Issue 116

What ‘Walden’ can tell us about social distancing and focusing on life’s essentials

Seeking to bend the coronavirus curve, governors and mayors have told millions of Americans to stay home. If you’re pondering what to read, it’s easy to find lists featuring books about disease outbreaks, solitude and living a simpler life. But it’s much harder to find a book that combines these themes.

As the author of three books about essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, I highly recommend “Walden,” Thoreau’s 1854 account of his time living “alone” in the woods outside Concord, Massachusetts. I qualify “alone” because Thoreau had more company at Walden than in town, and hoed a bean field daily as social theater in full view of passersby on the road.

Arran’s renewable future takes a step forward

Some great news came in for Arran Eco Savvy, and for the development of renewable energy on Arran last week - the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) will fund Eco Savvy to progress a Solar PV project on the Auchrannie sports hall roof through their Enablement grant and Capital grant awards scheme.

Eco Savvy says, "This is fantastic news and we are very excited to get going."

How did we get here?

A steering group has been working towards a renewable project for some time and identified options. We recently held a virtual meeting where we discussed work done so far and held a Q & A session. The presentation was recorded before we knew we had funding and you can watch it anytime here.

Poem for November

Prayer

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child’s name as though they named their loss.

Thoughts on becoming a Celebrant

Recently a friend became ill. I visited her in hospital, and she told me of the discussions taking place with social work as to how she would manage at home once discharged. After a couple of days however, these discussions were no longer relevant. My friend had deteriorated and would die within a week. I continued visiting, and sat by her bedside. She slipped away when I had gone home for lunch, and the hospital allowed me to sit with her body for a few hours before she was taken to morgue.

This Dear Place – a review

This Dear Place, Corrie and Sannox. Memories and Reflections by Lesley Paton Cox

A Review, by Elsa Rodeck

11th Commando Black Hackle in Arran – Part 3

A history of the 11th Commando in Arran by Jim Henderson ‘Lest we forget’

What could happen if a 90 year old man found new friendships?

Poet, artist and long time visitor to Arran, Christina Milarvie Quarrell shares some reflections on a recent journey of friendship:

My story begins in 2016 when I met 90 year old Frank Coyle and his 83 year old sister Pat Coyle.
In 2016 Frank and Pat both lived independently in their homes within the Govan Community of Glasgow.
In September 2020 Frank moved to a new home at Erskine Care.

A chance encounter led to new friendships.
Later in Life friendships have gifts to offer.

Scottish Poppy Appeal Prepares for its Centenary

This November marks the 100th Poppy Appeal.

For almost a century, these appeals have helped men, women and families with injuries sustained during their time in the Armed Forces or with struggles adjusting from military to civilian life.

The service provided by military personnel is unique, as are the sacrifices they make. The challenges and difficulties which veterans and their families face are therefore often very different from the civilian population. PoppyScotland works year-round to provide tailored support to those who need it, whenever they need it.

Peace Maps of Edinburgh and Scotland

Project in Progress: Peace Maps of Edinburgh and Scotland

By Elena (Lane) Deamant

For many of us, the pandemic has made us pause in our daily lives and pay closer attention to what uplifts us, strengthens us, and inspires us. Community spaces - both virtual and physical - are even more important in the midst of such a challenging time. In recognition of this, the Peace & Justice Centre is currently working on a project to make two peace maps, one of Edinburgh and one Scotland-wide, that will document and celebrate many of the meaningful places that promote the effort for fellowship, an end to war, and social justice.

Words shape how we think about the environment

I’m a copywriter. It’s my job to overthink words.

But when it comes to talking about the environment, it’s hard. Sustainability has got to be one of the most overused words of recent years, but it’s often misused as there aren’t suitable alternatives.

Still, when we begin to get really precise with language, it can help to define the way we think and feel about things. Language reveals that there are different shades to environmentalism and helps us to understand these perspectives.

Intersectional Environmentalism – what’s that?

A blog on Intersectional Environmentalism by Ruth McLaren, Project Coordinator at Eco Savvy

You may have seen this term on the news or social media recently as it is a relatively new phrase that has come out of the Black Lives Matter movement and focuses on the way that the climate emergency and different marginalised groups come together and how these groups are more negatively affected.

Intersectional environmentalism not only looks at racial injustice but the experiences of all marginalised groups including, non-black people of colour, indigenous communities, refugees, women, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities. It is important to remember that many people fall into more than one of these categories and that their experiences will be varied in different ways because of that.

Friends of Millstone Point continue campaign against north Arran salmon farm

Members of the community of Arran have been holding a peaceful protest over the last few weeks at Millstone Point, to oppose the (revised) application for a salmon farm by the Scottish Salmon Co. Each weekend supporters of the Friends of Millstone Point campaign have spent a night camping at the spot and will continue this until the end of the NAC planning consultation period on 9th November. Residents and visitors are being invited to walk out to the point and place a stone from Millstone beach on the community protest cairn.

Loch, Stock and Salmon

By Matt Mellen

Loch, Stock and Salmon - an adventure to the wild west coast of Scotland

By Matt Mellen, first published on Ecohustler 19th September 2020

The Long Read

The Long Read by Sally Campbell

Science, Environmental Advocacy and Politics in 2020

The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons due to become international law

On Saturday 24th October, Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - meaning that in 90 days, on 22 January 2021, it will irreversibly enter into force. Now the Treaty is due to become international law, nuclear powers need to engage constructively on nuclear disarmament.

Featured Image shows Treaty campaigners celebrating the news outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh

As a member of ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), the coalition of organisations working to get the Treaty ratified, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND) shared the news last month:

Marine News

Sent in by John Kinsman, station manager at Coastwatch St Monans, east Fife

Greenpeace Activists board trawler

Greenpeace activists boarded a supertrawler in the North Sea last month and prevented it from fishing in what it claims are protected waters. The environmental group said the trawler Helen Mary was fishing in the Central Fladen marine protected area east of Scotland.

Activists from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza boarded the 117 metre vessel and hung a banner reading “Ban supertrawlers now”. They placed fishing deterrents in the supertrawlers nets before the Germany registered Helen Mary left the area. Last year the same vessel was detained out at sea by Marine Scotland on suspected fishery offences.

Recipe for November

Sent in by Anne Kinsman

Mushroom and Broccoli Pie 

Ingredients:

350g (11 oz) broccoli florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
350g (11 oz) mushrooms trimmed and thickly sliced
150g (5oz) gorgonzola cheese
3 tbsp mascarpone cheese
4 tbsp crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped chives
1 large sheet ready rolled puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
1 egg lightly beaten
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook the broccoli in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for about 2 minutes or until the florets are just beginning to soften.
2. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the mushrooms over a medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the gorgonzola and mascarpone and crème fraiche. Add the drained broccoli florets and chives and season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon the mixture into four individual ovenproof dishes or a single large rectangular ovenproof dish.
5. Lay the pastry over the filling pressing it to the sides of the dish to seal. Brush the top with beaten egg and cut 2 slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape.
6. Cook in a preheated oven 220 C (425F) or gas mark 7 for about 25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serves 4.

Letter to the Editor

88 Castelnau
London SW 13 9EU

26 October 2020

Dear Voice,

I read Sally Campbell’s excellent article about salmon farm escapes (On Fish Farms by Mowi, Issue 114 September 2020) with a combination of sadness and anger – but not, alas, much surprise.

My family has a long connection with Arran. My mother’s family came from Paisley, and, since the early years of the 20th Century, had spent most of their holidays in Arran (first Brodick, then Corrie). The men in her family were mostly golfers rather than fishers; but when my mother married her English husband (in due course my father), things began to change – if rather slowly, because by the time of their marriage (in Paisley Abbey) in November 1939, WII had already started, so that holidays in Arran – or anywhere else – took something of a back seat for the next 7 or 8 years. In the end, however, sanity was restored and, with it, my father’s passion: fishing. And that, and my mother’s roots, brought us back to Arran in the early 1950s.

Photos from October 2020

Flowers in form around Aran this last month. Photos courtesy of John Campbell - thanks!

[slideshowck id=8380]