Furnace for Argyll

Remember a few weeks ago when a sophisticated group of Furnacites hit Ayr Races for the day. Envy struck widely. Everyone who wasn’t there wondered how it all went and wished…

Now Colin Moncur has told all. Thank goodness for that!

A day at the Races

(…Or an idiot’s guide to losing money by rank amateurs who don’t know one end of a horse from the other!)

We set off with a mixture of excitement and anticipation of riches beyond our wildest dreams. Does the expression ‘fools and their money’ spring to mind?!

On arrival at Ayr Racecourse as we trekked from the bus to the stand right across from the actual course, one budding female gambler asked,
“What’s this then?”
“Oh, this is where the horses actually race”, she was told.
“It’s a bit grassy”, she replied.
Her hubby was heard uttering, “Give me strength…”

So, to the business in hand – losing money. At a table right next to the bar sat our own personal benefactor ‘Happy Harry from Huddersfield’. Spotting us and with a glint in his eye, he lit up his electronic game board and rubbed his hands in anticipation. “Game on!!” We thought. Whilst the men manfully tried to show off their extensive knowledge of horseflesh, the women’s approach was more along the lines of “Oh, that’s a nice name,” and “Oh, what pretty colours!” What do we mere mortals know, eh!

Anyway, winners were short for most of us (except for a certain couple who shall remain nameless – you know who you are and a pint will keep my silence). Apart from all that, we all had a good day out. We stopped off for a refreshment stop on the way home and ended up back in Furnace tired, skint (well, most of us anyway) and a bit more wary of the ‘Happy Harrys’ of this world!

• November 4th: Indoor bowls
• November 11th: Table Tennis and Board Games
• November 18th: Active Games
• November 25th: General Knowledge Quiz
• December 2nd: Pool and Indoor Bowls
• December 9th: Table Tennis and Christmas Crafts
• December 16th: Christmas Party

1st Minard Brownies and Rainbows will be holding a Coffee Morning on Saturday 8 November between 10 am and 12 noon in Furnace Village Hall (where else?)  Please come along and enjoy a cup of coffee and some home baking to help us raise funds.

We will also be having a special stall selling flour-free goodies in support of our fundraising efforts for the Asthma Trigger campaign which we are supporting this term.  Any donations of home baking will be very gratefully received at the Hall from 9.30 am on the day.

Rag Bag Recycling

The School wants to thank everyone who handed in textiles for recycling last month. Rag Bag Recycling collected 155kgs of used textiles for recycling from school and the School has now received a cheque for £46.50.

Orienteering:
P4-7 have been enjoying orienteering lessons with Jillian Gibson, Active Schools Co-ordinator and recently went to Inveraray School to follow orienteering maps. They will also be taking part in a competition next month with other Mid-Argyll pupils.

Halloween
The children are all looking forward to dressing up for our Halloween Party in school on Wednesday, 29th October (6.00-7.30pm.)

School Gardening Club
The pupils will be working hard on the school gardens this week with the launch of a new fortnightly gardening club with the help of Robbie, Eileen, Ally & Norma. Last month also saw the pupils harvest a bumper crop of potatoes from the gardens as part of a friendly competition with Inveraray School.

On Wednesday 12th November from 4.00pm - 7.00pm there is a Community Forum in Furnace Village Hall looking at improvements to the water mains in Furnace and Minard.

Representatives from both Scottish Water and the contractors will attend and drawings will be available to view. Details of the proposals will be given. Any concerns that residents of either or both villages have will be discussed.

If anyone has a concern and can’t make the meeting themselves, it’s important to give your question to someone else to put for you. We only get one crack at these guys so don’t let the opportunity pass without taking it. Drop in any time between 4.00pm and 7.00pm.

After the successful first organic wine tasting in Furnace Hall, Linda Ward of Vintage Roots has agreed to do a second one on 21st November, again in the Hall. This one will focus on tasting wines that would be good over Christmas and Hogmanay, so everyone can put the new knowledge to good use in short order - and remember practice makes perfect!

Tickets are £5 and there will be a raffle. Numbers are limited to thirty so booking is necessary. Book through Mike at the Shop.

Saturday saw the 15th staging of the (in)famous Furnace Shut, playing in tsunami like conditions at Inveraray golf club. Despite the projected weather, just about all of the invitees turned up and 27 eejits / numpties / golfers, (delete as appropriate), were whisked off to the course following an early breakfast of tea and buns, (aye right!) at The Furnace Inn.

The event organizers, Colin ‘Para but not necessarily Handy’ Moncur and Donald ‘Chic’ McNeill, gave everyone an extra buzz by announcing that fund-raising was the order of the day, with Breast Cancer in line for all monies raised.

As the tournament got under way the weather unbelievably worsened from ‘we must be daft doing this’ to ‘If he thinks I am going back out in that!’ and one by one, the eejits / numpties / golfers / drew stumps until but eight remained to play the second nine.

Damp but not dispirited, all eventually reconvened at the Furnace Inn for coffee and scones (?) and later an excellent dinner, courtesy of chef James ‘Hibee’ Dick and guvnor’s John and Julie Anne, (no nicknames as I anticipate continued use of the premises). The presentation was conducted by ‘Chic’ McNeil whose introductory remarks were longwinded to the extent that those due at work on Monday were beginning to worry and one person fell asleep (all right Davy.) The banter which was hurled at Mr McNeill during his oddyssey (all right Spock) was so good that by rights it should have been fattening!

The few who had completed the course were rewarded with a special prize for perseverance / stubbornness / stupidity (again delete to suit) and lost no time in berating the wimps / girlies / who had given up, with much flapping of arms and chicken noises in evidence.
Getting to the business end, it was announced that ‘Para’ Moncur had finished in 3rd place, Robert ‘I wish I had gone fishing’ Dunn was runner-up and to his obvious embarrassment (no chance) and cries of ‘resign!’ from the cheap seats, ‘Chic’ McNeil was declared the winner.

With money still to come in, the total raised was approaching £500, boosted by the sale of an excellent commemorative poem penned and recited by George Mitchell and the generous contribution from a band of fellow eejits / numpties / golfers / (as before) on the way back to Tarbert from an abortive attempt to play at Taynuilt. Inveraray Golf Club donated the day’s green fees. Thanks are extended to them and all other contributors. The Furnace Inn proprietors, the organizing committee and the many volunteers involved in caddying, driving, serving, photos, etc. - are all congratulated and should be very proud on helping to make the day an outstanding success.

(Contributed by someone who wished he’d gone fishing.)

Away to Cairndow and a result of 6-2 against was the start to the village bowls team’s League campaign. The only winning team was Dougie Smilie’s, with himself, Spock, Alec Campbell and Paul Hadfield. The other three teams, skipped by young Duncan Crawford, his father Duncan Crawford and Callum MacDonald were all in the hunt throughout, seeing their games slip away in the closing stages.

It woud be great to get a microphone and a sound recorder in there. The bowls trundle along silently (except when they rattle off the back boards in a blitz or a misjudged length) but the shouted instructions and the roars of triumph and despair are something else. You’d never guess from the sound what was actually going on. Great stuff.

Cairndow had a great young player, Dasha (or Darya) from Novgorod, one of Russia’s oldest cities. She’s been in Cairndow for four years now and runs the daily village creche in the hall. (And she knows all these exotic table bowls terms - like ‘chap and lie’ and ‘a wee wick’!) She’ll go far - but hopefully not too far from Cairndow.

There’s a Furnace link with the Cairndow team. Pearl Campbell’s cousin, Alastair McCallum, skips one of their four teams. On this occasion, he was the one who lost to Dougie Smilie’s all-stars so let’s hope Alec didn’t go home feeling too apologetic.

If you can even grasp a golf cub (experience not essential except for those likely to win) in one hand and a glass in the other, you need to get yourself to Inveraray Golf Club tomorrow (Saturday 25th October) for the legendary Furnace Shut competition. We’re hoping for indiscreet reports and photos. Watch this space.

The next pub quiz will be in the Furnace Inn on Friday 14th November at 8.00pm for an 8.30p start. John Mather will be doing his usual all-in-one quizmaster, scorer, adjudicator act and if it’s anything like last time the huge impromptu team standing at the bar will sweep all before them. Food - if you eat there first, fire, good crack, a few jars and fast and furious questions make a good night of it.