session Clerk Kilmun Mr George McEwan 840750 Session Clerk Strone&Ardentinny Mrs A Paterson 840685 CLUBS Ardentinny Bowling Club Mr J Robinson 810240 Badminton Club Highgate Hall Mrs V Watson 840469 Blairmore Country Dancing Ms J Laird 810215 Blairmore Golf Club Mrs L Daw 840231 Bridge Club Kilmun Mr A Hodson 840386 Carpet Bowling Ardentinny Mr G Smith 810218 Carpet Bowling Blairmore Mrs O Cragg 840288 Carpet Bowling Kilmun Mr R Balfour 840793 Curling Club Ms K Brown 16 Munnonday Club Mrs B McKinven 840475 Scrabble Club Mr Bob Balfour 840793 Shore Art Club Mrs R Balfour 840793 Upper Cowal Bowling Club 706458 COASTGUARD Dunoon 703603 COMMUNITY Kilmun Mr Robert Aldam, Conv’r 840350 COUNCIL Mrs Janet Holm, Secy 840218 CRAFTS/ARTS Artistic works Mr & Mrs A McClintock 840517 Artist Mr Colm Docherty 706719 Chain-Saw carvings Mr A Maclachlan 703124 Garden Furniture Mr R Young 840663 Gallimaufry Art Gallery Mr & Mrs Boyce 840253 Holy Loch Coffee Shop Lisa & Lachie 707054 Woodcarver & Green Oak Framer Mr Guy Elder 810370 07785 257723 DEVELOPMNT Benmore & Kilmun Mrs D McDonald, Chair 706591 TRUST Mr D McKenzie, Secretary 840025 DIAL-A-BUS Argyll & Bute Council 01546602869 DOCTOR Riverbank Surgery Dr Tittmar 840279 District Nurse 705232 FIRE STATION Dunoon 704670 GUILDS Kilmun Church Mrs R Balfour 840793 Strone & Ardentinny Mrs D Logan HALLS Ardentinny Hall Ms Eileen Connell 810385 Blairmore Hall Mr Bruce Marshall 840346 Uig Hall Rashfield Mr M McDonald 706591 Younger Hall Kilmun - Bookings Mrs W Gillon 840570 HERITAGE Blairmore Pier Ian Gardiner TRUST Pam Horton HOMES Invereck Eventide Home Unit Manager 706231 HOSPITALS Cowal Community Hospital 704341 Inverclyde Royal 01475633777 LIBRARIES Dunoon 708682 Mobile Library Agnes Robinson 07990773169 A&B Headquarters 708664 LIVESTOCK Blairmore Farm Mr J MacArthur 810289 Venison Game Dealer/Stalking Mr W Churchill 705319 MISCELLANEOUS Benmore Centre 706337 Friends of Graham’s Point Janette Valentine Loch Lomond & The Trossachs – Craig Walker 01380 722600 Park Ranger Scottish Natural Heritage Mr J Downie 705377 NHS24 08454242424 PHYSIOTHERAPY Cowal Physiotherapy Ltd Elaine 702366 POLICE Dunoon 763000 Cowal Community Policing Team 763037 Local Shore Officer Donald MacKay donald.mackay2@s trathclyde.pnn.polic e.uk RETAILERS Aray Fruit & Veg Paul & Laura Blyth 01499302412 07787113746 17 Bookpoint Mrs Dinah Macdonald 702377 Cot House Services Mr A Murray 840710 Glory Hole Blairmore Mr & Mrs Cornish 810201 Shop & Post Office Strone Scott 840662 SCHOOL Strone Primary Mrs Helen Brown, Head 840202 SEWING The Sewing Bee Mrs Angela Fenton 707911 MATERIALS SWRI Strone Mrs R Ferguson 840464 Ardentinny Mrs M Menzies 810307 SPORTS INJURY Cowal Sports Injury Clinic Gwen Dalgleish MSc 701171 CLINIC MSST 07779119080 TOURS’N’TEAS Kilmun Church Mrs M Donald 703760 VET Dunoon 702532 VILLAGE Blairmore Mrs Jenny Waine 840853 TRUST WINE & SPIRIT Argyll Vintners Mr Andy McMaster 707911 MERCHANTS YOUR DATES TO REMEMBER WHAT WHERE WHEN Munnonday Club Kilmun Younger Hall Monday 1 st Oct & every 2 weeks thereafter 12:30pm Strone & Ardentinny Guild Strone Church Hall Last Monday monthly 2:15pm Scrabble Club Kilmun Younger Hall Monday 8 th Oct & every 2 weeks thereafter 2:15pm Bridge Ardentinny Village Hall Monday 7:00pm Kilmun St Muns Church Guild Kilmun Church Hall Tuesday 9 th Oct & every 2 weeks thereafter 2:30pm Badminton Ardentinny Village Hall Tuesday 10:00am Art Club Ardentinny Village Hall Tuesday 2:00pm Blairmore Country Dance Club Blairmore Village Hall 1st & 3 rd Tuesday each month 7:30pm Ardentinny SWRI Ardentinny Village Hall 2nd Tuesday each month 7:30pm Shore Art Club Blairmore Village Hall Wednesday 10:00am Carpet Bowls Blairmore Hall Wednesday 2:00pm & 7:30pm Hobbies Ardentinny Village Hall Wednesday 7:00pm Strone SWRI Strone Church Hall Wednesday 7:15pm Thursday Crafty Afternoon Kilmun Younger Hall Thursday 2:00pm Carpet Bowls Ardentinny Village Hall Thursday 2:30pm Carpet Bowls Kilmun Younger Hall Thursday 7:30pm Carpet Bowls Uig Hall Thursday 8:00pm Bridge Blairmore Village Hall Thursday evening Soup’n’sandwich Ardentinny Village Hall Friday 11:00am Church Service Kilmun Church Sunday 12noon Church Service Strone Church Sunday 10:30am Church Service Ardentinny Church Sunday 2:30pm 18 HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED (STORIES OF THE 1950’s and 60’s) When I was asked to write an article for the Shore Newspaper I instantly thought that this would be the most tedious piece of prose I had produced since my Higher English essay. I started to reflect on times past and realised that there were quite a few stories which I could relate especially about my youth on the Kilmun shore. I have slotted them into some short stories which come mainly from the 1950’s and 1960’s. In this issue I have concentrated on Football, Gala Days and Sunday School Trips. Football was then exactly as it is now, the obsession of all the boys in the village. We had no custom built park to play on but at Graham’s Point we had a sloped field of long grass and reeds and brambles which would rip your socks off but that was our Hampden Park. For more localised practise we would use the grass behind the Younger Hall at Kilmun and for the boys at the other end of the villages the grass field beside Blairmore Hall. We would meet most good Sundays in the summer (after Sunday School of course) and pick teams that would last all day. Interestingly, we were allowed to pick players who were absent in the morning but whom we knew would turn up later in the day. Thus led to interesting situations. It could mean that 6 players would play against 12 players in the morning but by the afternoon and evening, the sides would even up and the scores would usually reflect this. You could be 20 nil down after the morning session but by the close of play (usually 10 pm) the scores would even up this keeping everyone happy. Keeping the scores was important!! There could be anything up to 30 or 40 players of various ages at the end of the day. I sometimes wonder where all these people have gone and where would you see a game of football lasting 11 hours with not one player in a football strip and no more than half a done players wearing football boots. The football pitch at the Point was somewhat shrunk by the new road being cut through the middle and eventually after about 30 years a proper play park was provided for the villages. There are still many of the stars of these teams in and around the area e.g. Andrew Paterson, the Alcorn Brothers, Donald and Fraser McKellar, Douglas Burns and Billy Gilmour, Andrew and David Hughes to name but a few. 19 GALA DAY AT GRAHAM’S POINT On that very same field at Graham’s Point there would be a Gala Day organised by the Kilmun and District Community Association. This would happen most years and was eagerly anticipated by every youngster in the village. The Gala Queen was always crowned on that day and was escorted by her 2 Train Bearers. There were also a lot of athletic events for all age groups and of course, a knobbly knee competition for the older gentlemen judged by Dr D Walker. It always seemed to be sunny on these days and my memory was of all the villages coming together for that special day. One particular day stands out in my mind. It was the 2nd June, 1953, Coronation Day when a huge effort was made by the organisers to make it special. I was too young to know everyone who helped with the organisation of such days but I do remember Willie Crawford and Tommy Whitton being very involved. Sunday School Trips were a major event as it took you away from the village for the day. This seems odd nowadays but in the 1950’s we did not have cars (except for Dr Walker and Nurse Morgan affectionately known as ‘Morgan the Mighty’) so it was unusual for families to venture further than Dunoon for a day out. These trips were very often on one of my family’s ferries. We would set off from Kilmun or Strone pier and be taken to exotic places like Kilcreggan, Rothesay (Ettrick Bay) or Millport where we would be taken to field or beach or a combination of the 2 and we would run races and have a picnic before making our way home.