In the grounds of Harestanes Primary School in Kirkintilloch still stands the sort of low, grey, battered building that so many of us recognise from our school days – one of those allegedly temporary huts that became a permanent feature of education across the country for an entire generation.

Most of them are gone now, but not this one, which functions as a sort of community centre and, for one week during the summer holidays, has been transformed into what is, in effect, a pop-up shipyard in the middle of a housing scheme.

I’m visiting on day four of a five day project arranged by the local council, supported by the National Lottery, and open to anyone from the nearby area. No previous experience or existing skills are required – all they need is the enthusiasm and curiosity to turn up.

By the time I arrive the original pile of wooden planks has already been reshaped and transformed into an elegant – maybe even beautiful – little rowing boat known as a skiff, its gently curved hull tapering to a crisp and confident point at the bow.

The vessel is upside down on a frame, and the volunteers are carrying out some small but important adjustments before attaching the last of the exterior pieces, most of which are designed to strengthen the existing shape. Tomorrow they’ll install the seats and sort out all the final finishing touches. The next steps will see the boat varnished and painted, at which point all the hard work will be complete and it will be ready for the water.

The project is being led by Ben Wilde, a boatbuilder and teacher who is also a director of the Archipelago Folkschool on the Isle of Mull. He is, he believes, “the only person in Scotland” doing this particular type of “community, educational boat building” that allows people with no expertise whatsoever to construct a fully-functional vessel in just one week.

He has been involved in this kind of work for several years and, over that period, has worked to simplify the processes in a way that makes boat-building accessible to just about anyone. Crucially, however, there is still plenty of space for participants to do something he considers crucial: learn from their mistakes.

This is all been achieved using a range of traditional approaches and largely hand-held tools, giving the group the chance to try different activities and learn new skills while creating something intended to connect past, present and, perhaps, future.

The boat has been constructed using a range of traditional tools and techniques.The boat has been constructed using a range of traditional tools and techniques. (Image: James McEnaney)

Although five days might seem like an impossibly tight timescale for that sort of approach, he says that none of the groups he has worked with have ever failed to complete their boat in a week.

On this occasion, his volunteers range from teenagers to those in their 40s, and had never met before turning up on the first day.

There’s Andy, who tells me that he has “always loved woodwork” and was keen to learn some new skills, and Ella, the youngest of the group, who was “just kind of curious and had never seen anything like this before.”

Helena’s story is a little different. She has some experience maintaining boats thanks, in part, to childhood summers spent in Cornwall with her aunt – but these techniques, and the traditional tools, are still new to her, offering “lots of potential to learn how to repair things using these different processes.”

The design for their vessel comes from Clint Chase, a boat-builder from Maine in the north-east of the USA. It has been chosen because it provides an interesting range of tasks for those taking part, combining traditional skills with some modern technology, such as the epoxy holding much of it together. Crucially, the finished product is one that people can actually enjoy when they take it on the water -  Wilde assures me that these boats “go fast and are really fun to row.”

And that matters, because this isn’t just a showpiece – the volunteers are building something that will be used to help others for years to come.

The boat will be launched at the upcoming Kirkintilloch Canal Festival, after which it will be handed over to the local outdoor education team and used as part of developments that include a new Outdoor Pursuits Centre in nearby Twechar.

The expectation is that it will enhance the provision available in the local area, especially for young people with mobility issues or other disabilities that make it difficult or impossible for them to use alternatives like kayaks and paddle boards.

Volunteer Ella working on the underside of the hull.Volunteer Ella working on the underside of the hull. (Image: James McEnaney)

There’s also a heritage angle to all of this.

Kirkintilloch is a place with plenty of boat-building history: small shipyards on the banks of the Forth and Clyde canal, which runs right through the heart of the town, were the birthplace of dozens of the much-loved ‘puffer’ ships that once hauled cargo up and down this and other waterways.

But that history is now all but gone. The puffers live on only in the name of a chain pub by the canalside and a small piece of public art left in tribute.

These days, although the canal path provide a green pedestrian link between the town centre and residential areas like Hillhead and Harestanes, and the marina is home to both the council headquarters and one of the area’s newest and biggest schools, the water itself is almost incidental.

But changing perceptions, however gently, has to begin somewhere, and standing watching the volunteers, with tools on the tables and sawdust in the air and a sense of community all around, this seems as good a place as any to get started.