New woodland walk opened in Lairg

A NEW walk in Church Hill Wood, in the centre of Lairg, was officially opened last week.

The Rev Leslie Goskirk, chairman of Lairg and District Community Initiative, who spearheaded the campaign for the development of the walk, introduced Jeanette Johnston from Golspie to perform the opening ceremony.

He said: "It’s rare to have an area of woodland right in the middle of a village, with a wide variety of trees and plants. It was originally part of the miller’s croft grazings and Jeanette, who spent most of her early life in Lairg, is now the representative for them. Thanks to her, the community have managed to acquire this area of woodland on an elevated site beside the loch and to develop it for community benefit and use."

Jeanette said she was honoured and very pleased to be invited to perform this task and she was impressed with all the hard work that had gone into making it such an asset. She said: "My ancestors have been associated with this land for 200 years. It was my ancestor Alexander Graham who settled at Milnclarin in 1800 and established a meal mill and croft on this site. The croft then passed to his son-in-law Donald Fraser in 1819, after which successive generations of Frasers followed as crofters and millers. The mill fell into disuse in 1885, but the croft continued and it eventually fell to me in the 1970s via my mother.

"When I was approached by Lairg Community Council in connection with the wooded section of the croft I was delighted to release it to them for community use and I’m very gratified to see the good work that has been done to upgrade it."

The cost of upgrading was £18,000 and this was raised through grants from the Scottish Community Foundation, Comic Relief, the People’s Postcode Lottery and Scottish Rural Priorities. They were also assisted and advised by the Forestry Commission, the Scottish Government, the Sutherland Partnership and the Forest Trust.

The winding pathways through the trees to the war memorial and the church were constructed by Mackie Ross from Rogart, stone work and bench installation was done by Shane Brayshaw from Shinness, fences by John Sutherland from Rosskeen and boards by Acorn Designs and display panels designed by Marlyn Price from Lairg. There are three display boards giving information on the woodland, the dam, the war memorial and the nearby church.

Although steep, the view from the path above the war memorial is magnificent, stretching right across Little Loch Shin, and there is a conveniently placed bench upon which to sit and rest awhile.

After Jeanette had cut a ribbon to open the walk, the party examined the woodland before adjourning to the church hall for refreshments.