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Then and Now
This week’s photos show Eglinton Road in Ardrossan, looking towards the top of Glasgow Street.
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Have I Got Coos For You?
Dropping by to say hello to the neighbours.
Is Saltcoats encroaching a wee bit too far on the countryside?
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Tae ra grun
As reported in this week’s News Section, an English newspaper has criticised North Ayrshire Council for what it termed ‘teaching slang’ in the classroom.
In fact, the local authority, in addition to traditional English lessons, is also teaching how to use the Scots language, particularly in poetry - just like a particular Ayrshireman did around 200 years ago.
Some of the contemporary Scots poems written by North Ayrshire pupils are of a very high standard. We particularly like this one, about the ground at ‘T in the Park’, written by Jennifer Imrie, a pupil at Greenwood Academy in Dreghorn.
T in the Park
Hunners ae tourists, trampin me doon.
Dauncin aboot tae the sound of the band.
Withoot a care in the world.
Naebudy notices whit they’re staunin oan.
Poor, auld, wee me.
Treat me like a coup, and throw their junk aw ower the place.
But you cannae beat the atmosphere,
When the bands start playin
An the crowds go pure mental!
An even though it has its doonsides,
It’s worth it tae see the huge grins on their faces.
An the hilarity o the tummlin, haunless drunken yins.
Fawin an trippin ower nocht at aw.
But that’s the point, in’t it?
Tae hae fun.
Campin oot, oan tap ae me, when I’m aw wet an clarty.
Then wakin up, an jumpin aboot tae the bands,
That hae come tae bonnie Scotland
In the cauld July sun.
It’s never warm in Scotland
But naebudy cares.
An then, at the end ae the weekend,
They aw pack up an go
And leave me by masel.
Naebudy cares –
Aifter aw, I’m jist plain auld borin grass.
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Cllr Ebenezer Munro
Regular readers of the3towns.com will remember how much Labour Cllr Alan Munro (Saltcoats & Stevenston) claimed from the public purse in the last financial year. However, just in case you didn’t commit it to memory, here is a wee reminder:
Cllr Munro submitted claim forms that listed 79 journeys, totalling 1,027 miles, which simply stated “Members Services”. The journeys, each of 13 miles - the return distance between Cllr Munro’s home in Stevenston and Council headquarters in Irvine - saw the Labour man pocket a total of £441.01.
Members Services is a small department within the local authority that assists councillors with letter-writing and sending e-mails, should they be unable to do such things themselves. In the mileage forms submitted by Cllr Munro, the retired businessman lists a number of occasions where he attended Members Services on almost every day of the week.
In addition to claims for travel, Alan Munro also topped the North Ayrshire league table in terms of money paid to councillors for telephone and internet costs. The Labour member received a total of £1,113.18 from the public purse.
Cllr Munro’s phone and internet costs were, by far, the highest of the eight Three Towns’ councillors. He was followed by fellow Labour members David Munn (£844.04) and Peter McNamara (£556.29). Then came Arran-based Independent Margie Currie (£231.84), the SNP’s Tony Gurney (£166.42), Independent Ronnie McNicol (£173.92), the SNP’s Willie Gibson (£100.47), with the lowest figure being Independent John Hunter’s £98.04.
Now, why are we telling you all this, again. Well, apart from it being important local voters know how fond Cllr Munro is of their money, there is the other matter of the Labour man’s dedication to serving the public.
Only last week Cllr Munro showed how much he cares for voters. A 76 year-old man contacted the Labour councillor over his concerns regarding a publicly-owned North Ayrshire golf course. After taking the time to set out, in some detail, the nature of his concerns, the local pensioner received the considered response of Cllr Munro. Ebenezer ’money-bags’ Munro replied, “Bah humbug”.
No, honestly!
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Down with this sort of thing!
Labour MP Brian Donohoe is not the brightest bulb in the Blackpool illuminations. In fact, when the lights were officially switched-on by Robbie Williams last Friday (September 3), the ‘Donohoe Bulb’ remained exceptionally dim.
Not long ago, we had Dafty Donohoe explaining to everyone how it was terrible that Scotland, in the main, had voted for the Labour Party, but then had a Tory-Lib Dem Government imposed on us. Now, everyone but Dafty could see the logical end-point of that assertion. Clearly, there is no point voting Labour in Scotland, because we just end up with the Tory-Lib Dem Government elected by the people of England. Therefore, the only way to make sure the Tories don’t get to govern Scotland, is to vote for pro-independence parties, like the SNP. So, the message from Labour MP Brian Donohoe is…don’t vote Labour!
This week, Dafty told the press how concerned he was about ‘scams run by criminals’, as opposed to scams run by non-criminals, apparently.
Mr Donohoe said it was “time the Scottish Government put something in place to deal with this issue”.
Presumably, therefore, these scams only started on May 3 2007, the date on which the SNP Scottish Government was elected. Apparently, there were no such ‘scam’ crimes under the previous Labour-led Scottish Government, which had power between 1999 and 2007. That must be case, otherwise the Government run by Mr Donohoe’s party would have “put something in place to deal with the issue”.
See these Nats, up to every scam, so they are.
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The Madness of King Tony
Published last week, 'A Journey', Tony Blair’s attempt to justify his actions while prime minister.
A book won’t do it. Being responsible for mass unemployment, widening the poverty gap between the rich and the poor, facilitating the environment in which the current economic crisis was born, lying to the public about the reasons for invading the sovereign nation of Iraq, not to mention being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of British soldiers and countless thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children - his actions are unjustifiable.
Take a good look at the face in the above photo. It was taken in 1986, just three years after Blair was first elected as an MP.
Even then the madness was staring out of him.
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The look that says...
...follow-through!!!
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Scottish Icon of the Week
Nominated by Grant Thompson of Saltcoats, this week’s Scottish Icon is the deep-fried pizza.
Contrary to popular belief beyond the borders of Scotland, Scots do not dine exclusively on deep-fried Mars Bars. In fact, few chip shops actually sell deep-fried confectionery.
However, deep-fried pizza is a traditional Scottish delicacy - often served with chips (a pizza supper) and topped-off with a garnish of curry sauce.
In the Three Towns, pizzas (or half-pizzas) are normally fried without batter but, if requested, it has been known for batter to be applied before frying, thereby creating a ‘pizza crunch’. In other areas of Scotland, battered pizzas are the norm.
Strange as it may seem, even in Italy, the home of the pizza, there are two deep-fried versions of the dish.
One version has two layers of pizza dough, sealed one on top of the other, with a filling of tomato, cheese, meat and other ingredients in the middle. The other is simply a pizza base, fried and salted. This version is known by different names across Italy, such as pizzarella in Rome, avvoltolo in Perugia, gnocco fritto in Bologna and torta fritta in Parma.
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What were you doing when these were number 1?
It's said that music can transport us back in time. Hearing a particular track can instantly remind us of what we were doing when it was orginally a hit. So, on that basis, have a nice time remembering what you were doing when these songs were hits in this week of 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000.
No. 1 this week in 1960 - Apache - The Shadows
No.1 this week in 1970 - The Wonder Of You - Elvis Presley
No. 1 this week in 1980 - Start - The Jam
No.1 this week in 1990 - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Bombalurina
No.1 this week in 2000 - Take On Me - A1
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Where am I?
Thank you to everyone who entered last week's 'Where am I?'
There were two clues (see below), which showed a number of goalkeepers and a lock keeper.
The first person to spot we were looking for Keeper Place in Saltcoats was Mark Halliday.
This week, the clue is the photo, below:
We're looking for a street in the Three Towns, but which one?
Answers to: gossip@the3towns.com
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Where is it?
Again, thank you to everyone who entered last week's 'Where is it?'.
The clue was the photo, below, which shows the side of the former Glasgow Mission Coast Home, now the headquarters of the 'Come Back To God Campaign', on the corner of Findlay's Brae and Seaview Road, Saltcoats.
The first person to identify the location was James G Findlay of Ardrossan.
This week, we'd like you to tell us where in the Three Towns the photo, below, was taken:
Answers to: gossip@the3towns.com
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