The people of Craignish are not going to let a landslip get in the way of their Christmas market.
Just weeks ago villagers were expressing their hopes that the A816, blocked since early October, would be open in time for the celebrated annual event – but it remains closed.
A damaged bridge meant that, briefly, the peninsula was cut off from both north and south, but the road into the village from Oban reopened and access is possible.
Sarah Whittle, manager of the village hall that hosts the event, said: “We are really hoping that people will still come out and shop with us.”
She added: “The community has a lot of really creative people. We have artists. We have people who create clothing. We have people who produce exclusive coffee blends. We have someone who creates tiny baskets out of plant fibre. We have creators of stained glass. There will be mulled wine. . We’ve added a pop-up gallery to allow space for our local artists to exhibit.”
Earlier this month, the community of Craignish launched a campaign to draw attention that, with businesses “fighting” for survival, they were open for visitors.
Leading the call, Vicki Burnett, of the Craignish Community Company charity, said the landslide has caused "unprecedented disruption".
The market runs on Friday November 17 from 5-9pm and on Saturday November 18 from 10am-4pm in the village hall, a popular venue with views out over the loch.
“People comment on how amazing the venue is,” said Ms Whittle, “and then we always decorate it really beautifully, so it creates a really lovely atmosphere and it just has a very special feel that people comment on. You hear people saying, out of many Christmas markets they go to, that this one is particularly special.”
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Organisers did consider, she said, postponing the event. “But we weren’t confident that the road would reopen and we have other bookings in the hall. And we also didn’t want to then clash with any other local villages having markets nearby. So we took the decision to carry on and do it."
Some stallholders, said Ms Whittle, nevertheless did cancel. “Some the other side of the landslip, did cancel, which is really disappointing.”
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For those just the other side of the landslide, she said, the journey is long and on single-track roads with passing places. “Especially if they are doing it in the dark, you can understand why they don’t want to do that. But you know I really hope that people will still come out and shop with us.”
Craignish Community Company have also created a Christmas giftcard scheme to support local business that are struggling because of the road closure, and vouchers will be on sale at the market.
But Ms Whittle was keen to emphasise that there is more to Craignish than the Christmas market.
“The community as a whole creates a real destination for a day out. We’ve got incredible walks. We’re right on the lochs. We’ve got a shop, a pub, another café. If people are having to drive further because of road closures, then it doesn’t have to just be to come to the Christmas market. I’m sure everyone will find what we’ve got on offer worth the trip.”
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