26 October 2019

Starts: 10:00
Ends: 12:30

North Kessock Community Hall    10.00 - 12.30

The market organiser is Sylvie Main.  For information about the market or to book a stall, contact Sylvie ontelephone     01349 865652    or email      kessockmarket@transitionblackisle.org

 

 

26 October 2019

Starts: 10:00

26 October 2019

Starts: 12:00
Ends: 16:00

From the BITT October bulletin

Members of BITT have long since held the belief that the Clootie Well had become an eyesore rather than a visitor attraction to be proud of and that action was required to rid the area of synthetic fabric and plastics.

The Forestry Commission have now come to the rescue. As well as installing an improved information board at the car park, they are organising a family friendly clean-up event on Saturday 26th October, from 12.00 t0 4.00. So spread the word far and wide. All clean up equipment will be provided on the day and there will be kid-friendly activities and stories to hear about the history and folk-lore of the site. Details and tickets (free of charge but to understand numbers) are available here.

Let's get rid of all those plastic 'Cloots' and put it back on the itinerary for a visit to the Black Isle.

It is important to book to ensure the safe management of this event.

 

26 October 2019

October 2019

Successful Clean-up Day at Munlochy Clootie Well

Good weather contributed to a very successful day for the Clean-up of the area of the Clootie Well at Munlochy on Saturday 26 October.  Over the years cloots have been tied to trees far from the well itself and the prevalence of modern oil-derived fabrics has led to the area becoming progressively less appealing as a site to visit.  The concept of the spirits curing people’s ailments as the cloots disintegrated has become forgotten.

Forestry and Land Scotland organised the clean-up day to restrict the area of Littleburn Wood festooned by cloots.  A tape was set around the central area of the well and thirty-plus volunteers spent four hours collecting over 50 large sacks of material from the region outside the tape. Collected were shoe laces, shoes, boots, underwear, tights, pinafores, scarves, dish cloths, J-cloths, polythene bags, gloves, socks, tape, ribbons, T-shirts, jeans, handkerchiefs, hessian, sweaters, gloves, polythene sheeting… and more.  The objectives of the day were met. All the sacks brought were filled. Just a few cloots high in the trees could not be reached as no ladders were available.  Importantly, a decision is needed on what the fate should be of the non-biodegradeable materials at the heart of the well.  

At the day’s end a spiritualist was at hand to reinvigorate those who might have felt they were anatagonising the gods of the well, and most agreed that the transformation of the area around the well had been remarkable and achieved quickly.  Thank you Marie and the Forestry and Land Scotland team that organised the event with food and drinks and all the necessary tools, and thanks to the volunteers who came from the Black Isle, Easter Ross and as far away as Edinburgh.

Now, please visit the Clootie Well, bring some scissors and a refuse bag and hunt out plastic cloots and clothing for removal, so that only natural fibres are left to degrade in the way the spirits of the well require!

Julian Paren
October 2019.