Blogs

At a time when most other indoor and outdoor gatherings have been limited to six people, the decision to allow  an exemption for grouse shoots from Covid restrictions has come in for criticism. In Scotland, shoots are permitted provided guidance and laws to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are followed. Animal welfare campaigners including the Scottish charity OneKind said wildlife had "thrived" during the lockdown, but was now being "shot for fun".

Further threat to democracy in Cornwall

'Here we go again' has been the exasperated comment expressed by many people in Cornwall on hearing the latest proposals of back bench Conservative MP for South West Devon, Gary Streeter, an individual who apparently has too much time on his hands and can afford to dabble in places outside his own constituency.

We are pleased to note that the Council of Europe (please note, this is not the European Union) has been critical of the Westminster Government regarding support for the Cornish and indeed, other languages and has made a number of recommendations of note.

Focussing on Cornish, a report by the Council of Europe promulgated today informs:

Media release from Culture Vannin:

Brian Stowell stories in Manx released online

The anniversary of Brian Stowell’s birthday is being marked by a release of new audio recordings in Manx.

19 extracts from Brian’s autobiography have been voiced by Phil Gawne for Culture Vannin and released for free online to mark the anniversary of his birth in 1936.

A Munro is defined as such when it is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros and designated as a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914.4 m). There are 282 Munros in Scotland and probably the best known Munro is Ben Nevis (Scottish Gaelic; Beinn Nibheis), the highest Scottish mountain at 4,411 feet (1,345 metres). Munros are named after Scottish mountaineer Hugh Munro, (1856–1919), who produced the first list of such hills.

The Largs Viking Festival has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic this year. The event was due to run from 29th Aug 2020 – 6th Sep 2020 and would have been the 40th Anniversary of the festival. Nevertheless organisers are already making plans to "direct its efforts to planning and delivering the best possible Largs Viking Festival in 2021". This is scheduled for 28th August to 5th September 2021, with the spectacular Viking Festival of Fire taking place on Saturday 4th September 2021.

With the continuing threat of Covid-19, original plans for Tynwald Day (the Isle of Man's National Day) were scaled down substantially, with members of the public advised not to attend with a view to 'social-distancing' and the restrictions on gatherings. Bur prior to the day itself the Isle of Man Government decided that, due to the lengthy period without any new, known cases of the virus, that a skeletal version of the annual proceedings could take place.

The Isle of Skye (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgitheanach), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan a-staigh) of Scotland. Now the Island has its own flag. It was designed by a nine-year-old boy, Calum Alasdair Munro and was chosen by a public vote organised by the West Highland Free Press newspaper. Calum's winning design has now been formally approved by Scotland's heraldic authority, the Court of the Lord Lyon.

Calum told the West Highland Free Press:

Voting is now open to name Scotland's Tree Of The Year and also Wales' Tree Of The Year 2020. A shortlist has been drawn up by a panel of judges and the vote is open to the public via the Woodland Trust website who organise the competition.

Excerpts from an article at Nation.Cymru:

The lockdown crisis of the past few months has accelerated a huge social and economic revolution that is taking place before our eyes.

Second homes in rural Wales have rightly become a source of much anger since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown.

Many of us have been outraged at the behaviour of some owners during the lockdown, such as those who were, according to police, trying to outwit them.