Trouble on the pier..
The much publicized “Open Day” on Little Cumbrae took place on Sunday 27th Sept. There was much speculation about the actual arrangements for transporting several thousand visitors over to the uninhabited island, and indeed the original plan to transport them from Largs Marina in staggered convoys was not particularly well received by locals. Many felt that to bypass Cumbrae altogether meant that any “knock on ” tourist benefits would be meagre. Only a few days before actual event, a comment was posted on the S1 community site that in fact boats would be dropping off the devotees of Swami Ramdev at the old pier, and a link to the events website showed this to be so. Any locals wishing to join in the celebrations by coming to Little Cumbrae could simply wait at the pier, pay their £5 return ticket, and travel in one of the rib boats travelling to the island.
A chilly and slightly damp Sunday morning dawned, and by lunch time it became clear that something had gone horribly wrong with the organisation of the day. Some hundred or so cold, forlorn and bewildered visitors, many dressed in traditional Indian dress ,many more quite elderly people, huddled together on the pier, waiting to get across. A lady I spoke to had travelled all night to get on the trip, and many had been waiting since the first drop off at 6am. A harried policeman tried to direct buses of disappointed and frustrated followers of Swami Ramdev back towards Largs. In the hour and a half we hung around the pier, not one single boat appeared, either picking up or dropping off visitors.
In the chip shop later that night I struck up conversation with an Indian lady who had managed to get across. If the scene on the Millport side was chaotic, the Wee Cumbrae side was apparently even worse, with exhausted and chilly visitors waiting to get home. She herself had come from Derby, and was scathing about the lack of organisation.
Comments on the S1 website tell of visitors too scared to board the rib, and also having to be assisted by the Fire Brigade to get back onto the Millport Pier well after dark had fallen and a brisk wind had sprung up.
This does not bode well for the proposed Yoga Camps which Mrs Poddar hopes to run on the island. Clearly more thought has to be put into the transport, facilities, and out dated plumbing on Little Cumbrae. The environmental impact of hundreds of people arriving on the island is also a real worry, and begs the question whether anybody- North Ayrshire Council, National Trust, etc has any say over what happens on a privately owned island?
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- Where's the boat then?
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- Visitors wait for transport
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- So near and yet so far..
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- East meets west.
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- Exhausted travellers.
September 30th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Not a good day out was it.
September 30th, 2009 at 8:39 am
It must have been so frustrating to get so near- within ten minutes journey!- and not be able to get the final leg..
September 30th, 2009 at 9:14 am
What a shambles! Booze-up… brewery… Those poor people. Had they been of a more aggressive type you could have had a serious riot on your hands.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I’d rather follow Marmers…or my own fluffy tail. Was there a word missin’ after leg…?
Didn’t think it was that sort of a Big Day Out.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Oh I think they were far too exhausted for a leg **** Kc, especially on a diet of mostly fruit…
Purrrrrsonally I also would not follow any sort of Glorious Leader any further than I could throw hm. But I like the idea of a Marmers Cult. It has potential.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Also Jill, I agree, it might have turned quite nasty..
September 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
It certainly has the potential to be very very very relaxin’ indeed. Marmers does a great deal of Fence Staring, so being a Follower would not require much effort, though they might need a waterproof rug. And a flask…
September 30th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Had a peek at the reports in the press which were ‘more positive’ shall we say…. thank you for the balanced report. Purrsonally, I think I favour Marmers more relaxed attitude to life. Fence Staring is almost up there with the Skirting Board Glare….
September 30th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
“This week, I ‘ave mostly been eatin…fruit.”
September 30th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
aahh so it will be an Organic Yoga Camp then
October 1st, 2009 at 1:59 am
Are you sure you don’t live in Mumbai, LL
October 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
There you are folks, look what comes of not consulting the experts. Landlady, you set Mrs. Poddar (not Ms.?) on the right track and we’ll have her followers trussed up in a trice of bowlines, fire a rocket across the Cardy, rig a line or two and there they are … drowning.
Eh, it’s difficult to import a hot-climate culture to a cold-climate location. Hope Les Girls made a killin’.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Forget Marmers. I’m now a Follower of Mia’s Camp Organic Yoga (COY) with a side order of Skirting Board Glare
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:53 am
considering ramdev’s view on homosexuality, I’m thinking camp is the last thing he’ll allow on his Peace Island.
No, they will have to be SOY ( Straight Organic Yoga). Maybe we could have both and fight it out over the battlements of the castle??
Do Marmers and Mia wish me to start knitting orange ceremonial robes?
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:58 am
Oh forgot to tell Barney- bad news. Les Girls are disbanded. Got to Millport to find they had drunk all the Bacardi Breezers in stock at the Spar shop and scarpered. I think I might have seen one at the audition for X Factor in Glasgow, but I might have been mistaken.
They never even finished Les Plum Warmers..
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:34 am
RIP.
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Oooh can my robe be in Burnt Orange, just to set off my colour nicely you understand???
I’m curious (as only a kitty can be) just what would the weapons of choice be at the upcoming battle? (as if I couldn’t take an educated guess!)
Perhaps MadLamb’s Catlympics may be more peacable. We’ve got Fence Staring, Skirting Board Glare, Comatose Stretch events so far… any more on offer?
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:13 am
Well there’s Furball Vomiting, and my personal favourite from my cats- Serious Flea Infestation.
Fudge is also a good bet for any technical support required- she enjoys lying full stretch on any computer keyboard handy, therby disabling it immediately, and she also made us all sleep in by sitting on my mobile phone which I use as an alarm.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Almost forgot - the Claw Scrunch, and the Lets Mohair the Carpet event.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:09 am
October 4th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Marmers’ other favourite event is Carpet-ripping. Especially RSC (Rented Sodding Carpets). He’s a bit of a purrformer… The sooner we get out of here the better, otherwise we’ll be paying for new ones…