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Surfing in the South Rhins

THE South Rhins has taken a couple of bold steps into the 21st century, with the opening of an internet cafe in Sandhead, and possibly another to come in Drummore.

Located in the village’s Town Hall, the Sandhead shop is the first internet cafe to reach the peninsula, and with the help of the Scottish Executive, four computers, printers, tables and chairs have been installed, along with free internet access for two years.

Project Worker Ian Smith, himself a computer expert, said on the first day of opening:

“This is a community project for the benefit of the community as a whole, not just a Sandhead project, and one I hope everyone on the South Rhins will come along and use.

“ My role over the next twelve months is not only to get this project up and running, but to get the thoughts of how the South Rhins community would like to see it expand.”

Ian said that the café would eventually be run by a core of volunteers, that many had already offered their services, and that he was looking towards the younger generation in particular to contribute their knowledge by helping out with tutorials.

The ultimate goal, once the café is up and running, will be to purchase a couple of laptop computers for the cafe, mainly for the benefit of beginners.

The café is currently open between 10am and 2pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and it is hoped these hours will be changed to suit customers’ needs when it becomes more established.

Those who fancy a coffee and biscuit (suitable donation gratefully received) and a chat about computers, or would like to get onto the World Wide Web, are encouraged to give Ian a visit.

He insists that those who have never been onto the Web, or are terrified of the computer, are in for a most pleasant experience.

Down the road, a second South Rhins internet cafe could be housed in the old warehouse in Drummore, on the corner of Mill Street and Shore Street.

At a meeting held in the village between the new owner of the warehouse and interested members of the community, an internet cafe was one of the suggestions put forward for the future use of the warehouse, subject to planning permission.

The owner stressed that any alterations to the interior and exterior of the building would be sympathetic and in keeping with the village, and would hopefully bring much-needed tourism to the area.

Suggested uses for the building included incorporating an art gallery, showing local artists work, and craft centre, on one floor, a tea room on another floor, and the internet café on the lower ground floor.