Rotary Words and Pictures

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Iain Ferguson The Rotary Club of Lochaber has encouraged and rewarded young writing and photographic talent in recent competitions, the winners which will now go on to the district and perhaps national heats. Open to pupils from seven years old upwards, winner of the writing competition was Sine Grant from Invergarry, a pupil of Lochaber High School, with her essay ‘The Year 2981, This Will Be My Final Entry’. Fellow Lochaber High School pupil Fraser Sneddon from Ardgour took top place in the Photographic Junior Section with his sunset, with Lexi Duncanof Ardnamurchan High School, junior runner-up with her picture of a sheep eating from a trough. Senior winner and runnerup were also from Ardnamurchan High School – Ellis John MacConnachie, capturing a low level shot of a walker on a country path took first place, while runner-up Cheryl MacIntyre caught a pet cat in full yawn. Rotary President, Simon Hardiman, said: “We always find it so encouraging to see talented young folk coming forward, particularly on this year’s theme of the Environment. We wish Sìne, Fraser and Ellis John well in the next heats and for the future.”

Fraser Sneddon

ellis John MacConnachie

rotarY WritinG anD PHotoGraPHY aWarDS

The year 2981, This will be my fi nal entry As the last sun set upon the last day, the people knew what they had done. I watched as the last wild animals cried, heart-wrenching shrieks, as they keeled over and fell, never to rise again. I saw the last plants wither and die, acid and nuclear chemicals running down like miniature rivers into the creases in the stems, poisoning their very essence. e other people stood around the last tree, watching it fall. ey looked at the charred grey stumps, and felt the tight, uncomfortable press of their suits - the only things keeping them alive. e oxygen tanks on their backs were bolted on tight, so as to stop others from stealing them for their own survival. e rain from the sky was acidic, as the carbon emissions had dissolved into the oceans, and then risen again. It was the last rain that would ever come. e air was intolerably hot, penetrated with a smell like burning, charring, rotting esh. e city skylines were crumbling, as if the last will of the planet was to destroy the things that had obliterated it. e mechanical marvels, the last spaceship, that had been meant to leave, had no air, no fuel, no potential. e last robots had rusted and broken, their arti cial minds grinding to a halt, only to explode seconds a er stopping. e last dogs crawled, hairless, eyeless, mindless, searching desperately for more air, more food, more life, but it was not to be. e sky heaved and thundered as the earth seemed to take its last breath. Cockroaches, the only creatures other than humans to survive, were slowly dying too, and would be gone very soon. e sky rained acid as the universe seemed to mourn the death of the beloved planet, the cities washing away in rivers of pain. e buildings crumbled, and the dry hollows that had once been the ocean lled with liquid misery. e rubble crawled forwards, consuming the decaying plants, the ash-coloured sky shaking. All the mountains were crumpled, le in heaps on the oor like discarded clothing. Without a stable atmosphere, meteor a er meteor struck the ground, leaving blemishes and indents wherever they hit. Some of the larger ones le craters, turning the once lush landscape into a barren, moon like place. e hot, hard, grey, unnatural skin of the other humans was invisible under their masks, suits, nets, any way we could nd to cover our bodies and protect ourselves from the poisons, fumes, and unwanted chemicals that we had brought here. EVD made our sweat glands cry for mercy. Our cracked grey hands were hidden under thick gloves. Our yellow, dark eyes could just be seen under the goggles that covered them. Our hairless, rough heads were stones under the moss of our headwear. And we knew it was all our fault. As the last oxygen slowly depleted, the last people fell, one by one. All their families and loved ones were long gone, and they knew what they had done as they ran out of breathable air. e people all knew. As I, with the last oxygen, saw the last creatures and the last plants in a dead decaying pile, and my last two thoughts were ‘I wish we’d saved the environment when we had a chance’ and ‘ e human race nally got what they deserved’.

Culachy Wind Farm - Public Exhibition

Fred. Olsen Renewables is proposing to develop Culachy Wind Farm, located on the Culachy Estate, south of Fort Augustus. As part of our ongoing community engagement, we are inviting local residents and interested parties to attend our forthcoming exhibitions where they will be able to view our plans, learn more about what we are proposing, have their questions answered and submit their views.

If you are unable to attend we would encourage you to:

• View the materials online and submit any questions you may have (www.culachywind.co.uk) • Set up a discussion. Text/call 07435 763 900. The team can be on hand to discuss the plans with you, and this includes after 5pm. • Submit your questions and comments via

communities@fredolsen.co.uk

• Request additional information on memory stick. Email communities@fredolsen.co.uk or text/call 07435 763 900.

The events will take place on:

Wednesday 20th of April, 11am – 7pm Glengarry Community Hall, Invergarry, Inverness-shire, PH35 4HE

Thursday 21st April, 11am – 7pm Fort Augustus Village Hall, Church Road, Fort Augustus, PH32 4DG

www.culachywind.co.uk