D Brown

If you ever did any DIY on your Salen house, you will recognise The Harrod's of Mull as my connection to the place.

[Edited by D Brown - 8/2/2002 10:09:08 AM]

softwizz

We are holidaying on the west coast (actually mostly islands) from 5th-18th August, and if there was anything reachable in that period I'd try to drop in.

Beyond that, we are planning to move into the area in a couple of years (I lived on Mull from 1981-86 and we want to do the island thing again). So we would like to know what - if anything - goes on within range of say Oban.

I know about the Mull Rally of course - spectated a few times at that, knew a couple of local competitors. Does it get a Scooby presence these days?

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Nothing that I'm aware of between those dates. We were at Kames last weekend, and are there again on the 1st September.

In August we have:

3rd - AWD Motorsport open day in Perth
4th - Alford (Grampian Transport Museum), sprint track + display
7th - local Aberdeen meeting, 7:30pm at the Old Mill Inn
11th - Crail Airfield (1/4 mile sprints)
15th - Track evening at Knockhill + BBQ (6pm - 8pm)
25th - charity 6 hour karting event at Raceland (Edinburgh)

Unfortunately mostly east coast events in August.

In September, we have:

1st September - Kames (sprint track)
4th September - local Aberdeen meet, 7:30pm Old Mill Inn
8th September - Knockhill Scottish Subaru Spectacular
12th - 16th Isle of Man trip (lots of Scottish owners going)
28th - Knockhill track event from 9am - 1pm

John

Alas

There are a few things happen up here. Deer cross the road. Cars hit deer. Seagulls sh*t on your car.
Not much happens especially round the Oban area. I lived there for 8 years and apart from the Mull rally thats about it. Further north around Inverness etc there are a few things going on and also central region with Knockhill/rally stages etc.
Nice part of the world in the summer but its abit of a tumbleweed territory in the winter.
Alas

D Brown

softwizz,

Looking at where you used to live, you are probably already aware, but the highlight of the Mull and Iona social season occurs a week today. Yes ladies and gentlemen on Thursday August 8th it is the Salen Show!.

.....sheep, coos, goats, knitting, baking, horses, ponies, sheepdugs, chainsaw sculpture, hens, rabbits, crookmaking, jam, scones, landrovers, barbour jackets, black wellies (green ones for the laydees), beer tent, underage drinking, tractors pulling cars out of muddy field, rain, midgies, singing on Bowman's bus on the way home, Show dance in the Salen school hall, Old Mull whisky (60p a nip), Cally Man on the accordian, Strip the willow, fall on yer ****, stagger out of the hall, hitch a lift home in Norrie's pick-up, sleep on the stairs, late for work in the shop on Friday, bollocking from the old man, sleep in the bike shed, quick half in the Mishnish at lunchtime, better for the afternoon, Friday night in the McD Arms, early night? no chance, yacht week - dance on the pier, snogging in the freight store with some posh Bearsden lassie off a yacht, steal a dinghy, row across the bay, walk home.....

Enduring images, shame I'm in Surrey now!

You can also look at the local free rag online. There's a diary of events - Mull's pretty cultural these days with the Little Theatre and An Tober, macGochans and Mishnish playing live music almost every night.

Dunc

softwizz

Dunc,

What a shame - I reach Dervaig on 12th August, before that I'm on other islands. On the other hand, I agree that the ambience of the Salen Show most closely resembles the 'Tunnel of Goats' sketch on Craggy Island in "Father Ted".

I used to stay in Salen. My first wife and I played flute and mandolin with the Mull Fiddlers, and we probably played the Mishnish, though I only have strong recollections of the Tobermory Hotel. With such strong and pungent memories that you evidently have, what are your connections with the island?

The Mull Little Theatre was very much alive before we got there! We were privileged to take in several performances by Barry and Marianne Hesketh, before Marianne's untimely death. We were also quite close to their son Nick and his wife Fiona - I think Nick was the Little Theatre's stage manager at the time.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Duncan,

sounds like a fantastic day out you have described there

John

softwizz

Dunc,

Yes, I have been a customer occasionally - but DIY is anathema to me, we used to employ the occasional services of Howard Duncan - does the name ring a bell? He was ex-Falkland Islands, and I believe he kept goats as well as doing handyman stuff.

You may know of Wilf and Maggie - I can't remember their surname, they had some kind of trade supplies business in the Dervaig area, and Maggie had lots of trophies from rallying - not sure whether Wilf was her co-driver or not.

D Brown

yup - Wilf & Maggie Lloynd (Highland Services). They are still involved in the running of the rally (doing results, I think) and in business. In fact I think they are in the process of expanding to larger premises. Don't really know Howard Duncan well.

You'll see a few changes in Mull, if you've not been there for a while, there's now a 2-lane road from the Gualan Dhubh to Tobermory with a roundabout at the end! A new pub in Tobermory (MacGochans) and quite a few decent places to eat all over the island.

JohnS - get yourself (and a Scoobynet crew) over to Mull, every night's lie that (well, nearly)!

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Duncan, that sounds like a very good idea to me. The start of a good plan.

Most weekends are busy until about October this year, so could possibly plan a trip for then, or better still leave it until later on, perhaps Spring next year

Do you think the Island could cope with a group of us arriving for a weekend trip ?

John

D Brown

JohnS,

oh aye - if the place can cope with over a thousand for the rally weekend, a few hundred for music festival weekend, 700 McLeans for the Clan Gathering, I'm sure there's room for a few Scoobies. A few good places to camp too. No SUL though. Always happy to talk about Mull (and offer advice). I think Burr is going soon.