Spruced-up for the Season!
Despite the cold and rain, St Conan’s dedicated team turned out in force for this year’s spring spruce-up day! The list of tasks inside and out was lengthy: we are happy to report that most things were achieved. The kirk is noticeably brighter and shinier inside. The floors and ledges were hoovered, sandstone mini-drifts under […]
MSP & NLHF VISIT
On Monday 6th March we hosted a VIP Visit from our Argyll & Bute MSP, Jenni Minto and also representatives from the National Lottery Heritage fund! Jenni was accompanied by her colleague Keir and from NLHF we had Laura Matheson and Catriona Melville. The main purpose of the visit was to showcase the impact of […]
Delivery for Planned Work
Today in Lochawe we were in Awe of the wonderful MKM delivery driver who reversed down to the Kirk to deliver materials for our planned Mezzanine. This won’t be in the public area but will give us significant additional storage behind the Organ, freeing the Library space as a proper office which we can use […]
60 for 60 – Funding News!
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cruachan Power Station, renewable energy company Drax has awarded £60,000 through its charitable entity the Drax Foundation, to support two transformative projects in Argyll, near to the location of its iconic pumped hydro storage station. We are delighted that they have chosen St Conan’s as one of those projects […]
Another St Michael’s Window!
We were delighted and fascinated this week when we were contacted by the Historian and Archivist from St Anne’s Church in Bagshot, Surrey. It appears that our beloved St Michaels window, designed and created by Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise, is in fact a smaller version of the same window that she designed in 1895 […]
Repairs Underway!
Visitors to the Kirk this month will notice that scaffolding has appeared beside the Cloisters. This is to allow access to the stonework at the exterior of Rose Window which is in dire need of some skilled love and attention to stop the constant ingress of water during our wetter days. the water not only […]
Birds at The Kirk
By Phil Ashby Earlier this month, our army of volunteers set about Spring cleaning the Kirk, both inside and out. I was tasked, along with others, with moving the millions of leaves from the pathways and flower beds. As the weather was glorious, it wasn’t a bad job to be given. The other plus was […]
Spring Clean at the Kirk
The weather was glorious today as our intrepid team of volunteers donned their rubber gloves and rolled out the Henry hoovers or grabbed a rake or trowel and headed out to the gardens. Our list of achievements included a thorough clean of St Bride’s and St Conval’s Chapels. The South Aisle was swept and hoovered […]
Heaters Installation
When you have a large stone built building with vast open spaces, the biggest challenge is to heat it. Too little heat and the place remains fridge-like, but too much and, as we know, heat rises, so it could start to dry out the wonderful wooden roof trusses, causing damage to the building. We have […]
Spruce the Bruce!
With so much beautiful wood in the Kirk, it is an ongoing process to look after it. Today, one of our key volunteers, Peter Hennessy, donned his pinny, grabbed his rags and oil and painstakingly worked over the beautiful carving of King Robert the Bruce, bringing out the best of the oak. Once done, he […]
