Ullapool Art Advenure

An Alternative Christmas  The Ceilidh Place is a hotel, a coffee shop, a great independent bookshop, a restaurant and venue for the arts in the centre of Ullapool. It's been owned and run by  my landlord's family since 1970. It  grew out of Broomview Cottage and was started by the late well known actor Robert Urquhart, who was born there in 1921.  He started with a small café in the boat shed with the idea  that it would become a place for eating, meeting, talking and singing. A place to be. A place where not only postcards but life histories would be written.  A sign outside invited musicians to sing or play for their supper. If they were good, their supper could take some time. Few were served quickly! There were arguments with planners, builders and bank managers as the café expanded. Local staff were assisted by others from across the globe who miraculously found their way to Ullapool.  There were customers who became staff and staff wh...

Half Time It's the end of term and we've reached the half way mark already. The last week had me behaving like Miss Grumpy. It was sculpture week and with a busted wrist impossible for me to take part. I became the tea lady and sulked - a lot. BBC Scotland arrived during the last week to do what they term a 'Stewpot Piece.' Something of human interest that they can put on to fill the gap when there is no other news. They wanted some of the broadcast in Gaelic and as Sheilah the musician is the only one who can speak it at all, she was nominated and did a good job,  For some happenstance I was invited to lunch with the crew and took the opportunity to tell them about Cullen on the North East coast of Scotland and the wonderful animal graveyard I found on my around the coast in 80 days journey last year.                                                ...

Lighting Up  The last two weeks have been busy. On November the 30th Ullapool switched on their Christmas lights. This small community on the North west coast of Scotland would put many a large town, including Eastbourne my own, to shame.  Look how pretty is this christmas tree. But wait -its no ordinary tree. It is recycled from fishing creels. The light up team - all volunteers - spent over 1000 hours testing all the light bulbs and preparing for the switch on. At 5.30pm it seemed as though the whole village had turned out to witness the switch on. The Ferry to the Shetlands went a short way into the harbour, blew three loud blasts on the ship's horn, filled the sky with its spotlight and the town turned on. Even the little fishing boats bobbing in the harbour were lit up with small white lights. With the strings of white lights all along the shore and the shops which had also prepared special windows and treats for shoppers, it was enchanting. For the twelve of us...