Sunday 30 November 2008

Branch Festive Lunch Cruise 2008

Yes folks it getting towards that time of year again - you know - the one where we all eat and drink far too much, watch the Wizard of Oz and The Great Escape for the zillionth time on Christmas Day and then eat Turkey for the next month!!
Well how about getting away from all that for the day with the Scottish Branch Festive Cruise?

On Saturday 27th December the Branch have chartered Clyde Marine Motoring's mv Cruiser for our traditional festive cruise into Loch Goil via Blairmore for a short stopover while the caterers setup a delicious buffet lunch for passengers to enjoy amidst some of the Clyde's most beautiful scenery.

Cruiser will leave from Greenock's Victoria Harbour at 11am after which you can enjoy complimentary Christmas Cake.

Lunch is optional but is highly recommended!!

Right click on the booking form below and select "Print" then fill it out as required.
The form also contains further details of the day.
See you on board!!

Gavin Stewart
Vice Chairman - Scottish Branch

A Great Night - supporting PS Waverley

A quick note to thank Scottish Branch Committee Member Charles McCrossan for his part in the organisation of a new venture to raise funds for the Waverley. (A number of Scottish Branch members also assisted but I'll not try to mention them in case I leave someone out)

On 28th November a special concert was held at St Andrew's in the Square, a beautifully restored former church, designed in 1739 by Alan Dreghorn and built by master mason Mungo Naismith. It is “A” listed and is regarded as one of the top six classical churches in UK. The design is similar to St Martin in the Fields in London. The restoration was completed 8 years ago today - St Andrews Day, 30 November 2000.

For pictures of the magnificent interiors of St Andrews please visit the following website:

http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/moregpix1469.html

The audience were treated to a fine evening of entertainment. First on stage was folk singer / songwirter Duncan McCrone, formerly of the folk group 'The Clydesiders'. He was accompanied by his long term co-artist Cy Jack and the world class Shetland fiddler Chris Stout. Arguably Duncan McCrone's best known creation is the song 'Always Argyll'. We did not hear that song but Duncan delivered a fine rendition of another tale of emigrant Scots (albeit enforce leavers!), the traditional song 'Jamie Raeburn'- the tale a Glasgow baker who was transported to Van Deiman's Land for a relatively minor crime.

McCrone also sang his largely autobiographical song 'Just a Glasgow Boy' and Robert Burns' biography 'Rantin', Rovin' Robin' which the Bard wrote to celebrate his 28th Birthday.

The second part of the concert featured The Cast, a duo of Edinburgh folksingers Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis. Mairi delivered a beautiful rendition of 'Auld Land Syne', sung to the original melody for which Burns' wrote the lyrics, much different to the newer tune by which it has become a worldwide anthem. Mairi and Dave's interpretation featured prominently in the recent blockbuster movie 'Sex in the City' . To hear a chorus of the song as sung by Mairi in their album 'The Winnowing' go to the following link and click on the 'Play' arrowhead:

http://www.musicscotland.com/acatalog/MusicScotland_The_Cast___The_Winnowing_494.html

Apart from having a fine singing voice (she won the Singer of the Year Award 2007 at the Scottish Trad Music Awards last December) Mairi Campbell is an accomplished player of the viola, the classical violin and Scottish Fiddle and, when she delivered a compilation of traditional jigs and reels, not one foot in the 'body of the kirk' could stay still!

The main performer for the evening was Glasgow-born rock singer / songwirter J J Gilmour, formerly of 'The Silencers. He appeared on stage with his trademark stripped beenie. It is the first time that I had seen JJ for a good number of years and I admit that I didn't recognise him at first - the longish fair hair have been replaced by grey - but who am I to talk at least he still has some! Good to see the following entry on JJ's website. (JJ now lives in Belfast).

"I am coming home to Scotland to do a concert in St Andrews in the square in the fine city of Glasgow on November 28th. The concert is in aid of the fantastic Waverly steamboat (picture on the left) which sails up and down the Clyde. Ticket info can be found over on the Tour dates page. The concert should be great and as I have only played 4 concerts this year I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it."

Also in the audience was the renowned Glasgow-born jazz singer Carol Kidd.

The fine banner of 'PS Waverley - a National Treasure', which was premiered at Lochranza last year (see below), provided the backdrop throughout the concert.




























A great performance by all the artists enjoyed, I am sure, , all that attended .

Stuart Cameron

Thursday 27 November 2008

WAVERLEY FUND RAISER REMINDER

Just a quick reminder that TOMORROW (Friday 28th December) is a very important date.
A brand new type of Waverley fund raising event is taking place in Glasgow tomorrow night.
It's a Fund Raising Concert at St. Andrews in the Square….see here for details.
A lot of people have put a lot of hard work into making this happen. It's a new way of doing things for Waverley and if ever there was a year when Waverley needed fund raising to succeed the…..this is it!
So come along and enjoy yourself and more importantly help raise some funds for Waverley.
A report on the night will follow in this blog, so don't find yourself sitting reading it and wishing you had gone.
We might even name and shame non-attendees……..am I going to far?!
Dead simple eh? So….WHAT ARE YOU STILL SITTING THERE READING THIS FOR?! GO AND GET SOME TICKETS!



Stuart Mears

Scottish Branch Chairman


Friday 7 November 2008

Branch Stand at Model Rail Greenock

The branch will have its usual stand at Greenock's annual Model Rail Exhibition - held in the Town Hall on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th November.

Opening times as follows:

Sat: 1000 - 1700

Sun: 1200 - 1700


A good mix of Branch Committee members and volunteers will be on the stand over the course of the weekend and there will be some different gift ideas for Christmas on sale along with Waverley, Maid of the Loch and PSPS Souvenirs.


So come along and see us!!


Tuesday 4 November 2008

APOLOGIES FOR DOWNTIME

Hi Folks,

Unfortunately there was a problem with the domain name change and we have had to revert to our original address.

Please accept our apologies - we will find out what the problem was and give another go in the future!!

PSPS Scottish Branch