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Our Community Hub learning exchange visits continued last Saturday with visits to Craignish Village Hall (Adfern) and Ardrishaig Public Hall.
These trips are about learning from places that are already doing it well - how they’ve developed, how they operate day to day, what’s been worth investing in, and what they’d do differently. The detail we pick up on these visits will help shape the early scoping and planning work for Glenbarr’s Community Hub as the project moves into development through 2026.
A huge thank you to our hosts for the warm welcome, openness and time: Craignish Village Hall, Ardfern and @Ardrishaig Public Hall, @Ardrishaig Community Trust as well as those from Glenbarr's community who also gave their time.
Access to the Community Woodlands at Dal an Duie is restricted today (20th February 2026), and on any day our felling contractor is on site.
This is non-negotiable and is in place for public safety while works are underway.
🚫 𝐍𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥
🪧 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞
⚠️ 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬
Thank you for respecting this boundary so the work can be completed safely and without disruption.
Last week a small community group from Glenbarr took part in a learning exchange, visiting community hubs in Oban, Mull and Coll and hearing - direct from the people running them - what it really takes to deliver and sustain a hub that works in a rural setting.
Glenbarr’s Community Hub is a long-term GCDA project to create a multi-use space that can support local activity, services and new opportunities in Glenbarr - providing benefit for Glenbarr, west coast communities, the wider Kintyre community and visitors alike. With the project expected to move into active development during 2026, these visits are helping us make better decisions early and avoid expensive mistakes later.
The visits were a real success and will directly inform early project scoping and the Phase 1 brief, business planning, and community options appraisal. Three themes came through clearly: keep community access affordable, build a mix of reliable income streams to keep the doors open, and design around the day-to-day reality so the place stays busy without becoming an operational burden.
In the coming weeks, Glenbarr will be holding further learning exchange visits to locations around mid-Argyll and Kintyre to further our learning of what works and what doesn't in areas closer to home.
A huge thank you to our hosts for the welcome, honesty and time: Oban Communities Trust - The Rockfield Centre, Mull and Iona Community Trust, and Development Coll - An Cridhe
🎥 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐭 – 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Back in November, the Glenbarr Doocot became a hive of activity as urgent remedial works got underway - bringing together skilled conservation professionals, volunteers, and the wider community.
Scottish Historic Buildings Trust have now released a short film capturing those works on site: the careful repairs, the teamwork, and the incredible community effort that helped stabilise this historic structure and secure its future.
From hands-on volunteering to behind-the-scenes conservation, the video reflects what’s possible when local people and specialist partners work together to protect Glenbarr’s heritage.
Yesterday marked a truly memorable final day on site at the 𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐭, as our ten days of urgent repair works came to a close in the best possible way.
The day was full of life and laughter as volunteers, families, Glenbarr Primary School and supporters of all ages joined us for our 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐲, filmed by 𝐁𝐁𝐂 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐚 who captured the spirit of what this project has been all about — community working side by side to safeguard local heritage.
Amidst the activity came an extraordinary moment: volunteers, working alongside our archaeologist, uncovered what appears to be the 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 — 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭. This exciting discovery will guide the next stage of community-led work as volunteers continue to carefully uncover and document it in the coming weeks.
Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who’s played a part — from those who lifted a trowel to those who cleared the site and helped with heavy lifting. Special appreciation goes to Richard Fraser and Mikey of Limerich Ltd, whose skill, dedication, and guidance throughout the project have been invaluable and Angela at Scottish Historic Buildings Trust for project managing through the urgent works programme.
This phase may have finished, but the work — and the story — continues.
💚 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!
Be sure to catch us on BBC Alba on Monday evening's news!
As the repair project at the Glenbarr Doocot enters its final day, today’s focus turned inward.
An archaeologist joined the work today to help document any finds or details of significance within the floor layers, offering new insight into the history and construction of this remarkable 18th-century building.
Each stage of this project has revealed more about the Doocot’s story — not just through its stones, but through the people who’ve come together to protect it. Our fantastic volunteers have certainly been engrained in the Doocot's history, and we're grateful for their perseverance and enthusiasm over the last two weeks.
For a site full of so much activity for the past two weeks, this was replaced this evening by candlelit serenity ready for tomorrow's Community Day.
Tomorrow marks the final day of site activity as BBC Alba joins us to film the repair works and celebrate what’s been achieved by volunteers, and partners Scottish Historic Buildings Trust and Limerich Ltd .
💚 Visitors are welcome to drop by and be part of this special final day. Filming runs from 09:30 - 10:30am and it would be great to have as many faces with us as possible.
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