Village News 153rd Edition - February 2002

NEW OUT OF SCHOOL CLUB FOR LOCAL CHILDREN
To cope with the ever-increasing demands for quality and affordable out-of-school care in the local area, a new out-of-school club is about to be launched at Skelmorlie Primary School. The facility will be available from Easter 2002 and be based within a dedicated area of the school. It aims to provide an affordable, reliable and fun after school service for children attending Skelmorlie, Wemyss Bay and Inverkip Primary Schools.

A voluntary management committee has been working for the past 8 months in partnership with North Ayrshire Council. Funding has been received from the Lottery Awards for All and N.A.C. and is imminent from the New Opportunities Fund. The group has also received tremendous support and guidance from Councillor Elisabethe Marshall and Ms. Sheena Savage, Headteacher of Skelmorlie Primary.

On a day-to-day basis, qualified and experienced members of staff will look after the children and the positions will be advertised shortly.

Any parents or guardians interested in finding out more about the club should contact Lorna Baird, Chairperson, on 522863

COUNTRY PEOPLE'S CLUB
For the February meetings on Wednesdays 6^th and 20^th in the Heywood Hotel, Shore Road, Skelmorlie at 2.30p.m., we are pleased to announce the following speakers:

6^th February - Mrs. Grainne Crawford talking about "ALOE AWARENESS"

20^th February - Dr. Graham Patrick on the subject of "AUSTRALIA - THE GREAT OUTDOORS"

All members, old and new, and visitors will be made most welcome. For further information contact Ann Haig, tel. 522316

WEMYSS BAY - YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT'S FUTURE
Over the past few months a number of polls have been running on the Wemyss Bay web site regarding various aspects of the future development of the village. Here are the results of the polls.

HOUSING: The question was: DO YOU THINK WEMYSS BAY HAS ENOUGH HOUSES AND THAT THE BUILDING SHOULD STOP, OR SHOULD BUILDING CONTINUE?

105 votes were cast -

89 votes (84.8%) - stop the house building.
16 votes (15.2%) - continue the building.

GUY FAWKES NIGHT: The question was: WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE BONFIRE NIGHT BROUGHT BACK TO WEMYSS BAY, AND IF SO WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO HELP ORGANISE THE EVENT?

50 votes were cast -

42 votes (84%) - Yes, bring back bonfire night.
8 votes (16%) - No, don't bring it back.

Sadly, (but not surprisingly) only 5 people who votes were prepared to help organise any future Firework Night.

THE POWER STATION SITE: The question was: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE POWER STATION SITE?

76 votes were cast -

41 votes (54%) - Return to nature, with paths trees and walks.
14 votes (18%) - Leisure and Sporting facilities.
7 votes (9%) - New school for both Wemyss Bay and Inverkip.
6 votes (8%) - New housing development.
6 votes (8%) - Other.
2 votes (3%) - Business Park.

A number of other interesting suggestions were also made, including, blowing it up (1 vote), a skate park, a hotel and leisure complex with a revolving restaurant on top, a Nuclear Power Site and only two people wanted it to remain as it is!

There is now a second poll on the Power Station debate which simplifies the question down to the following: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE POWER STATION SITE?

• Mixed development including retail, leisure facilities and housing. OR
• Keep it as it is.

Please vote by going to http://wemyssbay.net/news/polls.asp

If you would like to discuss the results of these polls or further the debate in general, then you can do so on the web site Message Board at http://wemyssbay.net/talk/messageboard.html. If you have any interesting photographs of the village please e-mail them to webmaster@wemyssbay.net and if you wish to view the existing photographs go to http://wemyssbay.net/pictures

W.E.A. (WORKERS EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION) -
SKELMORLIE AND WEMYSS BAY BRANCH
Another lively, varied and hopefully interesting series of talks for the Spring Term started at the end of last month but here is the remainder of the programme for your diaries.

6^th February: "WHITE SLAVES WITH BLACK FACES" - John Millar's account of serfdom in 18^th and 19^th Century Scottish mines.

13^th February: "THE A-Z OF MUSIC" - Glynn Bragg returns for another memorable musical morning - a veritable whistle-stop tour of top-drawer composers - Debussy, Elgar, Jerome Kern, Gilbert and Sullivan and many more.

20^th February: "OLD RED LANDSCAPES" - Typify so much of Scotland's scenery from Bute and Skelmorlie to Caithness and Orkney. Julian Hill describes.

27^th February: "A BRIEFCASE, TOOTHBRUSH AND A CHANGE OF UNDERWEAR' - say so much about Shostakovich's 8^th String Quartet............ the inimitable Stuart Gibson illuminates.

6^th March: "LOOKING AT CHINA" - is Professor Bill Wallace's international current affairs topic.

13^th March: "HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE OF PAISLEY'S MEDIEVAL ABBEY" - a remarkable survivor in the midst of modem Paisley. A talk by an acknowledged expert on the subject, Philip McWilliams.

20^th March: "CALEY TO THE COAST - OR ROTHESAY BY WEMYSS BAY" - is the title of Archie Clark's new and absorbing account of the building of the railway from Glasgow to Wemyss Bay. A talk not to be missed.

27^th March: the Annual General Meeting.

24^th April: OUTING TO THE GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE - details to follow.

Meetings are held in the Reading Room of Skelmorlie Community Centre on Wednesdays from 9.45a.m. to 11.30a.m. Teas and coffees are available and a warm welcome to new members is assured. No annual membership, pay as you go - £1.80 or £1.50 Concession.

For further information or help with transport please phone Jenny McGee tel. 521090.

GUIDE NEWS
Ranger Guide Alison has been selected to attend a world Jamboree in Iceland in the summer. She is one of twelve young women representing Scotland and she will have to attend three training weekends at various locations in England before flying out in July. She will later travel to Belarus to teach English, so she has an exciting year ahead.

Two younger Guides have also been chosen to attend an international camp for 2000 Guides from all over the world. This is to be held in Hampshire in July. All the girls have to raise money to help with the travel costs and they plan to seek sponsorship and host a number of fundraising events in order to do this.

Congratulations to all these Wemyss Bay youngsters on being selected to represent their country. We look forward to hearing accounts of their experiences later in the year.

WEMYSS BAY P.T.A.
The P.T.A. will be holding a car wash on Saturday 2nd March from 10am in the playground.

There will be a Wherries Concert in the school on the 15th March - tickets £6 from any P.T.A. member. More details next month.

ARTICLES FOR MARCH
Articles for the March issue of the Village News should either be sent to Jenny McGee (tel. 521090) or put in the Village News envelope behind the counter in Spar, on or before 20^th February 2002.