The Oban Times
‘I WILL NEVER GIVE UP’
A mystery bug that stopped a mum-oftwo’s cancer treatment in Mexico could have come from taking a shower or just eating a piece of fruit washed in tap water. Despite a bacterial infection causing a delay that has added thousands of pounds to Eilidh...
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PENSIONER COLLAPSED AFTER TRIP ON ‘POLAR EXPRESS’
ScotRail has apologised to an elderly passenger who got off a freezing West Highland Line train dubbed ’The Polar Express’ – and then collapsed and injured his head. Hospital doctors have attributed his fall to the cold experienced in the carriages.
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TSUNAMI DAD BRINGS MISSION TO OBAN
A man who devoted five years of his life helping devastated dads after the trauma of losing their children in a tsunami is launching a new well-being initiative in Oban.
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LAST PUSH TO MAKE MUM’S DREAM COME TRUE
An Oban mum is poised to head to Mexico for potentially life-saving cancer treatment after the success of a massive fundraising drive. Eilidh Lowell is just £12,000 away from her £110,000 target – but now has enough to put down a deposit to secure the...
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SANTA PAWS!
A much-loved assistance dog and family pet whose hip agony plight touched the Oban community’s heart is on the road to recovery. German Shepherd Rocky this week got the all-clear to start using his specially constructed new leg after a successful...
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Santa’s flying visit
Santa took an early festive flight and touched down at Oban Airport to collect children’s Christmas letters in person. His flying visit was a magical free event as part of this year’s Oban Winter Festival programme, with support of the airbase and...
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DO NOT FORGET UKRAINE DOMINO’S SERVES UP 20 NEW JOBS: P2
Oban’s newest arrivals and their families enjoyed a Christmas party this week. Midwives Kirsty Smith and Rosie Florence organised the festive event at Soroba House Hotel. Around 50 babies and parents joined in the fun on Tuesday. As there was no...
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‘LIFE-SAVING’ CENTRE FACES THE AXE
Lynnside Day Centre could close amid HSCP spending cuts. And now Oban man Gary Hamilton is begging for the service which “saved his mum’s life” to be spared.
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BRAVE MUM’S ‘FIGHT FOR TIME’
A family has launched a fundrasing drive to send a courageous mum to Mexico for pioneering cancer treatment to extend her life. Eilidh Lowell, formerly McLeod, has advanced Stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer that has left 25 tumours on her...
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SWEET NOTHINGS
An Oban granny crippled by an agonising oesophagus disorder that can only be remedied by eating Love Hearts sweets has told how her plight is being made worse by a long-running battle with Royal Mail that caused problems with medical appointments.
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‘EVERYONE WILL MISS HER TERRIBLY’
The sudden death of a much-loved community champion has shocked Oban. Tributes have poured in for Helen Pearson, pictured, who lost her life after a fall on her way home from a bingo night. Those whose lives were touched by the 59-year-old say that...
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FACING A CARE ‘CRISIS’
The recruitment and retention of social care staff has become a “crisis” according to the Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership. Health chiefs this week denied claims that some patients are waiting up to seven months in hospital for home...
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ROCK STEADY
Oban’s main cultural hub is back on a firm financial footing that can see it serve the town into the future, according to its latest set of accounts. Hard-working trustees have taken The Rockfield Centre from the brink of closure with a deficit of...
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MAGIC AT THE MÒD
The Royal National Mòd is well under way in Lochaber – with Gaelic culture being celebrated in style. Oban High students Alexander Cruickshank, left, and Lily Robertson, right, were quick to claim piping prizes, as was Tobermory’s Hugh Ronald...
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RUNNING MATE
A tenacious teenager battled Covid to run more than 200 kilometres through wind and rain to support his lifelong friend who was diagnosed with cancer.
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Delight as major Scottish swimming championships announced for town
Oban is taking the plunge to host a major national outdoor swimming event. Jo MacLean, of Oban business Wild Bathing, is one of the key people behind the move to bring the Scottish Winter Swimming Championships to the town in December, along with Lars...
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MAKE A CALL
Parents at Oban High have started a petition calling for a ban on pupils using mobile phones during school hours. The drive has amassed over 180 signatures since launching last week. An open letter to the school’s management team has outlined concerns...
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NEGATIVE ENERGY
Campaigners have labelled a decision to allow the Scottish Government to rule on a ‘concerning’ plan for a large battery plant near Taynuilt as ‘undemocratic’. The matter was due to go to a public meeting, but that has been scrapped. The development...
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‘FRIGHTENING AND DARK DAYS’
[email protected] A Dalmally family is backing a Lyme Disease charity after a part-time farmer contracted the debilitating disease. Alexander McGrigor, 27, was left barely able to walk after being bitten by a tick in 2023. His mum Emma...
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FALL COULD HAVE KILLED BOY
A worried mum has warned that a wall on a Dunbeg housing estate is a potential death trap after her five-year-old son fell from it and broke his leg. Ola Kowalska told how her little boy Dominik was badly injured after tumbling from the three-metre...
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THE SECRET’S OUT
Building a ‘secret garden’ has given a brave Oban dad a lifeline in his battle with crippling social anxiety. Chris MacCuish, 29, admitted he once struggled so badly that he could not even leave his home during the day. But that began to change when...
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IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
A broken foot, leg and knee couldn’t stop Lisa Whitaker from marrying the love of her life – even if the ceremony was held at her hospital bedside. Lisa said “I do” to Ian, her partner of 14 years, at Mull and Iona Community Hospital before being...
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SHOCK COST OF HARBOUR REBUILD
The cost of delays to Iona’s harbour redevelopment have rocketed to over £1 million – and islanders fear the figure could rise even further. Council chiefs have admitted a long-running wrangle over a missing licence could see the price of the £14.8m...
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TALIBAN ATTACK CHANGED OUR LIVES
A war hero given a Military Cross for his courage after he was blown up by rocket-propelled grenades has co-launched a venture to help others find their “safe-space”. Ed Mather suffered horrific injuries in the brutal Taliban attack while serving as...
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BOMB FOUND ON THE BEACH
An eight-year-old boy found an unexploded bomb while litter-picking on a Tiree beach. Tom Lundy-Clark gave his mum quite the shock when he took the device home to show her – dropping it a few times on the way! Tom said: “I like finding things.”
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MURDER WEAPON SEARCH IN OBAN
Detectives investigating the murder of a man who was shot twice in the head nearly nine years ago swooped on Oban to carry out a search for a firearm linked to the killing. Euan Johnston, 26, was targeted while he sat in his car at a set of traffic...
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‘WE CAN’T JUST LET THEM OFF THE HOOK’
A firm has lodged a bid to quash action stopping it from discharging anti-fungal fish treatments containing Formaldehyde into a protected body of water. Scottish Sea Farms are under fire from campaigners, who are rallying against their appeal around...
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FERRY MESS COULD SINK TOURIST INCOME
Tourist businesses in Oban and on Mull have blasted ferry bosses after claiming the unreliability of capacity-hit vessels is sinking their livelihoods. Frustrated owners this week told The Oban Times that many day-trippers have all but given up on...
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‘KILLER ON THE RUN’
A drink-driver who was let out of prison after serving just half his sentence for killing a popular vet in a fatal crash has gone “on the run”. The furious family of Theresa Wade this week revealed how Thomas Wainwright has broken the terms of his...
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THIS WALK IS FOR THE ‘WARRIORS’
A brave breast cancer survivor is taking on the West Highland Way to raise funds for a charity which helps “warrior” women just like her. Mum Emma Agg, from Kilmore, will start the 96-mile trail with husband Chris tomorrow (Friday) in a bid to raise...
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Heartbreaking memories of a true love lost
A Mull golfer who died in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been remembered in a new BBC documentary. William ‘Billy’ MacAllister, from Tobermory, lost his life alongside girlfriend Teresa ‘Terri’ Saunders when the aircraft exploded on December...
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‘I’VE BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE’
A mum has been reunited with her family after an extreme cancer surgery so complex it had to be done 400 miles from her Oban home. Claire Telfer has thanked the super surgeon who gave her a second chance at life - and the well-wishers who paid for a...
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‘I REBUILT MY LIFE AFTER RARE ILLNESS LEFT ME PARALYSED’
A brave father has told how he has rebuilt his life to become one of the world’s top disability golfers after being left almost completely paralysed by a rare condition. Martin Shields spent two months in a coma and another seven in hospital after...
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A CLEAN SLATE TO RE-OPEN £2m is secured to bring quarry back and revitalise area
Plans are in place to bring life back to a historic quarry on Luing. It’s been more than 60 years since the island’s last quarry closed, but thanks to a massive funding boost of more than £2 million, moves are well under way to get the site in...
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CARE ‘CRISIS’ IS OUR TOP PRIORITY
Addressing the shortage of care workers in the region is the number one priority for the council’s Health and Social Care Partnership. Policy lead Councillor Dougie McFadzean said the issue is discussed at every single meeting of the Integration Joint...
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Crowds out in force to cheer on William & Kate
It was a glorious sunny day in Tobermory on Tuesday, as excited Muileachs and tourists flooded the main street to catch a glimpse of the Prince and Princess of Wales. William and Kate visited Mull as part of their 14th wedding anniversary...
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ON A MERCY MISSION
A mercy worker is keeping medics and patients safe in an inflatable hospital in earthquake and civil war-torn Myanmar. John Murphy’s latest charity mission has taken him 5,000 miles from his home in Taynuilt to the stricken Asian country where he is...
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CHEERS!
A much-loved pub is being brought back to life by a local couple as part of a £3.5 million rebuild. Jordan and Lesley Foster are saying “cheers” to locals who supported them through tough times after fire destroyed the Taynuilt Inn. The couple want...
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£3.6m waterworks scheme Growing places! to take 14 months to finish
Work will start soon on renewing water pipes in Oban as part of £3.65m upgrade. Scottish Water says the works in the east of the town build on a previous investment and will start from the middle of this month near Oban Saints Football Club and...
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‘I KNOW I’LL HAVE ALL OF OBAN WITH ME’
A dad-of-two finally has his date for lifesaving surgery that NHS bosses said they couldn’t afford. Scott Rowan will travel to Bristol’s Royal Heart Institute Hospital to repair a hole in his heart after the town rallied to raise more than £24k...
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THIS IS A VERY SAD STORY
Furious islanders are fighting to save an “essential” library after it was earmarked for closure. Live Argyll has been accused of pulling the plug on the hub by Tiree Community Council without proper consultation. Angry campaigners have vowed to...
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‘FALLING TO BITS’
Fed-up firefighters are working out of rotting garden sheds with no lighting, heating or power to recharge crucial lifesaving kit. Community councillors say lives on Seil and Easdale Island are potentially being put at risk because of the woefully...
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LEGAL BATTLE LOOMS OVER SCHOOL SNUB
Furious Mull residents are threatening legal action after Argyll and Bute Council confirmed the new Mull Campus will be built in Tobermory. The local authority’s decision will maintain the status quo, seeing children aged 11 and older from the Ross of...
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COUNCILLORS PASS 10% TAX HIKE
Argyll and Bute councillors have voted for a “shocking” 9.9 per cent increase in council tax, and a “shameful” 22 per cent rise in pay as they faced “tough decisions” in a “challenging” budget for the 2025/26 financial year. A budget proposal by the...
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PLANS LODGED FOR DUNBEG HOMES
Plans are in for the next phase of Dunbeg’s major housing development, which, if approved, will deliver 433 new homes. Phase 4 of the ambitious development will include the creation of affordable housing as well as a commercial centre and a new...
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SPORTING CHANCE FOR OBAN LIVE
Oban Live music festival could be making a comeback and a 30-year wait for a skatepark could be over as part of new facilities being planned for the town’s rugby club. Claims that Oban Live, last held six years ago, could be about to return to...
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PLANS FOR OBAN CINEMA UNVEILED
The new owner of Oban’s shuttered cinema has revealed his plans for the site following its closure last year. The Phoenix Cinema on George Street rose from the ashes in 2012 after closing as the Highland Cinema in 2010. It was purchased by the...
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WE STAND BY UKRAINE WIN: Nominate your favourite bus driver
Bus passengers are being invited to nominate their favourite West Coast Motors drivers in time for a Valentine’s themed celebration. The move is part of the company’s annual Share the Love campaign which aims to recognise bus drivers who go above and...
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CALL FOR ‘URGENT’ DIALYSIS REVIEW
A campaign group calling for a kidney dialysis machine at Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban says it has lost confidence in Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) after a promised review has been “kicked down the road”. “Oban does...
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Oban rapist jailed after five decades of abuse
A former soldier from Oban who preyed on four victims during a campaign of abuse spanning five decades has been jailed for 13 years. Malcolm Sloss was sentenced at the High Court in Paisley on Friday January 10. Sloss was found guilty of six serious...
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TRIBUNAL WIN FOR SMOKEHOUSE WORKERS
An employment tribunal has found in favour of six Inverawe Smokehouse staff who claimed they were owed more than £70,000 in unpaid wages. All the workers who took their claims to tribunal level won each of their cases after Lorne Fisheries Limited...
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DOG CRIME APATHY NEEDS TO STOP
A wedding planner attacked by a German shepherd is on a mission to get dog crime taken more seriously in Argyll. Kate Lithgow says despite reporting what happened and showing police horrific images of her bites that needed stitches, officers did...
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VISITOR LEVY CONSULT TO GO AHEAD
Cash-strapped Argyll and Bute Council has voted to put its draft visitor levy out to a consultation, described as “biased” and “flawed”, in its bid to raise an extra £9 million per year for its coffers. Councillors met on Friday December 20 to decide...
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COUNCILLORS’ VIEWS ON VISITOR LEVY
As protestors urge Argyll and Bute Council to scrap its Visitor Levy ahead of a vote this week, we ask your local councillors where they stand on this controversial issue. Members of the local hospitality community and residents gathered outside...
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PHARMACY PLAN, HAVE YOUR SAY
People who use pharmacy services in town are being urged to have their say in a consultation that started this week and will run for 90 working days. The joint consultation, being run by Zakpharma Ltd and NHS Highland, is also open to anyone living in...
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FIRMS BEG COUNCIL, DITCH LEVY
Business groups are pleading with Argyll and Bute Council to ditch a proposed visitor levy before a crunch meeting of councillors in a fortnight. An Act passed by the Scottish Parliament in July allows councils to impose a percentage fee on each...
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ISLANDERS SLAM ‘TOURIST TAX’
A petition urging Argyll and Bute Council to ditch its proposed visitor levy has drawn over 1,000 signatures, as tourism businesses warn the new tax risks “killing the goose that lays the golden egg”. An Act passed by the Scottish Government in July...
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CRUACHAN 2 NOISE BATTLE ERUPTS
Attempts to have give-and-take talks with renewable energy giant Drax as it powers ahead with its Cruachan 2 plan has turned into a David and Goliath battle for a tiny lochside community. People living in Tervine are worried that, in the worst case...
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Former Kilchrenan head teacher caught with child sex images
A former Argyll headteacher caught with indecent images and an instruction manual on how to download child abuse material has been put on the sex offenders’ register for five years. Graham Dickie, who was head teacher at Kilchrenan Primary School...
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Unpaid Inverawe staff ‘going through hell’
“Desperate” staff at an Inverawe company that supplies smoked fish to the Royals are relying on food banks, living without heat or light at home, are behind with their rents and even visiting A&E with stress, because their wages have not been paid for...
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TOBERMORY FLOOD RAISES QUESTIONS
Following the flood in Tobermory during Storm Ashley, improvements are being discussed for the town’s new flood mitigation system. The recently completed flood walls and new railings in Tobermory cost just over £700,000, yet the main street was...
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OBAN CHOIRS MAKE HISTORY
As Oban handed the Royal National Mòd flag to Lochaber, the next host in 2025, two Oban choirs have made history in the nine-day festival of Gaelic culture in their home town, writes Sandy Neil. At the start of the festival on Saturday October 12, the...
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UKRAINE DESERVES PEACE WIN A ‘TRIP OF A LIFETIME’ ON THE NORTH COAST 500 FOR 2 – PAGE 43 OBAN GOES MÒD MAD
Taynuilt racer has impressive debut at Brands Hatch
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FLOOD PREVENTION MEETING HELD
A year on from the devastating October floods, which caused over £1 million worth of damage to business and homes in Oban, residents held a meeting to build resilience in case of a future crisis. The meeting, held at The Rockfield Centre on Thursday...
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FEARS ARGYLL AND BUTE GROWTH DEAL FACES AXE
Funding for a massive investment deal in Argyll and Bute has been put on hold by the UK Government as it tries to plug a £22 billion black hole. The Scottish and UK administrations had each committed £25 million to projects in the area over the next...
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COUNCILLOR OUSTED FROM BOARD AMID SECRECY ROW
Amid a growing row over Argyll and Bute Council’s accountability, a councillor has been ousted from the Harbour Board for voting to see annual accounts from all council-run ports, as required by an Act of Parliament. The ruling SNP-led administration...
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ROCKFIELD RECOVERY REVEALED
Oban’s community-owned Rockfield Centre has revealed its “serious” financial situation, but also the trustees’ hope that with help they can turn it around in a year. In a newsletter distributed to members this week, The Oban Communities Trust began by...
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