Dear Fellow Residents, Eavesdropping is not a pastime that I knowingly pursue yet there are times when I fall victim to it. At such moments it proves difficult to escape its clutches. As a recent example I caught a bus in the city centre, heading for the Park and Ride at Kingswells, it was mid - morning and there were only two other passengers on board. They were having an animated conversation as I took a seat at the far end of the bus. As the bus made its way up Union Street they continued their conversation which was loudly pursued. I couldn ’ t help but hear every word they exchanged. Without going into detail, I will simply say that their discussion was far ranging. When I boarded the bus they were bemoaning the planned departure of Marks and Spencer from the city centre and the number of empty properties on Union Street. As the bus continued its journey towards the roundabout at Anderson Drive their conversation changed direction and focused, briefly, upon the turmoil in the Ukraine and Gaza. As we made our way along Queen ’ s Road they got down to the nitty gritty of things. Phrases which we have all heard and indeed used were exchanged. ‘ What ’ s the world coming to? ’’, ‘ Things aren ’ t what they used to be! ’’, ‘ Who ’ s going to get us out of this mess? ’’, ‘ When are politicians going to stop wasting money and sort things out? ’ Suddenly, as the bus made its way towards Hazlehead one of my fellow passengers, having reached their destination, rang the bell and made to leave. A quiet descended. Silence. In the silence I found myself thinking through what had been said. Indeed that bus journey gave me food for thought as I drove home to Midmar. Let us leave the bigger issues of world conflict to one side and think of what was said about the local issues that concern folk. We do live in a very different world from the one we inhabited only a few years ago. Even here, in Midmar, there have been a great many changes over the course of the last twenty years or so. We no longer have a local shop or bus service. The woods which were a feature of our landscape have been decimated by storms and ferocious winds. The pub has long gone. However, life goes on and we need to embrace the future. Midmar Hall has been a feature of our community for some one hundred and twenty years. During that time it has provided a meeting place for a wide variety of groups of all ages. Not only as a meeting place but also a place of entertainment, both home grown and imported. It has served generation after generation, in a variety of capacities, and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come. Some things are constant, thank goodness the Hall falls into that category.
Alistair McRobb (Midmar Hall Chairman)
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