The village of Clachan in Kintyre had to cancel its Smallholders gathering at short notice. It should have taken place yesterday, on Saturday 1st August.
But on Wednesday a flash flood hit the charming village on the A83 and equidistantly inland of West Loch Tarbert and the Sound of Gigha. As the water receded and by Friday the scale of the clean up necessary had become evident.
So yesterday and last night, when the events of the gathering should have been in full celebration, Clachan was in full clean up mode.
The community spirit and solidarity for which the village is rightly famed – as well as for its creative inventiveness – has prevailed and as usual everyone in the village has helped each other as much as possible.
And it’s been an all-in effort.
On Thursday the children of Clachan School went round the village litter picking.
There was so much debris strewn about from wheelie bins that had fallen and floated away.
The children also wrote amazing poems and descriptive pieces about the flood, which was a very vivid experience for them.
Some families have lost poultry; some have lost their homegrown produce and flowers; and some have damaged carpets and furniture. Flooding is an utterly invasive destruction.
Equipment at the village Post Office was damaged so it remains closed.
The roads were damaged severely in the middle of the village. It was impassable. All credit to Argyll and Bute Council roads department – which was fast out to come and fix the road.
Clachan is sad to have to cancel the Smallholders Gathering but felt that it would have been disrespectful to everyone concerned if there had been any attempt to go ahead with it.
It is also typically Clachan to turn a disaster into a positive with the children taking their experiences and translating them into writings. We will see if they would like them to be published.
Everyone would be interested to learn how this pretty muscular flood and the sense of collective mustering against it has been seen by the village’s young children.
With Lorien Silvan