On 15th August 2014 we held an Open day event at the Smithy community Hub. Events like these are a good opportunity for everyone to get together, find out the latest information about KWHG projects, meet new people, and importantly, have fun!
The forecast wasn’t great so we’d borrowed marquees, tents and even bunting from other community groups, Thanks to the Lochcarron Games committee and the Lochcarron Fire Station for those. Many hands make light work, even in the midges, so we had a busy Thursday night with a group of volunteers putting every thing together.
Friday, saw around 100 visitors, many families and young children which is always fantastic. Our community has a large proportion of retired aged people, which is an advantage for willing, experienced volunteers with time to spare. But a sustainable community future needs children and young people to be involved, so we are always very happy when all ages attend events.
Linda from Book Catering, Attadale did the catering and kept everyone well fed with a delicious range of homebaking, soup and sandwiches. We also had a boot sale, with lots of great bargains to snap up.
John MacPherson was demonstrating his tweed weaving at his workshop and Kiki’s craft corner opened up the shop for demonstrations and workshops in quilting and needle felting. These are always very popular and many local people are now becoming very skilled in various textile arts due to the courses and classes which Keira organises. Watch this space for information about this winter’s exciting range of adult education courses.
Teresa Mitchell spins in Kiki’s craft cornerLocal history enthusiast and research volunteer Paul Swan had a display of prehistoric items, including a baby mammoth tooth . His informative & hands on displays are always popular. Along side was Margaret Beaton from Applecross who offered hands on spinning practice.
We also had the Highland Council Walks ranger, Reuben, come along who organised a treasure hunt with cute knitted mice provided by Helen Murchison. He also set up a supervised sensory trail through our wooded area, this was a hit with families and a great way of exploring the natural woodland in a new way.
We were also lucky to be joined by some of the Lochcarron music group who provided entertainment in the treehouse. Many thanks to them.
It is lovely to see the Smithy site come to life with such a range of activities. We have achieved so much already, and look forward to the next stage of development that our Graduate research assistant, Fergus is currently working on. We hope to renovate the Smithy building, improve the car park, further landscape the site and put in place additional projects which will see the site busy all year around and attracting more visitors to the area. If you have any ideas for further events, training courses or what you’d like to see happening at the Smithy, drop us a line at lochcarronkwhg@gmail.com
you can also stay in touch with all the latest news by becoming a life member for a one off fee of £5. Membership forms are here.
Many thanks to all those who came along and supported the Open day, and of course to all our volunteers.
Lochcarron Community Development Company 