The Accountant

"Yir not here to enjoy yerself. Yir here to drink"

A memorable line I heard from one of the patrons here, possibly the first time I ever crossed the doorway of this iconic Fort William landmark, perhaps at the age of eighteen and a half. Colloquially known "The Voly", The Volunteers Arms is an institution which has stood the test of time and a new management team are steadily moving it forward to keep pace with 21st century expectations. As alluded to it was once a real working man's pub strategically placed a few paces from the Bookies (betting shop/turf accountant) and if you got hungry in between drams you could get a hot Scotch pie out of a glass cabinet at the end of the bar.

Notable also, M and I first met here, and no that is not what she said to me.

We were down the Fort William High Street today as we had our annual appointment with the accountant. To my surprise he thought our year had gone well but he then put this in context. The books of many of his other clients provided grim reading and he even suggested standing still was good. Perhaps a better analogy being swimming very hard against a fast flowing river but not actually being fully swept away.

A glance either direction along the Fort William High Street maybe summed up what he was saying. It was difficult to take a photo which didn't include at least one boarded up shop front. I'm just trying to think of recent closures: Woolworth (part of a large chain collapse), Blacks outdoor shop, Julian Graves, Thorntons, a short lived hand bag shop (I know stupid idea in the first place), Subway, various wool or tatty tartan outlets, and even the Post Office is gone and rents a corner of a News Agent.

The most recent shocker is the demise of the "Rod and Gun Shop", a fixture here for seventy five years, is shutting down. As the name suggests it supplied angling and hunting gear and other kit for outdoor pursuits. Its small floor space was occupied by dozens of folk searching for bargains
and curiously they were all thrown out at an early closing time of twelve noon. I heard one disgruntled shopper utter "No wonder they are closing down". Perhaps it is difficult to be a fully motivated sales manager if you know your job is gone in a few weeks. I do sympathise with the poor staff.

The charm and attraction of a small town Scottish high street is the presence of traditional shops and services. Off the top of my head places like Grantown, Kingussie, Aberfeldy, Pitlochry and Oban provide that kind of feeling. The Fort William experience is a sadly depressing one and is a problem that perhaps needs political intervention to enhance prospects for new and existing businesses.

Rant:
Use it or lose it, I know a guy who went in to the local computer shop interested in a particular digital camera. He took up the time of the assistant who patiently unboxed a unit and explained it all to him. He promptly went home and bought the same item on line to save 5%. If you intend to buy something and use the service of the retail shop in this way I see it as your duty to support the shop and buy from there if you use their time and advice. The computer shop? It shut down too.

(I am as "guilty" of anyone of buying online but do my own research and perhaps take a risk in doing so. I wouldn't dream of trying the boots on in a shop and then going to Amazon for them.)

Rant over.

You may wonder if it was difficult to get a shot of the "Voly" without any one in the way. No this is exactly what a bustling, pre Christmas, Fort William High Street looks like.