Music festival row continues

Further to your article last week, I can confirm the decline in the quality of product under the name of "Live Country Music", that is offered up at Creetown.
My brother (who came over from Glenrothes) and I, attended the festival on Saturday night two years ago, and were very disappointed by the amount of "canned" music on offer. Almost all the bands performing used a synthesized background where two performers could sound like a six-piece band, we even detected some miming going on.
Sitting in a large very cold tent behind the biggest sound-mixing unit I have ever seen, listening to this sterile mush, surrounded by stalls selling what could only be described as cheap rubbish, we left early vowing never to set foot there again.
Country music is just simply "music from the Country" not music from the tape recorder and synthesizer. Electric guitars etc. have always been, and always will be, a vital part of Country music but they need to be played live, ie by a human, at the time - there could be a case for a complaint under the Trades Descriptions Act here.
Clearly the festival has moved away from the roots on which it was conceived, the music watered down to the point where it is no longer recognisable, and the loyal troops are now very restless, also, clearly, the decision to diversify is questionable, not least of all by the appearance of the "unwashed" and the trouble they caused. Have the organisers not realised, in their 12 years of the festival, that the core audience is likely to be of the older persuasion or the very young, and that country music is a gentle art to be enjoyed at leisure?
It appears to me that this year's show is a watershed. If they want to retain the credibility of the "Creetown Country Music Festival" they need to consider the quality of their product. If they want to do a combined festival they could consider Folk and Country, as a better fit with their Western Country, both these would discourage the hooligans.
If there is a genuine call for a POP festival, perhaps this could be a consideration for a separate event all together - however following the adverse publicity caused by the drinkers, and the celebratory comments made by the organiser quoted, the future for the Country Music Festival may already have been decided.
Newton Stewart resident


Get your facts straight

I HAVE to disagree with the letter in last week's Gazette about "unruly, rude, disrespectful" children blocking the way in Newton Stewart.
I am a wheelchair-user who regularly uses the pavements in the town. Indeed, I was up the street at lunchtime on the very day the letter was published. Every youngster stood out of my way, and I never heard one swear word from them the whole time I was out.
I think people should get their facts straight before they rush to write letters like the one that appeared last week!
Name and address supplied



Good luck from the Cree Cronies

MANY congratulations to the Newton Stewart and District Round Table on reaching their 40th anniversary.
A very few years after the table was formed a number of the early members reached the magic age of 40 when one is required to move on.
They formed an official 41 club but found that there was a considerable gap before any more potential members left table and so the club never increased its membership beyond that original nucleus.
It was felt that as our number remained small it was a nonsense to pay capitation fees to an organisation which provided us with little return.
So we became an unofficial 41 club and continued to meet monthly for a meal. As the years passed, we moved from an evening meal to a lunch and we have met regularly for the past 37 years.
Time has taken its toll and some members have moved away, some have passed away but the hard core of about a dozen men still attend faithfully.
Our records are carefully preserved on a beer mat and the chair changes annually on a long-established rota.
When we were informed by the Round Table that they wished to form an official 41 club we immediately gave way and have now reformed as "The Cree Cronies".
We thank table for their invitation, passed to all our members, to join them at their charter dinner. It will be up to individuals to attend but it is felt that deafness, a six-course meal and the fact that the event will exceed our usual bedtimes may limit our numbers.
Nevertheless, we wish the new and official 41 club every success and hope that they will keep the hinges of friendship as well-oiled as we have over many years.
H. S. McFadzean,
Chairman,
Cree Cronies



Don't let us be excluded

ITS origins go back to 1780 when Lord Garlies planned and built a small port, which has developed into Garlieston harbour, which has proved to be a viable port over the years.
Its use in the Second World War was part of this and the locals are rightly proud of this. It continues to be used by commercial fishermen and commercial passenger boats and private yachts and motor boats and many tourists all-year round.
Property developers and estate agents in this area promote their sales using the fact that this is a harbour with fishing and boating in the area, some of them use photos of local boats to assist their sales promotions.
The present community council seem to be determined to remove all boats away from the village car park, without offering any alternative.
Whilst I agree that empty trailers that are left on the car park are an eyesore and should be removed, I do not agree that a sign saying no boat parking is the right sign to have in a harbour village, trying to attract visitors. It will give an image of the village as being unfriendly towards visitors and will deter them.
If we must have a sign, let it be restrictive, taking into consideration factors, such as the weather, breakdowns and other factors including the fact there is no other parking. All manner of boats have been around Garlieston for over 225 years.
The council charges harbour fees for use of the harbour, which increase every year (25 per cent this year?) without any visible improvements. There are no modern parking or toilet facilities on the harbour for harbour-users.
I have in the last 10 years only seen the car park full when the passenger ship for the Isle of Man calls in, which is twice a year. The car park does not overlook the village only the shore and the run-down community centre.
I do not want to stand in the way of progress for the village! I want to support it, not be excluded from it!
Also, there seems some doubt as to the owner of the car park. Does D&G Council own it or not?
John Evens
Braehead
(Harbour-user)