Skyecomuseum

 
 
STAFFIN HALL ASSOCIATION LIMITED
Minutes of Annual General Meeting
Held on Tuesday, 11th October 2016 at 8.00pm
 PRESENT:
 
Effie Macleod (Emac)            – Chairperson                          Martin Perry (MP)
Peter Richell (PR) – Treasurer                                     Andrea Kerley (AK) – Secretary
Gordon Higgins                                                          Anne Goldsbury
 
 
APOLOGIES
 
There were no apologies.
 
There was one member of the public present.
 
The following issues were discussed:
 

Election of Officers

 
The current ...

STAFFIN Community Trust (SCT) has welcomed fresh proposals for an organic fish processing development which could create significant employment opportunities and much-needed infrastructure investment.
The improvement and redevelopment of the Staffin Slipway has been a priority of the local community for some time.
Basic amenities such as water, fuel and electricity cannot currently be accessed. There are no boat storage facilities, while increased shelter for vessels, and the ability to berth at all times of the day were frequently highlighted by local people ...

A GROUP of talented Trotternish youngsters are getting ready to set sail across the Minch to take part in the Royal National Mòd.
The October school holidays are now underway but 18 children from the peninsula, who attend Staffin, Kilmuir and Portree primary schools – and Portree High –  have been hard at work in rehearsals as they prepare for an array of competitions.
Trortternish has enjoyed tremendous success at Gaelic’s annual blue riband event in recent years which is testament to the pupils’ proficiency in the language and guidance and support from their teachers and ...

SCOTLAND’s first Ecomuseum – which opened in Staffin almost a decade ago –  is to undergo an exciting revamp and improvements thanks to major National Lottery investment.
Staffin Community Trust (SCT) is delighted to announce the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has approved a £522,000 grant to enhance the Skye Ecomuseum experience for visitors and the island’s resident communities. The HLF award will enable the construction of a viewing platform at Lealt Gorge, new footpaths and interpretation, a central Staffin “orientation point”, ...

 
A summary from UTS director and CnaG’s Sine Gillespie on the successful outdoor Gaelic course in Staffin which goes from strength to strength…
In the summer of 2016, Urras an Taobh Sear (Staffin Community Trust) was once again delighted to host Roddy Maclean’s 10-day course, ‘Àrainneachd, Cànan is Dualchas’.  Delivered in Staffin through its native language, Roddy’s course explores the Gaelic view of the Scottish environment.
In week one at the end of July, we studied ‘Croit, Coille, Monadh ...

STAFFIN Community Trust has taken an important step in realising its aim of building new affordable houses, 17 years after the last homes were built in the area.
SCT has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with two respected housing bodies to work together and progress plans for a six-unit development, which could also provide space for local businesses. SCT has worked closely for almost two years with the Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association (LSHA) and the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust ...

TWO Staffin couples, including a pair of fleet-footed Foxes from Maligar, are getting ready to rumba at a Skye dance extravaganza.
Couples from the Taobh Sear are starring in the popular “DAES Does Strictly”event later this month. Husband-and-wife John and Disie Fox have been in rehearsals for several months along with seven other island dance partnerships. The Foxes are looking to fox-trot their way to the Strictly Skye title and electrician John will be looking to hotwire his quickstep.
Valtos guest house owner Rachel Morrison and ...

UPDATES on Staffin Community Trust’s main projects will be provided later this month. 
SCT’s 2016 Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday night in Staffin. The AGM will include the latest progress on SCT’s work and an overview of the last 12 months. These include the Staffin Slipway, the affordable housing development, the Staffin Crofters’ Memorial, the Storr, the proposed extension to the Skye Ecomuseum Ceumannan and the outdoor Gaelic in the Environment courses hosted by SCT. The annual report on SCT accounts ...

PRICES at Skye’s biggest lamb sale of the season this week were markedly down from the first trade only a fortnight earlier.
At Dingwall and Highland Mart’s sale last month almost 2,900 sheep went through the Portree ring with an average price of £44.90, which was £2.84 up on the same sale in 2015. However, on Monday (5.9) – at what is traditionally the bigger of the island’s two main lamb sales – the average price had slumped dramatically by £7.41. 
The average price was ...

STAFFIN’S scenery is the number 1 natural outdoor attraction in the UK – ahead of Snowdonia and Glencoe – the world’s biggest travel website has revealed.
The Quiraing, which attracts thousands of people each year, came first in the ratings for the “best-rated natural outdoor attraction in the UK”, it was revealed by Trip Advisor on the AOL home page. http://travel.aol.co.uk/photos/tripadvisor-best-natural-outdoor-attractions-uk/423160/?ref=21457814
The Quiraing, which has been the setting for major films, television programmes, various commercials and even pop videos in recent times, now has more than ...

LAMBS reared in Staffin were among the leading prices at the island’s first sale of the season. 
In one of the most crucial days in the calendar for Staffin crofters, Dingwall and Highland Marts sold more than 2,870 lambs and ewes in Portree ring on Monday (22.8).
The Staffin lambs were coveted by buyers despite the poor weather in the latter part of the summer and is testament to the district’s reputation for producing quality store lambs. The average price was £44.90 – which was ...

THE names of the Staffin men who made the ultimate sacrifice can be read more clearly on the district’s war memorials after work was completed. 
A specialist power wash and the re-lettering of the fallen soldiers’ names on Staffin’s two war memorials – by the Kilmartin River and at Valtos – was carried out last week.
Stewart Bain and Ronnie Sutherland of Dingwall-based monumental sculptors John Hood & Son were in Staffin on Tuesday (16.8.16) to carry out the work at the memorials, which remembers ...

TWO well-respected Staffin businesses are the latest additions to join the district’s online business listings this week. 
The Staffin Campsite and Kilmartin Restaurant are now featured on the Staffin Business Directory http://staffin-trust.co.uk/staffin-directory which showcases what there is on offer on the east-side of Trotternish. It has steadily grown since its launch and features a  range of businesses from shops, places to eat and stay, or to and purchase gifts (and watch them being made) and specific services, such as construction. Their inclusion means there are now 12 Staffin businesses featured.

FORTY Staffin residents gave their views on the Old Man of Storr site at a special community drop-in event at the weekend.
A project team is carrying out an options appraisal of the site Staffin Community Trust (SCT) and held a consultation event in Staffin Hall on Saturday. 
Richard Heggie of Urban Animation and Sam Foster Architects and SCT representatives discussed the project with attendees, highlighted the issues which were highlighted in the community consultation carried out in November last year and invited people to plot a revised layout using a model of the site. The people who attended ...

FORGET about the countdown to the Games in Brazil…
There’s only one Games that counts.
And next week is showtime for the Staffin Ladies’ tug o’war team at the theatre of dreams itself – The Lump.
Fresh from their spectacular 2015 triumph the squad is preparing to go into battle once again at the Skye Highland Games and their rivals should beware. The Staffin women are currently in the midst of an arduous pre-games programme of intensive altitude training on the Trotternish Ridge, which has involved winning a practice pull ...