What was making the headlines in "the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald" of Thursday, November 27, 1986.
BLACK snowfalls on the Cairngorms - exclusively reported in the "Herald" in November, 1984 - have prompted a scathing attack on Government pollution measures.
Local MP Sir Russell Johnston has accused them of complacency and of measures which are far too little far too late.
"This is shameful and urgent action must be taken before even more damage is done, not only to our neighbours but to us," he said.
The "Herald" revealed that more than 200 square kilometres of the Cairngorms had been subjected to black snowfalls, up to five centimetres deep and containing around 20 tonnes of pollutants.
Scientists from the School of Environmental Studies at the University of East Anglia said the acidity of the black snow was several hundred times greater than that found in natural rain or snow.
And they said it was the first time that such a large pollution deposit in snow had been scientifically observed in an area remote from industrial conurbations.
Detailed scientific analysis of the snow - taken from Ciste Mherach - showed that a third of the particles contained soot, with the remainder of the pollutants originating from coal-burning power stations.
Investigations showed that the air which brought the pollutants had originated over the Continent and travelled across the Trent Valley, Yorkshire and Edinburgh before snow removed the particles over the Cairngorms.
The lights go out on old times
GRANTOWN'S last remaining symbols of burgh authority are to be transferred to district council headquarters at Kingussie.
Any day now they will be coming to take them away - the town provost's lamps which stand proudly, if unlit, outside the home of Grantown's last provost, Gordon McCulloch.
Not that Mr McCulloch is upset by the move since he has been asking the district council to take them away for the past five years.
The plan is to erect them outside the new district council offices at Kingussie railway station.
"I had hoped the lamps would go the Grantown Heritage Centre until the scheme fell through, but now I would be glad to have the district council take them," said Mr McCulloch.
The lamps were acquired shortly after the burgh was founded in the late 1800s but, sadly, although converted from gas to electricity, they have shed no light locally for several years.
Mr McCulloch is also in possession of the provost's robes which he has long hoped the district council would take into custody along with the two sets of local magistrate's robes.
"I think the robes should be held by the council until such times as a Grantown Heritage Centre or museum is established and they can be returned," said district council chairman Alistair McCook.
Green light for YMCA sports area
PLANNERS have opened the door they shut on a £20,000 leisure project for Grantown.
The scheme by trustees of Grantown's YMCA for an all-weather sports area almost collapsed last month when Badenoch and Strathspey divisional planning committee gave it limited two-year consent.
"We cannot possible expect anyone to fund a project to the tune of £20,000 when it could end in two or five years," said Nairn councillor Nigel Graham.
Planners imposed the two-year restriction on the development behind the High Street community centre after objections from neighbours about possible noise disturbance.
That did not, however, rule out the possibility of the scheme being approved again when the two year period expired.
"People these days seem to think if they live in a town they are entitled to peace and quiet, but if that is what they want they should live in the country," said Councillor Graham.
"I think it is a little unnecessary to impose conditions all the time, and if noise does become a nuisance there are other means of control."
Councillor Graham supported Grantown councillor Duncan MacKellar's motion to completely remove the time restriction from the consent.
"This would be another facility for the younger people of Grantown, which would help keep them of the streets," said councillor MacKellar.
Midwives deliver shock on babies
A MIDWIVES' veto could dash Strathspey hopes of maintaining maternity facilities at the Ian Charles Hospital in Grantown.
Their national organisation has unanimously opposed suggestions which could have led to the retention of one bed there for emergency deliveries and lying-in facilities.
Now Highland Health Board members are to discuss the situation again with Badenoch and Strathspey Local Health Council before deciding on the future of the hospital's maternity unit.
The board wants to allocate three maternity beds at the hospital for geriatric use.
But the move has been opposed by Strathspey residents in a 700 signature petition and by local community councils.
Following a letter from a Scottish health minister, the board said it might be possible to have a hospital without designated maternity beds, like Ian Charles, provision both for emergency confinements and for post-natal care, including lying-in, after confinement elsewhere.
But the National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland now says it is "unanimously opposed" to the proposal.
Note of warning over delay
SCOTTISH ski-ing and southern Spey Valley will be the losers if downhill skiing at Drumochter isn't developed soon.
Prospective Jean's Gully developer, Rudi Prochazka, predicts home market skiers will flock to the Continent if they are forced into long queues by a lack of Scottish facilities.
If development doesn't start soon it could also be too late for communities like Dalwhinnie and Laggan which are desperately in need of help now, said Mr Prochazka.
The only thing which now stands between Mr Prochazka and the fruition of his £1.5 million plans for Jean's Gully is a landowner's signature on a lease.
"We have had full consent for out development since May and have sought a meeting with the landowner to discuss a lease since August - but without success," Mr Prochazka told the "Herald".
Mr Prochazka's Drumochter Ski Development Company is now at a complete impasse - unable to progress its plans and unwilling to give up the scheme which has already cost many thousands of pounds.
"There is no question of the crying need for more ski facilities in Scotland and that long queues on Cairngorm are driving the market away," he added.
"There is room for everyone in what is a fast expanding market and there can be little doubt about the success of a development in Drumochter."
