Pibroch was at Catstrand, a great arts venue, on 23^rd May 2023.  Catstrand is a great community arts venue  in the small town of New Galloway: one of several in that area of South-West Scotland.

New Galloway was established around 1630  by the local proprietor, John Gordon of Lochinvar, as an opportunity to stimulate trade (and earn money) by establishing a local market town and securing Royal Burgh status.[1]   As a royal burgh, New Galloway  could establish a market, develop trade – including foreign trade –  and appoint bailies, who had powers over civil and criminal justice. The project – coming very late in the day as a burgh – didn’t quite take off however as neighbouring burghs proved more successful.  Today, New Galloway claims to be the smallest Royal Burgh in Scotland.

Though very different in landscape from the North and North West of Scotland, Galloway is Scotland’s other ‘remote’.  A lush, pastoral landscape of meadows and copses, small villages.  The Galloway Forest was designated a Dark Sky Park in 2009, only the fourth in the world to be accredited.[2] In this part of the world folk can still see the stars – and with the naked eye.  It is one of the signatures of our obese societies that many of us can no longer see the tell-tale twinkles of the cosmos in which we exist.  Once we lived in a bubble of atmosphere which – even in Scotland sometimes – was transparent.  Today that atmospheric bubble is foggy with useless fossil light.

Like Moffat, New Galloway is an inland site, close to Loch Ken but back from the shallow expanse of the Solway Firth to the South.  My instinct was that, as in my native Aberdeenshire, the meat trade  and the pros and cons of grass fed cattle – would be a major issue in the post show discussion.

Instead, concerns in the area seemed to focus on maintaining biodiversity, the negative impact of electricity transmission pylons on the landscape and the recent increase in mineral prospecting in the area.

And Australian mining conglomerate, Walkabout Resources[3], has been drilling on a prospective basis in the Galloway Forest – despite its UNESCO protected status.  The area did produce zinc, lead and silver in the 18^th & 19^th centuries.  Those mines closed as uneconomic then but Walkabout are now promoting the opportunities in ‘‘green transition’ metal mining’.  Walkabout Resources claim they have “an essential role in critical metal mining for a green transition”.[3]

Local activist networks have been established to resist mining operations.  Those who resist the building of pylons, to support electricity transmission from Galloway windfarms, have also established campaigning groups.  There are trade-offs here between economic ‘opportunity’, the threat of pollution, ecological damage, visual amenity and threats to lifeways. 

These campaigns have been accused of nimbyism:  then again, nimbys are just folk who live in potential  sacrifice zones.

Pibroch’s post-show discussion was well-attended by an articulate, generous and well-informed group of people.  It is an honour to echo their voices here.

Here is some of what I heard about Climate Justice in New Galloway.

I heard that stories are important

I heard someone ask why we used the image of rolling waves as the motif of Teach Your Child?

I heard that, of the 160,000 people living in Dumfries & Galloway, only 24,000 (15%) were under 20.  That this is like ‘an elephant bouncing on a beach-ball’.

I heard someone ask how many folk in the room had switched to electric vehicles?

I heard that swimming is the first thing a Dutch child learns.

I heard that young people can’t afford electric vehicles.

I heard someone say we were contrasting the Last of Days with the last days of Piper Alpha

I heard that people like Rachel Carson foresaw this catastrophe in the 1960s .

I heard someone ask how we get folk off of their tvs, ipads, phones?

I heard that Dumfries& Galloway has a variegated pattern of wealth and embedded rural deprivation.[4]

I heard that we all have to take personal responsibility for our choices

I heard that a lack of transmission facilities means windfarms in the region can’t produce sometimes.

I heard someone ask ‘if the switch to electrics won’t be just another wrong turn we will regret in 50 years?’

I heard someone speak of the excitement when the oil boys arrived in Aberdeen in the 1970s and the promise of new prosperity in the region.

I heard that there is a need for community.

I heard that public transport is not an option in rural Dumfries & Galloway.

I heard that some women climate activists are already deciding not to have children and some have chosen to be sterilised.

I heard that we shouldn’t be too hard on the UK government.

I heard that there were unused charger points in New Galloway.

I heard that we will all have to pay.

I heard that young people can’t afford to live in Dumfries & Galloway.

I heard conflicting views within the community on the value of pylons compared to cable burial for transmission systems. [5]

I heard that people valued visual amenities, environmental impact and cost of electricity differently.

I heard that we need global climate justice.

I heard that Dumfries & Galloway  has the lowest per capita income in Scotland

I heard that the UK and Scandinavian governments are doing good compared with other countries such as China and Russia.

I heard that some men on Piper Alpha on the night of 6^th July 1988 did the wrong things.

I heard that we need to consider the impact on people we never think about.

I heard that there is a Biosphere partnership in Galloway.[7]

I heard that there is a need for individual action – including political action.

I heard a man tell me he  re-reads the Cullen Report  every year.

I heard that one young couple can barely afford their monthly bills of  £1000 bills on their shared income.

I heard that the Cullen Inquiry considered the wider systemic issues.

I heard that the rural poor are more socially isolated since the  urban poor typically  live in communities among those similarly deprived.

I heard that there is concern about mining companies prospecting in the area.[8]

I heard people ask how I remember all the words?

I heard that taking out a loan to but an electric vehicle plus the cost of charging is less than the running cost of a fossil fuelled vehicle.

I heard that “Who is going to pay?”  is an unfair question.

I heard that folk set up a commune in 1972 and lived for free in the mansion at Lauriston Hall. [8]

I heard that a woman who lost her son on 6^th July 1988 was destroyed by it. Not just distraught.

I heard that we need to return to a better beginning.

I heard that Stewartry has more millionaires than London.  I heard Stranraer is deprived.[4]

I heard that people shouldn’t worry about the declining birthrate.

References

[1] New Galloway Town Hall (doorsopendays.org.uk)

[2] Dark skies – Forestry and Land Scotland

[3] On-the-ground activism in Galloway ⋆ Enough!

[4] SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation)

[5] Home – Galloway Without Pylons

[6] Local_Biodiversity_Action_Plan.pdf (dumgal.gov.uk)

[7] Home – Laurieston Hall

[8] Scotland Projects | Our Business | Walkabout Resources (wkt.com.au)