YMBB have been creating Geocaches for a big CITO (Cache in Trash Out) Event at Spier's on April 10th (11am - 3pm). Geocaching is a sport, rather like a web based treasure hunt, where cachers go onto the Geocaching website (www.geocaching.com), register for free and then do a site search for Geocaches wherever they wish to visit. The GPS co-ordinates and clues are provided and then the Geocacher goes out and tries to find it. The 'find' is logged on the website and swaps are made together with other elements, such as Geocoins, Travelbugs, etc.

YMBB have been learning how to use a GPS (Global Positioning System) and will be putting the caches in place in few weeks. All Geocache sites have public access, are vetted first and are chosen for being interesting - Beith has had several for some time.

Geocachers like to keep sites tidy and the first part of the Spier's CITO will be a litter pick.

YMBB have also been mixing lard and bird seed for the bird feeding poles at Spier's. These poles are being picked clean in record time now that the local bird community has got wise to this food source. Feel free to come along to the Barrmill Road entrance, stock up the poles and then watch the birds descend!

Ian Donnachie, writes: Beith Judo Club meets in Beith Community Centre, Kings Road, Beith each Tuesday with juniors meeting from 6.30 until 7.30 pm and seniors from 7.30 pm until 9.00 pm. Classes are £1.00 members and £1.50 non-members minimum age 6yrs old. All coaches qualified and checked with Disclosure Scotland.

Grace Church, Eglinton Street has now resumed their Friday lunch club which is open to anyone as a drop-in between 12 noon and 2.30 pm.

The light lunch consists of soup, bread, with tea or coffee and biscuits. A suggested donation is £1.25 and monies raised will benefit overseas mission work. A warm friendly welcome awaits.

Drop in or if you wish contact Grace Church on 01505-504350.

Robert Jamieson, secretary, writes: Last Monday saw a good turn out of 9 teams for the annual quiz night of Beith Trinity Mens Fellowship. From the start there were three front runners, Undecided, Crummock and the Jelly Babies.

After round 7, the Jelly Babies had established a clear lead, but their identification of well known people in the picture round, combined with their knowledge of technology and industry and the Living world allowed Undecided to take the title with a strong finish.

Darryl Armstrong, club coach, writes: Beith Juniors u10s played there second league game against the second Beith u10s at Marshalands on a very hard and frosty pitch.

The game started with Ross Mackenzie crossing from the right and Bradley Armstrong just missing with a fine header. Jack Craig then bundled the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble to give team 1 the lead. Bradley then had a well hit shot cleared off the line by Scott Brown.

Did you start Garnock Academy in 1978? Would you like to meet up with some old friends and go down memory lane? Then we are having a School Reunion on Saturday 17 April.

If you would like further information about the evening, please email Liz Cullen (Dunn) at garnockreunion78@sky.com

Catherine Clement writes: At the last meeting of Gateside WRI, the ladies enjoyed a very informative talk from Eileen Durward on the history of the products of Bioforce.

The competition winners were: 3 macaroon tarts, 1st Ann Dickson, 2nd Mary Smith, 3rd Ann Dickson.

The next meeting will be held on March 4 when the subject is: Backpacking for the Over 60s.

Ken Stewart of Protec Training in Dalry has combined a bit of horse logging at Spier's Old School Grounds with an outdoor lesson given to a lucky twenty pupils and two staff from Gateside Primary School. Wesley is Ken's five year old Clydesdale horse, fully trained in extracting logs from woodlands in a manner that keeps damage to the woodland floor to a bare minimum. Weighing near a ton, Wesley is a gentle giant who hauls the large logs as if they were as light as matchsticks.

Pupils were able to watch Wesley being kitted up for the job and were shown how each part of the equipment worked to bring about the close control of such a large horse in the confined spaces of a wood. A special treat at the end of the 'lesson' was feeding carrots to Wesley, a task that requires big carrot chunks on a flat outstretched palm.

The NAC Ranger Service helped to organise the event and as only twenty horses in Scotland are trained to work in woodlands in this way, it was a rare treat for the NAC Ranger as well as the Gateside Primary school pupils. The experience was greatly appreciated by all and the Spier's grounds have benefitted greatly from the work of Wesley the Clydesdale and Ken Stewart his owner and trainer.

Julie Crook, secretary, writes: Beith and District Community Council have decided to take part in the Keep Scotland Tidy: Spring Clean April 2010 event and we have chosen the morning of Saturday April 24. The exact details of time and locations will be decided nearer the day, so watch this space.

Cheryl Steffler writes: Hello. I'm currently researching my family from the Beith area. The surname is Biggart and I would welcome any information or photos concerning my family. My oldest relative that I'm able to find with current research is Thomas Biggart.

He was born in the Beith area October 25, 1719. His wife was Margaret Johnstone. Thomas Biggart and Margaret had a son Thomas Biggart Jr. He was married to Barbara Wark and had a son John.

Mrs Sheila Craig, Past President, writes: Greenhills WRI had a good attendance at the last meeting on February 17 which was also their annual bulb show. The President, Mrs Nancy Brown, welcomed everyone to the meeting and went on to introduce Mr Ferguson, head gardener of Greenbanks Garden, Eastwood, who gave a very interesting talk on the house and gardens at Greenbanks and the care and work carried out over many years. He illustrated his talk with some amazing slides of the house and gardens.

The March concert in this year's series will feature Bobby Wishart and his Jazz Band, who will brighten our day with some lively music.

Bobby Wishart has a long-standing reputation as a jazz instrumentalist, and is very well-known in Scotland - you may remember hearing him many times on the radio.

LOCHWINNOCH ARTS FESTIVAL GOES LARGE! 19-28 March 2010

LOCHWINNOCH Arts Festival has been an established part of the Renfrewshire calendar since 2002. But from very humble beginnings as a single day literary event, Lochwinnoch has now gone large.

John Smith welcomed a good turnout of members to Beith Trinity Men’s Fellowship last Monday evening. He then introduced the speaker, Mr Bruce Davidson, treasurer of the Ayrshire Red Squirrel Group. In a fascinating talk he explained that there are 27 different varieties of squirrel worldwide, ranging from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.

The Gateside Whist Drive will be held on Monday March 8 in Gateside Hall. 7.00 for 7.30pm. Basket Tea. Please call 01505 500123 to reserve a table.

President Robert Wark welcomed a good turnout of members and made special mention of Joe Kennedy of Kilmarnock No 0 Burns Club, the speaker at the recent club open night held in Beith Masonic Hall lower lounge.

Joyce Walker, UR Church secretary, writes: Beith United Reformed Church held their weekly meeting of the Women's Guild on Tuesday February 23 at 7.30 in the Church Hall.

The speaker was Mr Donald Reid, our own Beith Correspondent for the Herald. Donald took as his illustrated theme, Inspiration, highlighting how ordinary people travel through life with its ups and down and how they can be influenced both positively and negatively by occurrences over which they don’t always have any great control. However, he also highlighted how people, places and events can inspire and challenge not only individuals, but families and organisations.

Barrmill Community Association are currently carrying out a large consultation exercise in the village, Greenhills, Burnhouse and surrounding rural areas with the aim of establishing key community priorities.

In furtherance of this a meeting will be held in Barrmill Community Centre on Wednesday March 24 at 7.00 pm and includes a light supper.

Kathryn Young, youth leader, writes: 3:5:6 the Joint Churches Youth Group meet each Sunday 6 at 7.30pm in Trinity Church. All young people from S2 and up are very welcome to come along and enjoy the fun and friendship on offer.

For more information please contact Kathryn Young on 503198 or simply drop in.

The North Ayrshire Ranger Service is primarily based at Eglinton Country Park in Irvine on the outskirts of Kilwinning, however to give the best possible provision to the Garnock Valley, a secondary hub, Spier's Old School Grounds, has recently been established on the Barrmill Road near Beith. A NAC Countryside Ranger is now based at the Garnock Valley's Spier's hub every other week to facilitate easy and direct access to and from the communities at Dalry, Kilbirnie, Glen Garnock, Longbar, Beith, Gateside, Barrmill, Greenhills, Burnhouse, etc.

The NAC Ranger Service works with schools, colleges, universities, youth groups, individuals, and visitors to interpret the wildlife of the Garnock Valley and to encourage participation in outdoor education, health enhancing activities, conservation work, ecotherapy, and specialist natural history pursuits such as biological recording, bird watching, biodiversity enhancements, etc.

The Ranger Service is working to improve and develop Spier's Old School Grounds with partners such as NAC Grounds Maintenance, Friends of Spiers, the Spier's Trust, Geilsland School, Beith Cultural and Heritage Society, Youth Making Beith Better, Gateside Primary School, the Kilbirnie Youth Group, Beith Community Council, Beith Out of School Care and others. The Friends of Spier's is a new group open to anyone who has an interest in enhancing Spier's as a centre for the Garnock Valley through practical conservation work, fund raising, committee work, helping to organise events, etc., etc.

Kilbirnie Loch is an important site for the valley and the NAC Ranger Service regularly works with the Kilbirnie Loch Management Group and others to maintain and improve this facility for people and wildlife. The NAC Ranger regularly patrols the Kilbirnie Loch site to monitor and report on the site's infrastructure, wildlife and any other issues that need to be addressed; as well as to directly receive feedback and information from loch users.

The NAC Ranger Service works closely with Louise Kirk, NAC Access Officer; Tom Armstrong, NAC Countryside Liaison Officer; the Clyde-Muirshiel Regional Park; and others to promote and enhance practical conservation, community initiatives, and other wildlife related projects in the Garnock Valley.

For general information and specific enquiries the NAC Countryside Ranger Service can be contacted at rangerservice@north-ayrshire.gov.uk or at 01294 551 776.