New Choral Music(20th April 2012)
Daniel Gordon
of the University of Leeds and a regular visitor to Torridon, has composed a choral piece
(provisionally titled "Torridon - Fragile Shell") which will have its first performance
in Halifax Minster on 26th May. The piece will be performed by Leeds University Liturgical
Choir, with oboe and organ.
The piece contains quotes from local historian Murdoch MacDonald's "Walking into the Past" book of historical walks.
Daniel hopes to be able to make a recording.
New Bridge for Beinn Alligin (4th April 2012 by Pete Meredith)
On the 4th April 2012 a new footbridge was airlifted into place on the hill path leading to
the Horns of Beinn Alligin. The new bridge was donated by the Jim Cox Torridon Project. This
project was set up to raise money for a lasting tribute to Jim Cox who sadly passed away last
year. Jim and his wife Eileen have been enthusiastic visitors to the area for many years and own
a house in the village of Wester Alligin. Jim's friends and relatives raised a staggering
£20,000 to be spent in the area, and in cooperation with the National Trust for Scotland it
was decided to spend the money on this footbridge which urgently needed replacing, an automatic
visitor counter to assess the footfall, and to assist in the financing of footpath improvements
on the higher parts of the hill.
Eileen is pictured above with Seamus Macnally the NTS ranger for Torridon. Helicopter services were provided by PDG of Inverness, who treated us to some spectacular flying! Unseasonal snow had fallen on the previous day and indeed was still falling as we made our way up to the bridge site.
Sixteen members of the Project, myself, and a BBC camera woman were on hand to witness the arrival of the bridge, and Seamus, with his team of helpers, was ready to complete the construction ready for the arrival of the first walkers.
Meanwhile the Project team retired to the Loch Torridon Community Centre for soup, sandwiches and a dram. The sun came out and the team posed for a group picture.
Torridon Cup (31st January 2011 by Pete Meredith)
On Monday 31st January, eight golfers from the villages of Diabaig, Alligin and
Wester Alligin competed for the Torridon Cup. The venue was Gairloch Golf Club and
despite a decidedly unpromising weather forecast, battle commenced at 11am after a hot
drink in the clubhouse. Four teams of two were selected in a pseudo-random fashion and
the rules for a Greensomes tournament were explained. Of the eight players half had
official CONGU handicaps - the other four had to be allocated handicaps in a "diplomatic"
fashion.
After nine holes we retired to the clubhouse for refreshments - a mountain of sandwiches, Torridon smoked mackerel, a choice of cake, and an extremely potent hot whisky punch. On the basis of first half performance a couple of adjustments were made to handicaps and the second nine started with only 5 shots separating the whole field. The weather held off wonderfully and spirits were high. The competition remained nip and tuck to the final hole - a testament to the Greensomes format which worked extremely well for a field containing handicaps from 13 to 36. After the swapping of golfers' tales, and the tallying of scores the trophy was presented - to the wrong team! Eventually, after much recalculation and deciding a tie on the back-9 score, the Cup was awarded to Donald MacGregor (Alligin) and Avril Turner (Alligin) - well done!
Everyone deemed the day a great success and we are all looking forward to competing again in 2012. Our grateful thanks go to Glyn and Morag for providing such bracing refreshments, and to Gairloch Golf Club for hosting the event.
Torridon News (January 2011)
2011 has not started well in the Community with the loss of three residents. Peggy
MacDonald of Torridon, Murdo MacDonald of Wester Alligin and Ian Mitchell from Diabaig
all passed away within a week or so of Hogmanay We would like to extend our sincere
condolences to the families of them all.
Since November the Community has suffered from the severe weather conditions like everyone in the area. The early snow in November meant that the Murder Mystery dinner was cancelled. An attempt to reschedule the following week was also a disaster. The members of the cast and the 60 ticket holders were very disappointed but hopefully Torridon Arts and Culture will be able to restage the event in early summer when weather should not be a problem.
Torridon School were unable to hold their end of term film show and the Community Christmas party was also cancelled because of the snow.
The Torridon Hall extension project is now approx six weeks behind schedule because of the low temperatures but January has seen the frame go up and it is hoped that it will be wind and water tight by the end of January. Many thanks to Kingsteps the contractors who coped with the elements and have done their best to minimise disruption to the community.
The craft workshops commence on Feb 14th and will run every second Monday in the month from 10am - 4pm. Everyone is welcome and the cost is £5 for the day including lunch. On March 14th there will be an opportunity to do Easter sugar craft with June Oorloff. The workshop is always grateful for craft materials and if anyone has any remnants of new fabric or buttons they don't want they would be appreciated. Please tel 01445 791270.
Awards for All have generously offered Torridon Arts and Culture a grant to buy a stage extension - this will enable hall users to set up raised performance areas and catwalks as well as simply enlarge the existing stage.
Whist drives have begun on alternate Wednesdays in the hall from Wed 2nd Feb through to 30th March at 7.30. This is a fun evening and everyone is welcome.
Dates to note in the future are the Edinburgh Quartet concert on Tues 26th April and the Alligin 'Feis' on Saturday 28th May. The popular Food and Craft Fairs will be running through the summer holidays every Friday from July 8th - Aug 26th.
Torridon School News (January 2011)
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