Following a successful pilot in December 1994, the first issue of Merkinch News & Views came out in May 1995, and it has run continuously on a monthly basis ever since, going to 2500 homes and businesses in the greater Merkinch area – everywhere between Telford Street and the river.

In the last five years there has been a succession of newsletter coordinators, contributors and volunteers to help us distribute it; nevertheless its concerns have always been the same – news about and for the people who live in this lively area, and a platform for those who wish to share their views about matters of general concern.

And what emerges from looking at back numbers over the last five years is a community that cares about its members, particularly the young and the elderly, and that wishes to live life in decent, safe, harmonious surroundings, giving everyone the opportunity to fulfill their own potential and look after the welfare of others.

Among the News & Views highlights in the first few months readers may recall are some of the following:

May 1995 – An application had gone in for Urban Aid funding for a Community Safety Project in South Kessock; John Ross took "A Stroll from Ferry Point to Muirtown Bridge".

June 1995 – Mabel Skinner wrote a piece on how Merkinch coped during World War 2; J Barnes wrote about Merkinch shops down the years.

July 1995 – JM Ross visited the old Ferry booking office at South Kessock on a Sunday to see the collection of archive photographs and marine objects; a new board for Merkinch Enterprise had been voted in and residents were invited to come up with ideas to improve the quality of life and create jobs.

August 1995 – There was seafaring work experience available on the schooner Enterprise between Fort Augustus and Inverness.

September 1995 saw articles on the Shetland vessel which had lain in the Basin all summer, a profile of Martin Pieraccini and his racing career, and an account of a meeting of the Carse Tenants Panel, now 15 months old.

October, and the police advised that cycling without lights and on the pavement (reckless and inconsiderate cycling) were both against the law. And in November, Merkinch Enterprise received almost half a million pounds in Lottery funding for their Residents Action on Poverty Programme. The year ended with the Christmas issue sporting a pink cover and the news that Keith Bootle had been appointed manager of the South Kessock Safety Karers project from 33 applicants; and South Kessock had won first prize in the OCS Clean Up Scotland Challenge.

January 1996 saw us cover the launch of the DIP (Disability, Invalidity Pensioners ) Group to run affordable days out, and bus trips to the shops; information was sought about the Welfare Hall, a frequent topic in our pages. In February we learned that Grant Street was to have traffic calming measures, and this was further explained with graphics in March. April saw the question raised of a lack of local GP surgery in Merkinch. And in the May edition when News & Views celebrated its first birthday, there was a tribute by Mabel Skinner to the nearest thing Merkinch had to a doctor – Charlie Forbes, the pharmacist who had died the previous month. Sadly it was not so very long before Mabel herself followed...

And so down the years it has continued – good news and bad news, congratulations and commiserations, stories of achievement and courage, complaints of vandalism and petty crime. Then there were the recipes, legal and health advice, the stars and local history, drawings and poems (of, let's face it, varying quality), crosswords and quizzes, pictures of the Merkinch community at work and play...

Now we look forward to the next five years. Help us keep up the good work?

If you have any subjects of local interest that you would like to see us cover, any events coming up you want to tell the world about, or if you have any stories to tell, please drop us at note at 4 Grant Street, and we'll see what we can do. Meantime, please keep reading, enter the competitions and, it goes without saying, support our advertisers! Last but not least – we are always on the look-out for volunteers to help with distribution. Even if you can only manage one street, or one block of flats, your help is welcome.