Rain! The weekend could scarcely have been wetter but perhaps this worked out for the best. Perhaps this made our visitors even more enthusiastic about finding an interesting undercover venue! The Friends Committee and the St Conan’s Trustees are delighted by the number of people, both locals and tourists, who visited over the two days. Some had seen the notices in the Oban times, the website and Facebook; some had read the posters and leaflets distributed around the area; some had children who had taken part in the local schools’ art competition and some were just passing and saw the roadside signs.

  

The key objective of the weekend was to raise awareness of St Conan’s and the new Friends charity: this aim was surely achieved. In our successful application for charitable status earlier this year the Friends said that our purpose is to help maintain St Conan’s while promoting education, the arts, culture, science and heritage, and  involving the local community. The programme for our open weekend was designed with all this in mind. We know it is just the beginning but after seeing so much interest from the visitors we all feel that it is definitely a good beginning!

The Kirk looked even more amazing than usual. The natural beauty of the interior was brought to life with stunning flower arrangements, small trees, potted hydrangeas and twinkling candles. In the background, atmospheric music played. The light-filled eastern end (apse) of the Kirk provided a perfect venue for displaying art. Our visiting artists were thrilled! The work on display and mostly for sale included paintings, collages, silk scarves, felt-work, cards, bags, wooden bowls and ornaments. The marvellous Station of the Cross sculpture lent to us for the occasion could not have been displayed to better effect and was very much admired.

Round in the south aisle the entries for our first annual primary schools’ art competition were eye-catchingly displayed. The Friends are delighted to have received entries from Dalmally, Taynuilt, Crianlarich and Inveraray. It was fascinating to see the many depictions and interpretations of St Conan’s varied features.  After much consideration it was agreed that this year the St Conan’s Cup is awarded to Dalmally Primary. The cup will be engraved and presented to the school to keep until next year.

In addition to viewing all the artwork on display other entertainments were on hand. Visitors could sit a while and watch a play or listen to live music. The always entertaining Three Wee Crows put on two informative and funny productions at intervals throughout the days. To the delight especially of the tourists, we had live piping by two of our local schoolgirls. First the girls played in the cloister and later in the chancel within the main Kirk building. Highland Cathedral was particularly popular. Visitors were also intrigued to see a German crew filming in the Kirk for an hour or so and later an interview being conducted in Gaelic and filmed for BBC Alba. We were certainly offering a varied cultural experience! We also had a raffle for a portrait (subject to be chosen by the winner) donated by a talented local artist. This was won by a visitor to the area who was very pleased indeed.

Those keen to learn more detail about the Kirk were invited to join a guided tour. We ran six tours each day, each lasting about 25 minutes. These tours had several aims: to give information about the Kirk’s origins, to showcase some of the more important artefacts, to mention how fabulous the Kirk is as a wedding venue and to point out some of the Kirk’s quirks and frankly bonkers features! We also wanted to highlight that much urgent repair and maintenance is needed in many areas.

When inner sustenance was needed our visitors headed out to the Gatehouse where the Tearoom Team provided coffees, teas and delicious home baking. This included scones, gingerbread, traybakes, and a choice of no less than four different spongecakes!

The Friends Committee is grateful to the many people who helped with this event and contributed to its success. We received some generous donations and our Friends membership doubled in the course of the weekend.

We hope to do it all again next year!