Janet Mountford-Smith
Written 13 posts
MACH 1 – Machrihanish Airbase Community Company
16th July 2019
Communities use their land and buildings for many activities but Mach 1 is definitely one of the more unusual ones. The former MoD airbase at Machrihanish, Argyll, now owned by the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company, is the venue for one of the big tarmac rally events on Dunfermline Car’s Club’s racing calendar. The play on…
Killin – More than a Post Office
5th June 2019
Killin nestles under the Lawers range at the west end of Loch Tay. I’ve got an invite to the opening of the community’s new premises for their postoffice/newsagent. It’s wet wet wet, and has been for days, the weather resuming something like normal summer service after last year’s heatwave. The verges are frothing with cow…
Fort Augustus – opening the new Cill Chumein Medical Centre
11th April 2019
At sunrise on a frosty April morning, I am on my way to work to meet Kyle, who has recently joined our team as a Modern Apprentice. We’re driving up to Fort Augustus for the opening of their new Medical Centre. It has been funded partly by the Scottish Land Fund, and partly by Scottish…
Celebrating the100th Scottish Land Fund Award: The Pyramid at Anderston
8th March 2019
On a chilly, foggy February morning I catch an early train to Glasgow, where our Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham is visiting the Pyramid at Anderston. The community is taking ownership of this brutalist classic from the Church of Scotland. The church has been a centre for the community since the day it was built, but…
Strontian – learnings
26th February 2019
Back in December I was invited to join HIE and National Lottery Community Fund colleagues for a Scottish Land Fund “learning event”. Hmm, I thought, Strontian in February – over Rannoch Moor, the Corran ferry then single track roads – probably a snow tyres job at best, maybe even find a fellow learning eventer with…
Community Land Week 8: Mull of Galloway – to the Lighthouse!
30th October 2018
It’s a long way to the Mull of Galloway from Crianlarich, and there’s a delay on the A82 near Tarbert. A woman riding pillion on a motorbike has been thrown off, her leg is broken and the road is closed for a while. Even walking on it, the road surface feels greasy from recent…
Community Land Week 7: Fernaig – A path, a present, a future
26th October 2018
Friday morning and there’s enough blue in the sky to patch a sailor’s jacket, as my mum would say. On the way from Tighnabruaich to Fernaig (near Plockton/Skye of Lochalsh) I pass by the Appin agricultural show and can’t resist popping in. Here are some of the stars: Massed battalions of camper vans are on…
Community Land Week 6 – Kilfinan, Argyll
22nd October 2018
Best digs to date by far at Tregortha B&B in Tighnabruaich. It’s under the new management of a lovely Hungarian couple, Carmen and Gabor, who’ve done a stylish make-over on it, and can’t do enough to make you feel welcome and comfortable. I leave the curtains open, wake at around 4.30 am and look out…
Community Land Week 5: Portobello – Thinking Global, Acting Local
16th October 2018
Posted 16/08/2018 From Ulva, it’s a single track road back to Craignure. Waiting for the ferry I spot a sea otter sitting on a buoy at the ferry terminal. He soon attracts an appreciative audience. Then it’s back over to Oban and a long drive to Portobello, the traffic is heavy through the outskirts of…
Community Land Week 4: Ulva – Under New Management
11th October 2018
Sunday 12 August and it’s over to Ulva for the official launch of Community Land Week by Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham. But first it’s Ullapool to Oban by way of Fort William, where I stop for coffee in my idea of a perfect cafe, which is happy to sell me a couple of slices of…