From "The Strathspey and Badenoch Herald"
of February 12, 1987.
AVIEMORE is to get a right royal visitor in May when Princess Anne calls in on Scotland's top leisure resort.
The Princess is expected to go "walk-about" in the village before opening a major Scottish exhibition and conference.
And for the Princess, it will bring her close to achieving one her much-publicised ambitions - to be a lorry driver.
For the exhibition and conference will show the Scottish freight, transport and distribution industry and is being sponsored by the Scottish section of the Chartered Institute of Transport, of which the Princess is honorary president.
She will perform the opening on Thursday May 7 with the exhibition continuing at the Aviemore Centre until the following Saturday.
It will be the second royal visit to Aviemore in two years - the Queen Mother was here in 1985 to open the Craft Fair, organised by the Highlands and Islands Development Board.
Ski group's plan
goes for 'Green'
DOWNHILL skiing at Drumochter took a step closer to reality last week when an application for detailed planning consent was lodged by the Drumochter Ski Development Group.
The group of local businessmen have already won the landowner's permission for their scheme to go ahead at the Dalwhinnie Corries.
The project already has outline consent and all that is required now is for regional planners to approve a number of reserved matters on the £1,500,000 development.
When complete, the development should cater for some 2,000 skiers, principally intermediate and beginner, thus relieving increasing pressure on the Cairngorm ski grounds.
The project should also create around 50 spin-off jobs throughout the valley by extending the season for a number of local communities.
Although the application has been submitted to Badenoch and Strathspey Divisional planning committee it will be decided by the main planning committee at Inverness.
Opening up floor
for the patients
THE upper floor of St Vincent's Hospital in Kingussie is scheduled to open for local patients on October 1.
It should be the first local psycho-geriatric unit to come into operation in the Highland Health Board's area accommodating 20 local patients.
"October 1 is our target date for the opening, but this is quite a complex exercise, not least of which is the staffing arrangement," said Mr David Blair, of the Highland Health Board.
"We hope to have patients actually in the hospital by October 1 but the will depend on all going well with the necessary arrangements."
Although there has been an exercise going on at Craig Dunain Hospital in Inverness to identify patients suitable for transfer the full 20 patient complement for the ward has not yet been complete.
Patients will either be transferred closer to home from other hospitals or admitted directly to St Vincent's.
Health Board General Manger, Mr R.J. Stewart said there would be direct admissions to the unit in the future and that it would be run by the Board's southern Unit.
Educational facilities
'inadequate'
A SCHOOL'S fears that it would lose its swimming facilities in a leisure centre take-over has been allayed.
Youngsters from Duthil School at Carrbridge have been using the swimming pool at the nearby Lochanhully Lodges for the past five years.
Now timeshare giants, Barratts Multi-Ownership and Hotels Ltd, have acquired the leisure complex from owners, the Automobile Association.
But this week Mr Roger Foster, the company's director of development, assured Carrbridge parents.
"We have always made a point on all our resorts of making available to local schools certain periods of time to us the swimming pool. We do not propose to vary that in this case."
The news was welcomed by head teacher Mrs Cathleen McMurray who said: "There was a great concern that we would lose the use of the pool. This is a great relief."
The 54 primary pupils at the school use the pool in three sessions on alternate Thursday. "It is most beneficial, because it means that all the youngsters from primary two upwards can now swim," said Mrs McMurray.
Title makes Ewan
a record-breaker
AVIEMORE'S Ewan Mackenzie has become the first civilian to win the prestigious British Nordic Ski Championship 30km race.
He put his name in the record books during the championships in Southern Bavaria, Germany, where he was competing along with his sister, Louise.
Ewan led from the start of the gruelling race and at the end had a two minute advantage over his nearest rival.
Now Ewan, who had £1,200 backing for the championships from the Cairngorm Chairlift Co, has had his confidence boosted for the world championships, which began this week in Oberstdord, Germany.
Louise went to the championships after attending a ski gymnasium in Central Sweden. She was leading on points in the B.A. Metall Cup and was third in the 5km event when she was forced to withdraw because of a viral infection.
Now fully recovered, she will be taking part in the UK championships this weekend followed by the Lowlands championships at Isny in Southern Germany at the beginning of March.
Junior duo chosen
for British team
TWO young skiers who were part of the Cairngorm Alpine Project have been selected to represent their country in the 1987 FIS Children's Races.
Twelve-year-old Leslie MacKenna, from Aviemore, and Gavin Angella, a member of a well-known Carrbridge ski family, are the talented two.
Their performances at the recent British Junior Championships in Austria were obviously partly responsible for their selection for what is effectively a British children's team.
