5 YEARS AGO (Thursday, May 30, 2002)

SATURDAY'S Camanachd Cup clash between Kingussie and Inveraray is probably the most eagerly awaited shinty final of all time.

Both times have waited 99 years to settle things on the field following the most controversial cup final in the sport's history.

Their only other Camanachd Cup Final encounter was in 1903, which ended in disarray when they could not be separated after normal and extra time and the destination of the game's most prestigious silverware was settled in dubious circumstances.

Kingussie historian and club committee member John Robertson said that the 1903 final would be forever remembered – but for all the wrong reasons.

He said: "In shinty folklore, there are stories, there are controversial stories, and then there is the 1903 Camanachd Cup Final between Kingussie and Inveraray.

"It is the only year that these two great clubs have met before in shinty's Scottish Cup final, and the controversy surrounding the game is unequalled in the history of the sport."

The tale began simply enough with Kingussie boarding a train on March 28, 1903, to travel to Perth to contest the final of the Camanachd Association Challenge Trophy, against a team from the Royal Burgh of Inveraray.

The match by all accounts was a cracker and ended in a 1-1 draw, with MacKenzie scoring for Kingussie, and McEwan for Inveraray. No shinty final before had finished in a draw, but after much scratching of heads the two clubs agreed to play 30 minutes of extra time.

Neither side could break the deadlock, however, and the two sets of supporters left the North Inch at Perth debating a date for the reply. There were 500 people on the train travelling back to Badenoch.

What happened next was, at best, ill thought out. The Camanachd Association arranged the replay for April 11, but for reasons known only to themselves, set the venue as Inverness rather than Perth.

There was then a swift exchange of telegrams between the clubs. The first from Inveraray read: "Fixed Inverness 11th. Impossible for us. If Association arrange for Glasgow, please reply if willing to go there."

The response from the Kingussie secretary read: "Would gladly go to Inveraray if finances permit. If Association agreeable would replay at Perth."

The clubs' willingness to replay in Glasgow or Perth was not shared by the Association though, who then held their own meeting in Inverness and decided to award the trophy to Kingussie because of Inveraray's refusal to travel to Inverness.

A series of letters and challenges then followed in the press until, on May 9, the Kingussie club met in the Duke of Gordon Hotel, decided to accept the trophy, and then did so at a dance later that month.

Mr Robertson said: "In short, once the dust had settled, six weeks of controversy did not create a situation where the game's biggest prize could be won and lost on the field of play.

"Astonishingly, it has taken 99 years for the two historic teams to meet in the final again, and fittingly they are going to play their match at Inverness."

*Kingussie went on to win the 95th Camanachd Cup Final, and their sixth on the trot, by beating Inveraray 3-2. They had to twice come from behind thanks to goals from Douglas Watt and Ronald Ross, before Ross scored a decisive second with nine minutes to go to settle the tie.

10 YEARS AGO (Thursday, May 29, 1997)

THERE was angry reaction this week to what is seen as the latest stalling tactic in a bid to oppose the building of the proposed Cairngorm funicular railway.

It follows the launching of legal action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday, claiming that the site of the £17 million mountain railway has been wrongly excluded from land designated for protection under European law. The writ has been lodged by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The two conservation bodies are seeking a judicial review of the actions of the former Secretary of State, Donald Dewar, and other public bodies in failing to protect the whole of the Cairngorms as required by European and UK law.

The action also challenges the Highland Council and Scottish Natural Heritage over their procedures in considering the environmental impact of the proposed funicular, and subsequently granting it planning permission.

Commenting on the action, Martin Mathers of WWF Scotland said that the importance of skiing development on Cairngorm was recognised, and that they were not trying to close the ski area down.

"But faced with a case where such a valuable and fragile area is at risk we have no choice but to seek enforcement of the law," he said.

In addition, it was firmly believed that there were much better ways of using taxpayers' money to improve the uplift facilities without causing environmental damage.

The WWF and RSPB also stress that over and above the legal challenge, they and many thousands of members of the public want to see the funicular proposal reviewed against other alternative options for replacement of the existing chairlift in order to produce a sustainable solution.

RSPB Scotland director Mr Stuart Housden claimed the Government had excluded important areas of land from the proposed Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation in order to accommodate the funicular.

However, Highland Council member and chairman of the Aviemore Partnership, Dr Iain Glen, questioned the legal challenge and who it was that the WWF was supposed to be representing.

"WWF is an undemocratic organisation who certainly do not represent the view of the population of Badenoch and Strathspey, who are very much behind this sustainable development. What is being proposed at Cairngorm is merely the replacement of an outdated uplift system with a modern one, and that adequate safeguards will be in place."

Decrying the legal action, chairlift company chairman Mr Hamish Swan warned that the action may cause further delay and jeopardise the renaissance of the local tourist industry.

25 YEARS AGO (Friday, May 28, 1982)

A LONG and arduous campaign bore its first fruits this week when the wraps came off "Welcome to Spey Valley" signs on the new A9.

The erection of the signs, on Monday morning, was toasted in whisky and champagne by local businessmen who have fought to have their plea for sign-posting for bypassed communities answered.

The signs have been designed by Highland Regional Council's planning department, and the council are footing the bill in a bid to give bypassed communities full recognition in the coming tourist season.

This move has been recognised by the special tourism project committee for Newtonmore, Dalwhinnie and Laggan as the first positive step towards achieving permanent trunk road signage for bypassed communities.

Consultant and secretary to the committee, Mr Jack Richmond, of the Badenoch Hotel in Newtonmore, said: "This is a major step, but does not yet achieve our complete target, since the regional planning department is still trying to reach agreement with the Scottish Development Department on permanent signs.

"These signs certainly go a good way towards our aims, and I think the situation has been influenced by the campaign which has been waged throughout the area."

Committee chairman the Rev David Stoddart said he hoped to see the erection of more permanent signs this time next year.

The signs, one at Ralia, and another at Dalwhinnie, have been erected outwith the curtilage of the new road and do not therefore require Scottish Development Department consent – which regional planners felt would have delayed the process.

It is hoped, however, that when agreement is reached with the SDD that these signs, either as they stand or modified, will form part of the suite of signs at road junctions.

One of the first moves, in what soon became a broadly based campaign for A9 signing was made by Mr John Grover, of the Highlander Hotel, Newtonmore, in September, 1980.

In defiance of SDD intransigence he erected his own illegal sign showing the loop route through Newtonmore and Kingussie back on to the A9, within the curtilage of the new road.

Fearing that his village was on the brink of commercial death, Mr Grover put the sign up as a demonstration to the authorities that the situation had reached a crisis point.

Although the sign was removed only a few weeks later, it proved to be a major influence in mounting pressure for this type of sign to be legalised.

Mr Grover's untiring effort to achieve recognition of the problems facing Spey Valley tourist communities bypassed by the new A9 were fully appreciated in Mr Stoddart's remarks at the unveiling ceremony.

50 YEARS AGO (Saturday, June 1, 1957)

THE owners of Pitmain Lodge in Glen Gynack – Teocarlo Ltd – have disposed of the building to Messrs Alex Robertson and Co Ltd, contractors, for demolition, and the work is now under way.

A prominent landmark in the glen, with its red English brick walls, unusual in the Highlands, the lodge was built around 1913 for the late Mr Fletcher of Rosehaugh when he acquired the estate of Pitmain. Later the property was sold to Sir John Leigh, Bt., and has changed hands a few times in the past two years.

Some of the wood panelling in the lodge is of beautiful workmanship and includes sections in oak, teak, red and yellow pine, while the dining-room is lined in walnut. The wide staircase is of oak, and among the many fine appointments are three valuable marble fireplaces. The building contains 364 windows and 126 doors.

Many will regret the passing of a building which, although its appearance aroused some criticism from those more accustomed to the traditional stone-built shooting lodge, was nevertheless in its way a landmark and a unique feature of the district.

During the war, portions of the lodge were occupied by a detachment of the R.A.S.C. and by Norwegian units, but no damage was done internally.

Like Rosehaugh House, the late Mr Fletcher's main property in the Black Isle, Pitmain Lodge has been unoccupied for a number of years, and its demolition is another mark in the passing of an era.

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