A WELL-known Strathspey entertainer has just returned from a dream visit to the home of a guitar legend who inspired his musical career, as well as those of some of the top names in the music world.

A LEADING cancer charity launched their latest fund-raiser which will take place in the Middle East with some interested by-standers looking on - three Bactrian camels.

THE road to the Himalayas is paved with good intentions, but for a remote healthcare charity, the journey begins in Aviemore.

IT was a white wedding in every sense of the word.

GRANTOWN butcher Stuart Grant and his wife Marjory will be following in the tracks of Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins when they tackle a 115-mile charity cycle ride.

ELDERLY people in the strath imprisoned in their homes by the snow have finally been getting their freedom back thanks to the thaw - and kind-hearted volunteers.

ONE of Scotland's last great ice fall climbs - a rarely occuring freestanding pillar on Newtonmore hill, Creag Dhu - has been conquered.

STAR spotters in the Strath thought they were being visited by another celebrity this Hogmanay as rumours spread that glamour model Katie Price was roaming the hills.

WHAT could be better than getting your own bike for Christmas?

THE CAIRNGORMS Farmers Market successfully settled into its new winter venue at Grantown Primary School on Saturday.

VOLUNTEERS - and a four-legged friend - at the Badenoch and Strathspey branch of a charity which brings pet dogs into the lives of the sick and elderly have been honoured for their work.

TWO well-known community figures from the strath have each had days out to remember at Buckingham Palace where they were presented with their MBEs.

A BOAT of Garten man who left school with no qualifications 43 years ago has gone back into the classroom so he can become a teacher.

FIFTEEN people bravely put their best feet forward and walked across fire in Aviemore on Friday, raising a scorching £4,000 for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

A FORMER Kingussie-based policeman has won an award from the Royal Humane Society for prompt actions which saved the life of a woman in the town.

A TRAINEE outdoor instructor from a Grantown-based adventure centre will unicycle just under 100 miles from Buckie to Aviemore after completing a gruelling canoe down the River Spey – all in aid of clean drinking water.

FROM treating goats on the streets of a teeming African township to the rural challenges faced by a vet in the strath, Alasdair Moffat is savouring the full spectrum of his chosen profession.

A NETHY Bridge man has been getting to grips with his new 13-tonne home, which he will be driving across the globe for the next ten years.

"STRATHY" rep Allison MacKintosh has battled sunstroke and narrowly avoided being washed out to the Colorado River to raise nearly £3,000 for a children's charity.

A STRATHSPEY wildlife business has soared to new heights by gaining a coveted five star grading from VisitScotland for the quality of their business.

A FORMER Grantown Grammar School pupil has been commended with a Mention in Des­patches for his "outstanding leadership and bravery" during an operation in Iraq.

THE funeral took place yesterday (Tuesday) of a famous Strathspey sculptor whose distinctive work in wood and stone has been seen by thousands of visitors to the area.

LIFE-long charity worker Irene Hobday has been nominated for a Cats Protection Volunteer of the Year award – just as she was hoping to step down from her position as co-ordinator of the local service.

A GROUP of young motor biking enthusiasts from Grantown have just returned from a trip to Durham where they attended a bike show organised by the local police.

AVIEMORE Community Council's secretary Audrey MacKenzie has stepped down from the post after nearly two decades.

A YOUNG Grantown-on-Spey swimmer who has Down's Syndrome has just made a big splash at the British Special Olympics and returned home with a silver medal and a haul of personal bests.

THE village of Aviemore has witnessed many spectacles of all shapes and sizes over the years, but this week saw a first when a custom-built steam-powered car, on an historic charity drive from John O'Groats to Lands End, called in.

AN Aviemore adventurer claims he is relishing six months of darkness and some of the coldest temperatures on the planet whilst spending a third winter in Antarctica.

FUN, adventure and "doing what you want" are the essentials of a long and happy life, according to Grantown's oldest resident who celebrated her 105th birthday yesterday (Tuesday).

PUPILS who left Kingussie High School in the early 1960s enjoyed a get-together in the Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore recently.

A WHEELCHAIR athlete from Aviemore who has been taking his sport by storm in Scotland and has yet to be beaten, could do with a helping hand to push for more sporting honours south of the border.

THE hills were alive with the sound of music on Sunday when the world's first ever organised grand piano mountain race took place on Cairngorm.

IT was a weekend to remember at Loch Insh Watersports where proprietors and founders Clive and Sally Freshwater were joined by friends and staff to celebrate the centre's 40th anniversary.

A GRANTOWN fire-fighter who has been on nearly every call-out for the past decade but still has time to fit carpets in the local fire station has been honoured.

AN OUTDOOR centre and accommodation provider in Grantown was one of the main winners at the second Highland Diversity Awards held at the Drumossie Hotel on the outskirts of Inverness.

A NETHY Bridge couple will be calling a box on wheels – albeit a very luxurious one – home for the next decade as they journey across the globe.

AN AVIEMORE bakery is making a load of dough for a children's charity by selling unusual tasty treats including the Devil's Own Doughnut, which is filled with chocolate fondant and crushed chillis.

TWO Newtonmore shinty stars have gone on-line and into drag in their effort to raise thousands of pounds for a leading cancer care charity.

TWO of Newtonmore's shinty stars will set off for Canada this summer to help raise money to help in the battle against cancer which has touched the lives of several of their relatives and friends.

THE environmental awareness of children at Dalwhinnie Primary School has been rewarded with an invitation to lunch in one of Scotland’s grandest buildings.

MEMBERS of Badenoch Angling Association gathered at the Spey Dam on Saturday to launch two new boats for the popular brown trout fishery.

AN AVIEMORE soldier will be bringing some of his comrades home with him later this month to help raise money for a charity which looks after the wounded and families of servicemen killed in combat.

THE man referred to by the emergency rescue services simply as "Cairngorm John" now has his life story in print.

GRANTOWN resident Jean Paterson celebrated her 102nd birthday with family and friends at a tea party on Saturday.

A MAN who came to Grantown to fly fish nearly half a century ago may also unknowingly have landed himself a son or daughter.

TWO of the area's most committed charity workers are due to retire in the near future, leaving their organisation with a desperate search for new volunteers.

BOYHOOD DREAMS do come true – just ask this fine phalanx of men. They got to play at being Roman soldiers and up close to Bond girl Olga Kurylenko all in the same day.

A LEADING light of NFU Scotland has been honoured for her outstanding work for union members over the course of more than 20 years.

IT MAY reassure some people to find that even record-breaking adventurer Karen Darke gets scared sometimes – and her first lecture tour has been giving her a few sleepless nights.

AN ITALIAN clan has gathered in Kingussie to mark a milestone for one of the town's landmarks.

IT all started as a joke with a friend, but soon Muriel Wilson realised that a sponsored challenge to travel the length of Britain in her motorised wheelchair could be the perfect way to raise money for two charities close to her heart.

STUDENTS from the Army Preparation Course (APC) at Inverness College UHI this week handed over a cheque for £2,000 to the Highland Hospice after completing a gruelling 20-mile cycle and walk in Aviemore.

THE Beatles had just released their first single, Marilyn Monroe had recently been buried and Tom Cruise was less than a year old the last time these classmates got together.

TWO chefs from Strathspey have helped to raise a toast in Northern Ireland for Homecoming Scotland 2009's Burns Night and Whisky Month.

SCOUTS take an oath to Be Prepared at all times and that's just what a hardy group of them were when they came to the aid of a badly-injured climber in the Cairngorms.

PEOPLE who watched hundreds of locals and visitors take advantage of frozen lochs and ponds during the recent cold spell have said this proves the need for the development of a new ice rink to satisfy the desire for such a facility in the area.

KINGUSSIE pupils have combined the dark days of World War II with the latest in modern technology to produce their own tribute to the town's war heroes.

A SOLDIER from Aviemore has continued his rise through the ranks after being selected for promotion to substantive major from summer next year.

A NEW GROUP was launched yesterday (Tuesday) to help secure the future of a set of unique sculptures at Feshie Bridge which have become a major landmark.

A BUDDING Richard Branson from Carrbridge hopes that he may have planted the seeds of success with his business to recycle wood cut-offs.

SOME of the most talented young chefs in the area proved that not even a faulty oven could prevent them from preparing a delicious meal for local dignitaries.

CAIRNGORM Mountain Ltd has announced who its interim chief executive will be following the departure of Bob Kinnaird.

'X FACTOR' villain Simon Cowell proved he is just a big softie at heart when an Aviemore teenager arrived in her wheelchair to take a look behind the scenes of the popular talent show.

A STRATHSPEY student from Inverness College UHI's School of Construction and Forestry picked up a double at the department's prize-giving ceremony.

COMING from Kingussie, Brian McCarthy is more used to pouring rain and heavy snow – but now he has to contend with dust devils and sand storms as he helps to get a battle-scarred city back on its feet.

FORMER BBC foreign correspondent Craig Swan, who lives on the outskirts of Grantown, recently donned his combat jacket again for a trip to Afghanistan.

CALLERS at Aviemore's tourist information centre may not have known it but the man behind the counter is the "chief" of one of the country's historic clans.

THE man whose time at the helm of Cairngorm Mountain including the construction of the £19 million funicular railway and the controversy surrounding it has stood down.

A LUMBER Jill who moved to the strath in 1942 to help with the war effort has received official recognition for her work all those years ago - but still reckons she is owed two days wages!

THE BUBBLY was flowing this week to celebrate a major Lottery win for the strath.

A FORMER PE teacher at Kingussie High School has returned to Badenoch and Strathspey after a series of international adventures to help encourage local pupils to stay fit and healthy.

AN Aviemore soldier based in the Iraqi hotspot of Basra is playing an important role in keeping his regiment on the go.

ALMOST seven decades after two Kingussie sisters struck an early blow for women's liberation, their extraordinary achievements as Lumber Jills have finally been recognised by the Government.

MORE than 16 years ago, the heart of a retired vet's wife near Newtonmore melted when a friend asked if she could help when they discovered a cat living wild behind their home had given birth to a litter of kittens.

AMIDST the deafening roar of more than 1,000 Harley-Davidsons which descended on the strath at the weekend was the sound of wedding bells.

LITTLE chimps will be able to get into the swing of things on the Tarzan Trail – a brand new arrival costing more than £100,000 at one of the strath's most popular attractions.

RAISING six children in Carrbridge was all the inspiration a classroom assistant at Aviemore Primary needed to win a search for the perfect menu to represent local food from the National Park.

A 70-YEAR-OLD grandmother from Rothiemurchus has resumed her charity quest to cycle across Canada after being forced to make an unscheduled stop to have a pacemaker fitted.

A BOAT of Garten student who has already experienced the rocky road to business success has just graduated from an Aberdeen university with top honours.

A TEENAGER battling a chronic illness has done so much to help others even less fortunate than herself that she has reached the final of a competition to find 'Britain's Kindest Kid'.

NEW figures have revealed that more people than ever before received a life-saving organ transplant last year – and amongst them was a Scottish Parliament health researcher who has his mother in Strathspey to thank.

A PAIR OF chicks at the famous Loch Garten osprey nest have been fitted with satellite tags for the first time – and the names of two Strathspey primary schools will be winging their way to Africa as a result.

THE youngest members of the Highlands' very own 'Railway Children', the Gault twins – Bunty and Elma – will be celebrating their 90th birthday this weekend.

AGED just 20, a young Carrbridge man followed his father, Ron, into the local fire service at Carrbridge in June 1978 and realised he enjoyed the sense of community spirit it brought.

AFTER 28 years of manning the crossing on Grantown's High Street, Lyn Sim has now moved "home" to help children negotiate the road in front of the town's primary school.

A CARRBRIDGE woman agreed to help out at the shop in a nearby village for three months in 1969 – but her shift did not end until just a few days ago!

A 16-YEAR-old lad turned up at Keith Junction in 1960 to start work cleaning and lighting paraffin signal lamps and embarked on a career on the railways that was to last almost five decades.

A SON and daughter are hitting the Inca Trail in the Autumn to help raise money to battle Parkinson's Disease which afflicts their father.

A BRITISH Olympic legend who was excluded from a tribute in his own backyard has had a statue unveiled in his honour on a Highland estate.

TV's Aggie MacKenzie will be swapping her skates for a bike when she competes in a gruelling ride through Highland Perthshire for national health charity Action Medical Research at the weekend.

A YOUNG Kingussie man sets off on the adventure of a lifetime this weekend which will see him working with "first nation" Canadians in a remote outpost close to the Alaskan border.

A FAMILY love their unique log home in Newtonmore so much that they took it with them when they moved yesterday (Tuesday).

A FILM written by a fomer Grantown teacher has taken the international prize for best short drama at the prestigious Celtic Media Festival.

A STUDENT nurse from Aviemore and her three friends will be heading to Ghana this summer to hone their skills and help tackle diseases including malaria and Aids which are blighting the country.

AFTER a career spanning nearly four decades, during which he slapped a parking ticket on Sean Connery's car, led 70 stranded motorists to safety and made Britain's largest drug seizure, traffic warden Sandy Bennett is finally off duty.

A NEW boss who learned some of the ropes in Strathspey has taken over at the helm of Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort.

THE morning round should not seem so strenuous for an Aviemore postman following his return from an epic trek across South Africa in energy-sapping heat.

BADENOCH and Strathspey's top police officer has clocked off for good after notching up nearly 31 years with Northern Constabulary.

THE ‘Strathy’s’ editorial team has been boosted with the arrival of a seasoned national newspaper journalist as a reporter.

IT is a time of life when you could be forgiven for taking it easy, but that has never been how Aviemore pensioner Penny Weir likes to live.

TWO police chiefs from Malawi have been getting a taste of life on the beat in the Highlands – including a visit to the Cairngorms, where one of them saw snow for the very first time.

A STRATHSPEY adventurer will be putting on her hiking boots again to take part in another of the globe's most spectacular treks – this time across the roof of the world.

AN Aviemore man and his seriously ill wife have had their wedding blessed in an emotionally charged service in the chapel of the hospital where she is being treated while awaiting a heart and lung transplant.

STRATHSPEY pupils have been enjoying a fascinating glimpse into oriental life through the eyes of a Chinese teacher visiting Grantown's schools.

LOVE is in the air at the Highland Wildlife Park as two very special new arrivals – a pair of red pandas – settle into their new home.

A KINGUSSIE schoolboy has enjoyed an out-of-this-world time on a trip to a NASA space base – during which he met a real American hero.

AN Aviemore haulier has finally pulled over from the fast lane after being involved in his family's transport business for nearly 60-years.

A FORMER Grantown Grammar School pupil who started out gigging with three friends has walked off with the title of Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year.

GRANTOWN can now boast that it is home to what has been dubbed as the best caravan park in Scotland.

JESSIE Fraser (92), of Dellmhor, Rothiemurchus, cradles her first great-great-grandchild – the latest addition to her burgeoning family now numbering 134 members.

A TOUGH year for a Grantown plumber who lost both his parents in recent months has ended on a happy note with the safe arrival of a bundle of joy.

A TRAINEE joiner and carpenter from Carrbridge has shown that he is a cut above the rest after collecting a college award.

A NEW radio show is to hit the airwaves in the new year, with a keen Strathspey angler teaching celebrities a thing or two about the pastime.

MEMBERS of an Aviemore pub quiz team have finally been able to share their big £25,000 secret.

THE WEIRD and wonderful world of Grantown is being broadcast to the world as part of a special initiative to capture life in the Highlands in the 21st Century.

AN ATTRACTION in Strathspey has weighed in with a bid for a new world record after rustling up what is believed to be the biggest ever clootie dumpling.

AN AVIEMORE man has changed his name by deed poll to Craig Dunain – the name of the former Inverness psychiatric hospital – to highlight the plight of people with mental health problems.

GRANTOWN-based building firm A.W. Laing Ltd held a retiral celebration at the weekend for two of their longest- serving members of staff, who between them have clocked up an incredible 71 years' service.

SOME old and familiar faces from the defunct Strathspey Round Table met up at the weekend in Aviemore – to mark 30 years to the day since the group was formed.

A NETHY BRIDGE dog has tasted success after becoming the latest member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team.

RAIL travellers who use Carrbridge station are benefiting from a brighter and more colourful platform thanks to the efforts of a team of local volunteers.

A STRATHSPEY police chief has just returned from Malawi, where he swapped traffic patrols of the A9 Inverness-Perth road for cruising crocodile-infested waters.

A BAND tipped to follow in the footsteps of the Arctic Monkeys are to play locally later this month to help a young Aviemore snowboarding star in his bid to reach the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

A VETERAN Highland minister who served the Strathspey community for nearly 25 years has celebrated becoming a centenarian.

A COLLECTION of Man in the Manse's best articles has now been brought together.

A BADENOCH coffee shop owner has spoken of her thrill at being "taken out" by Scots mega group Franz Ferdinand after she wooed them with some of her locally-renowned home baking.

FOR generations, Kingussie shoppers have bought clothes and caught up on news in one of Scotland's longest-running traditional drapers.

A MAN who joined the mountain rescue service in the wake of the 1971 Cairngorms tragedy which claimed the lives of five school children and their instructor, bowed out this week.

VISITOR numbers for the weekend's Harley Davidson gathering in Strathspey are thought to be well up on the previous year, according to organisers.

A GRAND old lady has become the first visiting loco to run on the tracks of the Strathspey Steam Railway for many years.

A GROUP of youngsters in Badenoch labelled as boy racers are to prove they are made of the right stuff.

SPURTLES are at the ready with an invitation to porridge makers from far and wide to battle it out for the title of World Porridge Making Champion 2007.

THE end of a £50,000 project to re-house an important Grantown heirloom has been signalled with the official ringing of the town bell for the first time in living memory for many residents.

ONE-hundred-and-three-year-old Dorothy Vardy felt the wind in her hair going for a high-speed spin through the countryside in a motorcycle sidecar to celebrate her latest birthday in style.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a popular Grantown woman whose passion for sport led to her being crowned a former Scottish Mixed Doubles badminton champion.

A SPECIAL summer bus service has been launched, linking Broomhill Station and Grantown.

PUPILS at Grantown Grammar could soon be getting a taste of the Orient after linking up with a secondary school in China.

AFTER 32 years of handing out keys to new tenants, Highland Council's Badenoch and Strathspey housing manager Michael Hamilton is handing his own set in.

A PACK of Aviemore racing dogs have dug themselves a place in the record books by pulling a six-tonne dumper truck more than the length of a double decker bus.

TEXT messages and other cutting-edge ways of tapping into customers will be required to keep Badenoch and Strathspey in front of rival tourism areas in the UK.

A PIVOTAL role in the new-look Highland Council has now been filled for Badenoch and Strathspey.

THREE rare foals belonging to the globe's last truly wild species of horse have been born at the Highland Wildlife Park.

A NEWTONMORE entrepreneur is to re-enter the dragons’ lair this summer, only months after facing some of the UK’s ­toughest business gurus on ­national TV armed only with a clutch of furry loo seat covers.

A MOTORCYLIST who suffered sickening facial injuries after falling off his bike while riding without wearing a helmet, has warned others to learn from his mistake.

A NEWTONMORE soldier has spoken of his experiences serving his country whilst on a six-month tour of duty in Iraq.

A KINGUSSIE man has successfully completed a 700-kilometre quest to circumnavigate the Cairngorms National Park using only a sea kayak and a canoe.

A LEADING sled-dog racer has used a uniquely Scottish bargaining tool to broker a deal for a new world-class racing dog.

A CARRBRIDGE firm is in the process of fulfilling an unusual order by building a giant log cabin here in the strath – before taking it down and transporting it across the border days later.

STEAM railway buffs in Badenoch and Strathspey had a special treat when a sell-out railway tour of Great Britain stopped off at Aviemore and Kingussie.

VISITORS to the multi award-winning Highland Folk Museum will gain free entry this season as part of the celebrations to mark the Highland 2007 Year of Culture.

A KINGUSSIE man has set off on a 700-kilometre trip of a lifetime to explore the threat posed by global warming to the future of outdoor pursuits in the Cairngorms.

A SCOTTISH Executive Minister braved the elements and gave a ringing endorsement for pedal power when she visited the Cairngorms National Park last week.

A GRANTOWN Grammar School teacher embarks on a 12,000-mile mission this weekend as part of an ambitious international project which will see her school become the first secondary in the Highlands to be linked with a Chinese school.

A COUPLE who have worked with some of the biggest names in the world of music and comedy are the new owners of one of Strathspey's best-known country house hotels.

A STRATHSPEY teacher just back from a 10-day visit to help build links with a school in Malawi has spoken about the teaching and living conditions she encountered there.

A STRATHSPEY chef has been in good spirits this week after landing a prestigious whisky title.

THE recently created Aviemore and Cairngorms Destination Management Organisation announced their new director yesterday (Tuesday).

THEY once formed part of a great Caledonian range extending from Scandinavia to North America, and even though they may now be a shadow of their former selves, the Cairngorm mountains have an impressive geological history.

A NEW head teacher has been appointed for Kingussie High School. He is John Tracey, depute head at Fortrose Academy since December, 1997.

PUPILS at Aviemore Primary School are taking their first steps towards a bright future in climbing, thanks to the generosity of three local businesses.

A TOTAL of £20,000 is being spent on five views of the Cairngorms and the surrounding area. Cairngorms National Park bosses have commissioned the world's leading panoramic artist, Heinz Vielkind – the first national park in Britain to do so.

AMERICAN music legend Bob Dylan is being warned to be on his guard against aging groupies amid claims that the singer songwriter has bought an Edwardian mansion in Strathspey for £2 million.

A WAR hero who was awarded the Victoria Cross has revealed the worst conditions he has ever faced were in the Cairngorms.

A TRAIN with a difference made a permanent stop in Kingussie to commemorate the life of a man described as "the chieftain of the little people".

A CROWD of more than 200 turned out to cheer on festive fund-raisers who plunged into the icy waters of Loch Insh at Kincraig between Christmas and New Year as part of the second annual Cold Turkey Dook.

A FORMER Kingussie High School pupil is making a name for herself this Christmas on the North of Scotland's leading commercial radio station.

RUDOLPH made a festive return to the former home of Santa Claus Land as celebrations were held to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Aviemore Centre.

A VISION to turn the Cairngorm ski resort into an eco-friendly "Eden Project of the North" has been outlined by mountain bosses facing up to a future without snow because of global warming.

ARISE, Cavalieri Nando! An Aviemore businessman has been conferred with the Italian equivalent of a knighthood.

A CARRBRIDGE man whittled down the opposition to claim first prize in a national carpenter's craft competition.

CHILDREN in Laggan have been planting bulbs to bring some colour to their school – and raise funds for a leading cancer charity.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a well-known Kingussie man who was a loyal local government officer in the Highlands in a career spanning half a century.

A HEROIC soldier who received a bravery medal for saving the lives of colleagues during a World War II explosion at Laggan is to be remembered in his home village.

AN ACCLAIMED Newtonmore artist raffled one of her sought after paintings to raise much-needed funds for a popular tourist attraction in the village.

MEMBERS of Boat of Garten Golf Club made a special presentation to long-time stalwart James "Peem" Ingram on Saturday after the final competition of the year.

SOME of Scotland's rarest, and oldest, trees were blown up at the RSPB's Abernethy Reserve by Nethy Bridge to help bring new life to the ancient forest.

RENOWNED explorer Sir Wally Herbert has finally been officially recognised as the first person ever to reach the North Pole on foot.

A NEWTONMORE shepherd who discovered one of strath's largest ever mushrooms at the weekend believes that the grass is certainly greener on his side of the fence.

TRIBUTES have been paid to an Aviemore man who died after devoting his life to his family and the railways.

PARENTS of children who attended a nursery class at Grantown Primary School that has gained a glowing report from education inspectors have said that the praise is richly deserved.

CARNIVAL came to Carrbridge on Saturday night with a crowd of more than 1,000 spectators packing the village main street for the showcase highlight of the annual Carrbridge Live Festival.

TRIBUTES were paid to a Newtonmore shinty great who was laid to rest earlier this week in his home village, where he had spent most of his nine decades.

A CARRBRIDGE teenager has just jetted out to Uganda where he will be teaching computer skills to staff at a local hospital that cares for some of the country’s huge number of HIV sufferers.

THE work of a renowned Scottish sculptor, who carved out a name for himself in the art world using local timber, is finally set to return home to Strathspey today (Wednesday).

AN OPEN meeting is to be held on Monday (September 4) to discuss options for the future of the historic YMCA building in Grantown.

THE military visited Dalwhinnie earlier this week as the village played host to a group of Gurkha soldiers embarking on a fund-raising hike in aid of past colleagues.

HELP will now be closer at hand in Badenoch and Strathspey for women and children caught up in abusive relationships at home. The Community Domestic Abuse Programme opened its first drop-in office in the strath on Thursday morning in Aviemore’s Craigellachie Crescent.

THE first of the large granite signs marking the entrances to the Cairngorms National Park have finally started to make an appearance.

SPURTLES are at the ready with an invitation to porridge-makers far and wide to battle it out for the title of World Porridge Making Champion 2006.

KIND-HEARTED RAF personnel in the war-torn Iraqi city of Basra raised much needed cash for children with special needs in Badenoch and Strathspey by abseiling down the local airport’s battle scarred air traffic control tower.

A STRATH woman is all set to embark on an expedition of a lifetime – a 700 kilometre charity fund-raising cycle ride through the Alps to help AIDS and cancer sufferers.

A BOAT of Garten pavement artist has taken her first steps to fame after having a piece of art hung in the world famous Tate Britain gallery.

THE head groundsman at sportscotland’s national sportscentre at Glenmore will not be going on gardening leave despite reaching retirement age.

AN AVIEMORE Cub has seen her design for a special gateway to Scouting’s most famous campsite chosen to celebrate 100 years of the youth movement.

A NEWTONMORE man with a keen eye for photography has collected an award from the Queen.

A DAREDEVIL pensioner from Aviemore is still on cloud nine after taking to the skies on the wings of a 1940s biplane.

THE rector of Grantown Grammar School is set to stand down following a lifetime dedicated to the teaching profession.