the Kambeltown Koorier

[I'd rather be riding]

I do have a wee concern about the safety issues that could arise if horses are exercised among the free-range public (the same would apply - to a much larger extent - in relation to quad bikes) and I really don't like the idea of horse plop as part of the mix (that obviously doesn't apply to the quad bikes) no matter how safe and clean it may indeed be.

As for selfishness, that's something that applies to any section of the community that wants to exercise its right to do its own thing without regard to the common good. I've never been on a jet ski, and I have to say it looks great fun, but the noise they make is really irritating and a real peace-disturber. Dog walkers have a right to take their mutts along the beach, but they should clean up after them to avoid any health risk. The important point is to recognise and preserve the common good. To put it another way, my right to enjoy my pastime doesn't extend to doing so in a way that creates a nuisance for others.

Safety issues??????? What safety issues might this be? There's probably more a safety issue crossing a road than there is a horse on the beach. Just to set the matter straight, if you're implying that we all career about the beach "without regard to the common good" then you're very much mistaken. I would only ask my horse to do anything faster than a walk when people or animals are not within any distance of me. You see it's all about responsible riding!

You're making it out as though there's going to be a whole string of horses being excercised like the way they do in places where there are racing stables. I hardly think that allowing access to Westport is going to all of a sudden bring an influx of horses there at the weekends or on any other day of the week for that matter.

I've been on Westport with my horse on numerous occasions so why have you never bothered about the horse poo then? I take it you never go to any other beaches in the area except from Westport because every other beach is accessible to horses and believe it or not they are excercised regularly on them but as I have said, you haven't seemed to voice your opinion before.

You don't seem to make mention of the folks who take their picnics to the beach (I'm not pointing the finger at you btw) and leave their rubbish lying around. Bottles, cartons and wrappers don't disintigrate in a matter of days the way a horse poo does.

Horse riding should be encouraged, especially to youngsters. It would give them soomething to do on a daily basis, not just once a week which would in turn keep them off the streets or out of mischief. It would promote health and fitness and also teaches them about responsibility. Not only that, it is great fun too. Maybe you should try going on a beach ride some day WC1. Believe me it's far more exciting than having a picnic!

Mind though, next time you're on the beach having a picnic and I'm riding my horse.................................. gonnae save me a wee piece and something nice!!!!!!

[I'd rather be riding]

Just suggesting in general terms that the reporter wasn't fully to blame Rab

[Lilacbabe]

seems like you dont want anything on our beaches at all

Just for the avoidance of doubt, I'm all for people enjoying our beaches to the full, whether it's by walking on them, surfing, jet-skiing, etc off them, giving their dogs some exercise, having a picnic or a barbecue, or generally just chilling and enjoying the view (while we still have it). I do have a wee concern about the safety issues that could arise if horses are exercised among the free-range public (the same would apply - to a much larger extent - in relation to quad bikes) and I really don't like the idea of horse plop as part of the mix (that obviously doesn't apply to the quad bikes) no matter how safe and clean it may indeed be.

As for selfishness, that's something that applies to any section of the community that wants to exercise its right to do its own thing without regard to the common good. I've never been on a jet ski, and I have to say it looks great fun, but the noise they make is really irritating and a real peace-disturber. Dog walkers have a right to take their mutts along the beach, but they should clean up after them to avoid any health risk. The important point is to recognise and preserve the common good. To put it another way, my right to enjoy my pastime doesn't extend to doing so in a way that creates a nuisance for others.

Do you honestly think that the beach is going to be that crowded that there wont be room for dog walkers etc and horses??
and that we are going to be charging about like Racehorses knocking people down like skittles.
Quad bikes can go a hell of faster than a horse, brakes can fail but a horse would stop dead or swerve all by its self if it was ever to be so unfortunate to be faced by a human in its path.Dogs too can be a hazard as I have seen children being bowled over by dogs whos owners let them of lead and cant control them.You would be very unlucky indeed if you were to be knocked down by a horse on the beach ,more chance of being run down by the Glasgow bus
As for quad bikes , no they dont poo but they can leak oil and petrol/diesel and I think that is more offensive than what a horse may leak out.

If you read the Scotish Access rights you will see that all gods creatures have the right to be on the beach and farm land as long as they are responsible and there are no crops in the fields and do not worry livestock

In what way would horses on the beach be a nuisance to you any way , how often do you go to the beach to walk your dog or go surfing
I am there all the time with my 3 dogs yes 3 dogs sometimes 4 dogs ( with poo bags in my pockets) and I have never seen more than about 20 people (just a rough estimate I may say !! )there are sometimes only 1 or 2 folk on the beach at any one time so LOADS of room for everyone to enjoy their favorite passtime without creating a nuisance for others.

Any way we dont want you oppinion on whether horses can go on the beach , because they can The article in the courier was for a gate to be provided for access by horses not for whether they should be allowed on the beach .

I am finished now as this is not the thread to be discussing Access for horses, there is already a thread for this so if you want to continue please feel free to go there.

Cant wait to get on to the beach with my horse to race a quadbike heading towards the distant turbines avoiding the crowds on the beach

[Lilacbabe]

That would be nice, a wee piece after all that racing would be just the thing would it not ?

[I'd rather be riding]

Don't know about you Lilacbabe but I get wile an' hungry when I'm oot on my horse!

Anyway, what do you make of the spelling mistake in the Courier??? Personally I can'y wait to see all the fat brides trying to get through the kissing gate!!!!!

Och you've gottae laugh haven't ye???????

[Lilacbabe]

Don't know about you Lilacbabe but I get wile an' hungry when I'm oot on my horse!

Anyway, what do you make of the spelling mistake in the Courier??? Personally I can'y wait to see all the fat brides trying to get through the kissing gate!!!!!

Och you've gottae laugh haven't ye???????

Human error is a wyle thing, my spellin is no that grate ether. I wunder what the skhool teachirs wood thinc if thay cood sea thius
poor Journalist she is only human to and she should just have a laugh about it as she has helped us get a bit of publicity so go the Journalist

I dont know about fat brides getting through the kissing gate but apparently I will have to get my FAT horse through it too if I want to get on to the beach .
Maybe the fat brides could get a wee shot of my horse and they could get stuck , oops I mean go through the gate together .

[glenn]

It is, as has been stated, simply a matter of responsible riding. I remember the minister at Southend in the late 90s riding his 18 hands high Clydesdale on the beaches there and as far as I am aware no-one objected. Rather, people out and about were pleased to see both horse and rider. But when he was seen taking a short cut home over the golf course one day, all hell let loose and he was told in no uncertain terms never to do it again!(which seems strange when the cows are on the course daily, but anyway ) So it does boil down to common sense and, as has been stated, a respect for the law.
And that responsibility extends to vehicle drivers when they encounter a horse-rider, because the latter has the right-of-way over the former, who must obey any lawful request from the rider, such as who should proceed first at a crossroads or junction etc.
The area is so wonderful because it is both countryside and coast rolled into one in such a narrow peninsula, and, as such, we should accept that all animals have as much right to be on the land, including the beautiful beaches, as we do. After all, there must be well over 100 miles of breathtaking coastline from Skipness down to Southend and from the Mull up to Tarbert, so there's room for all to enjoy whether at work or play.
As far as bridal parties and horses are concerned I don't think the Highway Code states who would have the right of way through the kissing gate, but I think it would be wise to let the bride & groom go first, just in case !!!

And as regards the howler on the front page of the Courier, you will always get the odd one that gets through the net when local newspapers are so short-staffed and are working under pressure to meet a deadline. As regards the volume of news content the same applies - more staff needed.

[Lilacbabe]

It is, as has been stated, simply a matter of responsible riding. I remember the minister at Southend in the late 90s riding his 18 hands high Clydesdale on the beaches there and as far as I am aware no-one objected. Rather, people out and about were pleased to see both horse and rider. But when he was seen taking a short cut home over the golf course one day, all hell let loose and he was told in no uncertain terms never to do it again!(which seems strange when the cows are on the course daily, but anyway ) So it does boil down to common sense and, as has been stated, a respect for the law.
And that responsibility extends to vehicle drivers when they encounter a horse-rider, because the latter has the right-of-way over the former, who must obey any lawful request from the rider, such as who should proceed first at a crossroads or junction etc.
The area is so wonderful because it is both countryside and coast rolled into one in such a narrow peninsula, and, as such, we should accept that all animals have as much right to be on the land, including the beautiful beaches, as we do. After all, there must be well over 100 miles of breathtaking coastline from Skipness down to Southend and from the Mull up to Tarbert, so there's room for all to enjoy whether at work or play.
As far as bridal parties and horses are concerned I don't think the Highway Code states who would have the right of way through the kissing gate, but I think it would be wise to let the bride & groom go first, just in case !!!

And as regards the howler on the front page of the Courier, you will always get the odd one that gets through the net when local newspapers are so short-staffed and are working under pressure to meet a deadline. As regards the volume of news content the same applies - more staff needed.

Great Post

Yes more staff for the Courier means more to read and less time spent checking spelling mistakes and Grammer

[jamiemcivor]

And both Joanne and Ruth at the Courier put in an awful lot of hours... just as I did in my day. I hope people appreciate their effort.

Yesterday I was with Joanne at the open day at the fire station. Then she'd to pop over to Kintyre Park. Exactly the kind of thing I used to have to do on Saturdays.

Mistakes unfortunately happen. Indeed there was a typo on a name caption on one of my pieces on Rep Scot the other night. The l and d were left off Cumbernauld so it read as "Cumbernau". It was typed correctly but it seems we've discovered a software bug! A problem with the program that turns the text we iinput into the captions... a combination of the number of characters, particular combinations of characters and the font. But it's a reminder that mistakes are not unique to the Courier and aren't always human error.

[campbell]

Never mind the spelling mistakes in the "koorier" watch out when you want to put a funeral acknowledgement in it! we just paid £92.34 for this service,a damned disgrace i think considering its probably the dearest weekly newspaper in britain thats mainly full of adverts and stories copied out of daily newspapers.The majority of peoples familys always put their thanks and expressions of sympathy in the courier the week after a death but it seems to me that the courier exploits this as a way of getting easy money!

[neilly]

Campbell, that is outrageous ! How can it be so costly to place a BMD in the Courier? I would have expected it to be no more than £20 for a normal size insertion.

[EMDEE]

I remember one typo in a Courier report in the 1970s. It was a letter "h" that had gone in instead of a letter "t". That doesn't sound too drastic until you read it in context. The report stated that the Highlands and Islands Development Board were planning to invest money for "the improvement of hourism facilities in Kintyre"

I kid you not. This is true.

Freudian Slip?

[Buzz Lightyear]

Maybe it was just my eyes after a few beers ......

But was the 'Those were the days' column showingthe date from 2010 and not the actual year the things occured in last weeks courier?

I read it and it was defo things that happened years ago but i couldnt see the year it occured.

Maybe just me after some vino.