What we learned this week….
BRITAIN’S highest railway finally reopened to the public on Thursday – four years after structural problems shut it down.
The Cairngorm funicular, based near Aviemore, had been closed since September 2018, but the Scottish government provided £16m towards the £25m cost of fixing the railway, which is owned by public body Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
The service, which sprung to life in 2001 at a cost of £26m, connects a base station with a restaurant and a ski area more than 1,000m up Cairn Gorm mountain.
TALKING of transport developments, a squad of well-drilled tourism volunteers will welcome passengers from the first of more than 25 cruise ships which are booked to berth at the £400m South Harbour in Aberdeen during 2023.
VisitAberdeenshire chief executive Chris Foy said he would also be at the meet-and-greet when the 663ft AIDAaura arrives in the city, carrying 1,200 guests, on April 28.
Dons defeated by Darvel
ABERDEEN manager Jim Goodwin seemed set for the sack after the Dons slumped to an abject 1-0 defeat in the Scottish Cup to Darvel, who orchestrated what has been widely described as the greatest shock in the tournament’s long history.
There was silence from the Pittodrie club for nearly 48 hours after the fiasco, prompting wags to wonder if it was offering Goodwin enough time to move out of the Granite City.
However, on Wednesday evening, Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack confirmed the boss has been given a stay of execution – although it has been made clear an immediate improvement in results, starting with this afternoon’s match against Hibs in Edinburgh, is needed to spare him from getting the axe from his post.
GIRLS will take part in Junior Up Helly Aa for the first time in the event’s history when it returns to Shetland next week.
Organisers decided to lift the gender restrictions at the Viking festival in line with the changes made at the main event. A total of 27 girls will be among the 108 junior guizers playing an active role in the fire festival for the first time on January 31.
Band’s Disney link
THEY’VE advanced from the Western Isles to international stardom. And now, music by Peat & Diesel will feature in a new Disney superhero comedy series.
The Lewis-based band, formed by fisherman Boydie MacLeod, electrician Innes Scott and delivery driver Uilly Macleod, have a cult following wherever they travel.
Understandably, the trio said they were delighted and privileged to be asked by Disney for use of their music in an episode of Extraordinary.
The new show is set in a world where everyone over the age of 18 – apart from one of the main characters called Jen – develops a superpower.
RESEARCHERS released a new reconstructed image of a man found dead in 2011.
His remains were discovered in woodlands near Balmore Golf Course in East Dumbartonshire in October 2011. Yet, despite previous appeals, police have been unable to identify him. There were no suspicious circumstances around the death.
However, the Scottish cold case unit has unveiled further details of “Balmore Man” in the hope someone will recognise him. The team, located at Glasgow Caledonian University, is comprised of criminology students and academic staff.
Anyone with information can contact Police Scotland’s non-emergency line, email coldcaseunit@gcu.ac.uk or phone on 0141 331 3235.
Ginger’s 130-mile trip
A CAT which went missing from the Highlands on Hogmanay returned home after being found 130 miles away in a skip at a Perth recycling yard.
The two-year-old tabby, named Ginger, was reported missing in Alness on December 31. Owner Susan Low had posted pleas for sightings to be reported on social media and shared posters of the friendly pet in her local community.
The family had started to give up hope. But, fortunately, the far-travelled feline was microchipped and came home this week to be spoilt rotten by its owners.
ACCLAIMED Aberdeen house music producer and DJ Ronnie Pacitti is making waves on BBC Radio 1. His tracks have been played on the nation’s biggest radio station by DJs including Jack Saunders, Charlie Tee, Sarah Story, Jaguar and Danny Howard.
Ronnie began producing and DJ-ing in his early teens and has shared stages with artists including Gorgon City, Mella Dee, Dusky, Hot Since 82 and Patrick Topping.
His father, Ronnie Snr, was also a well-known and influential DJ within the Scottish scene. So it’s hardly surprising his boy’s career is on track.
THE UK government has given emergency authorisation for the use of a type of pesticide previously banned because of the harm it can cause to bees.
Controversial permission to use a neonicotinoid on sugar beet seeds has been granted to protect the crop from a particularly damaging virus spread by aphids.
However, the decision ignored advice from an independent panel of pesticide experts. And campaign group Friends of the Earth condemned it as “incredibly brazen”.
Going ape
A STUDY carried out by researchers at St Andrews University has demonstrated that humans share elements of a common language with apes, understanding many gestures that wild chimps and bonobos use to communicate.
Dr Kirsty Graham described it as “an evolutionarily ancient, shared gesture vocabulary across all great ape species including us”.
Sceptical? Just try Union Street at midnight for more evidence!
