Land and Community
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Celebrating the100th Scottish Land Fund Award: The Pyramid at Anderston
8th March 2019 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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...
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Strontian – learnings
26th February 2019 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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 a...
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Community Land Week 8: Mull of Galloway – to the Lighthouse!
30th October 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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 rain....
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Community Land Week 7: Fernaig – A path, a present, a future
26th October 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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...
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Community Land Week 6 – Kilfinan, Argyll
22nd October 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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...
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Community Land Week 5: Portobello – Thinking Global, Acting Local
16th October 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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...
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Community Land Week 4: Ulva – Under New Management
11th October 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
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...
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Community Land Week 3: The Bonnet Lairds of Carloway
14th August 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
Community Land Week gets underway in Lewis, on the Western Isles. Carloway Estate Trust are holding an event to open their new “Bonnet Laird Walk” on Saturday 11 August. The famous broch at Carloway is on their land. I’m a bit of a broch-a-holic and this one is absolutely majestic, it also has a great...
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Community Land Week 2: West Harris Trust – a Wealth of Wind and Water
8th August 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
From a hot desk in Stornoway… …here is today’s update. Mr Wheelhouse, Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, visited West Harris Trust to see their hydro and wind turbine energy projects, and their wonderful visitor centre, Talla na Mara. Powered with the renewables, it includes meeting space, a cafe, artists’ studios and affordable housing....
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Introducing…Scotland’s First Community Land Week!
6th August 2018 by Janet Mountford-Smith
Celebrating community landownership … So here we are on the threshold of Scotland’s first ever Community Land Week – a series of events to celebrate and promote community ownership of land and land assets (that’s buildings, to you and me). Fifteen community groups across Scotland are set to take part, with a wide range of...
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