Thursday 24 November

When it comes to writing music that captures the mood of a landscape nobody does it better than Inverness fiddler Duncan Chisholm who captivated a full house at Cannich Hall on  Saturday with pieces from his Strathglass Trilogy. Duncan was joined by Irish guitarist Tony Byrne, a brilliantly intuitive player, for an evening which will go down as the biggest highlight (in these parts anyway) of the year. An unforgettable evening which, lest we forget, also raised £996.57 towards the refurbishment of Cannich Hall. Not bad for a hall which less than 18 months ago was in danger of being closed until the local community stepped in and decided things could be a whole lot different. Duncan's already promised a return visit. Can't wait!

Monday 14 November

Nice surprise on Saturday when the chair of Beauly Firth & Glens Trust turns up on my doorstep with a cheque for £11,500 towards the hall refurbishment project. The trust has recently been wound up and has distributed its funds to a number of local groups of which SACC is one. So one very large thank you to the BFGT!

Thursday 4 November

A big thanks to everybody who turned out for out for SACC's second AGM last night. In subdued lighting the kitchen didn't actually look too bad! Had some very positive responses to the refurbishment plans but do keep the feedback coming. Check out the plans on the SACC Document Archive page. Now working hard to get the funding in.

Tuesday 1 November

Two more funding applications completed and posted off in the last couple of days - Robertson Trust and the Highland Cross; then there's the AGM on Thursday (which, importantly, includes a presentation of the refurbishment plans and getting essential feedback on these), a meeting with the architect on Friday and the business plan to complete. Quite a week!

Thursday 27 October

Starting to put in funding applications for Cannich Hall Refurbishment. First one was to Creative Scotland for staging, light and sound gear so we can host more events. Let's hope we're successful!

Duncan Chisholm at Cannich Hall

Fiddle player Duncan Chisholm will be playing Cannich Hall on Saturday 19th November. Duncan will be playing music from his Strathglass Trilogy.

For full details including ticket arrangements go to:

 http://www.strathglass-affric.org.uk/page.php/6/What's-On.html.

Live Music at Cannich Hall!

Big thanks to everyone who came to our fundraiser last Monday evening featuring Nick Keir & Stephen Quigg.  The atmosphere was excellent from the outset and the duo thoroughly entertained us with a brilliant mix of traditional and contemporary music.  The evening was enjoyed by locals and also a number of holidaymakers who came along to get a taste of Scots music at its best.

The acoustics in the old hall were surprisingly good and both Nick & Stephen were very complementary about Cannich as a venue and the great reception they received.  So we're really pleased that we'll see them again on their 2012 Highland Tour!

Hopefully this was the first of a number of events (one or two are in the pipeline) that will establish Cannich Hall as a new venue for the arts in the Highlands.

A few pics from the concert courtesy of Isabelle Guillot D'Hauterives!

Timber!!!!

Great news is that Scottish & Southern Energy is donating a substantial quantity of timber towards the refurbishment of Cannich Hall.  At present it is stockpiled at Fort Augustus but will soon be heading up the A82.
Nigel Fraser at Tomich has kindly offered to to store the wood when it duly arrives and it will also be milled there prior to the refurbishment work beginning.

SACC Appoint Architect for Refurbishment Project

Chris Davenport of Drumnadrochit has been appointed as architect to take forward the refurbishment of the hall. Chris designed the Bog Cotton Café (amongst other things). He’s already been measuring up the hall, crawled under the stage area and clambered up a rather dodgy looking staircase to get into the old projector room. As usual, we’ll keep you posted as things progress and there will be an opportunity later this summer to see the final plans.

Gala Day Planned

After an absence of many years Strathglass will once again have a Gala Day this summer.  Sunday 28th August is the date to put in your diary.  Plans are underway and we’ll be posting out more information over the coming weeks. If you’re able to help in anyway or have an idea for something you think might be good to do on gala day contact Jess at garybutler868@btinternet.com

Use Them or 'Loos' Them!

It might have escaped your notice but Cannich Hall is now a member of the Highland Comfort Scheme.  Earlier this year the Highland Council, in the face of budget cuts, decided to close a number of their uneconomic public toilets including those in Cannich - cash was literally going down the drain.

However businesses and community organisations were encouraged to offer the use of their facilities in return for a........'wee fee!'    SACC have therefore made the toilets in Cannich Hall available to the public from 8am – 8pm, from 1^st April until 31^st October.

Folk Duo Start Highland Tour at Cannich

Great to see two of Scotland's top folk performers Nick Keir & Stephen Quigg are to play Cannich Hall on Monday 25th July 2011.  Former members of the McCalmans folk band, who entertained audiences at home and abroad over a period of five decades (albeit with a few personnel changes!), Nick and Stephen kick off their 2011 Highland Tour in a fundraiser to aid with our hall refurbishment.

Although highly acclaimed solo artists in their own right they regularly team up and to date this year have played a number of gigs in Germany and a tour of Denmark is scheduled for the autumn.

The concert starts at 8pm with doors opening at 7.30pm.  Light refreshments will be available at the interval and there will also be a raffle.

Tickets are on sale now priced at £8 and £6 (concessions) from the following:
Jim McAuley 01456 415366
The Bog Cotton Cafe 01456 415364
E-mail enquiries to bookings@glenaffric.info
We also hope to be able to offer an on-line booking service in the very near future - watch this space.
Many thanks to Strathglass Marketing Group for their support in organising the concert.

Oh What A Night!

Behind Closed Doors became Cannich Belles Delight!

 What a transformation! Who would have thought our hall could look so different! But it’s amazing what you can do with a good dose of imagination (and a lot of hard work by very cheerful volunteers). And there was plenty of both on Saturday when the inside of Cannich Hall became, for one night only, a scene straight out of a North African souk.

This was our first Ladies Night when 30 or so women belly danced the night away.  Four dancers, always keen to share their love of Egyptian and North African sounds and moves, showed the ladies of the village how to find their shimmies, hip drops and snakey arms (big thanks to Annie and the girls).  It was a delight to see everyone get up and have a go and what fun it was!

We only took time out to help ourselves to the most extraordinary buffet of delicious couscous, falalfel, kofta, stuffed vine leaves, wonderful home baked sweets and pastries, melon and grapes and of course, turkish delight and sweet mint tea.

A night to remember. Shame we had stop and take the tents down at the end of the evening. We all wanted more! Let's hope we can have another night like this soon. Thanks everybody!

  

Report on Cannich Village Hall

Feasibility Study

The Feasibility Study on the future development of Cannich Hall is now complete.
Copies are available to read in the following locations:


•    Cannich Stores
•    Tomich Post Office
•    Cnoc Hotel
•    online at www.glenaffric.org


Alternatively you may find it easier to read a PDF version. If so, please download it here.
The accompanying drawings can be downloaded here.


Support Cannich Hall.
Use it! - or lose it!