Poetry Reading at the GalGael

If you check out this blog regularly you will know we at GalGael enjoy a bit of poetry and try to encourage folk to write it too. We were lucky enough to welcome poet James J. Lafferty who gave us wonderful readings of his work to beautiful harp accompaniment from Noel Donnelly. Thanks to Alastair MacIntosh for setting up the occasion which was very well attended and we were glad to welcome some new visitors to GalGael among whom were some of James' family. Hopefully we will put some of his work on our poetry blog for you to have a look at, it really spoke to the folk at GalGael and James kindly did a very emotive reading of of our own Colin MacLeod's poem which you can read in our Poetry blog

Berlin Exchange

Well done to the girls from LISA in Germany who have just completed their three week exchange to GalGael. Lisa is a community boat building project in the city of Berlin and some of the group visited Glasgow last year so we are hoping to send some GalGaelians to Germany in 2010. The group have been working on oars for Orcuan while here and managed to get some time to visit Glencoe and the Wallace monument. We had a braw wee ceilidh to see them off and the even did a sword dance. Good luck lassies.

Orcuan trip to Iona

Orcuan is presently bearthed at the marina at Ardfern in Argyll waiting to head back to Crinan at the most suitable opportunity and then home. The crew had intended to sail her to Iona but due to bad weather and various other problematic issues the trip had to be cancelled. On the good side, some of the trainees and volunteers managed to get in some valuable sail training and had a good time on the water. The trip was to commemorate the 400th anniversary Statutes of Iona where James V1 attempted to undermine the traditional ways of life of the Clansfolk. Another reason for the trip was to deliver some stones. These were to commemorate the "Black stones of Iona" which seemed to have been very significant for centuries as a site over which binding oaths were made by clan chiefs on important matters and those who broke the pledge were accursed. Three good size stones were delivered across land by a team of stalwart GalGaelians who sited them on top of the highest hill on the island.

Film nights at GalGael

We have recently started to screen some films in the GalGael workshop to create awareness and stimulate discussion on various social and environmental issues. We have showed two to date- "Farming for the future" and "How Cuba survived peak oil". Both were very inspiring and thought provoking and we hope to continue with screenings every six weeks or so. Thanks to Anneruth Strauss and Lusi Alderslowe for getting it all going.

Glasgow River Festival 2009

While we didn't have any boats on the water this year, this was probably our biggest and best land based display at the Glasgow River Festival. The Clyde Waterfront marquee was stuffed to the gunnels with our ever growing body of crafts people including wool craft, pottery, carving, furniture making, basketry, and outside we had the blacksmith, wood milling, survival skills, pole lathes and of course battle re-enactment. The public seemed to love it judging by the feedback and it was good to be back on our old pitch next to the river. Thanks again to all who made it a great event- our staff, trainees, volunteers, crafts people, and to Mark and the team from Clyde Waterfront.

Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival

A large contingent of GalGaelians were up in Morayshire to attend this years Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival. We were blessed with great weather and a lovely wee spot next to the sea. Our marquee was a popular attraction and we made some good contacts even though we were slightly away from the town centre . It was a long journey but well worth the while and the event had a real holiday atmosphere. Some of us kipped in the marquee while others used the local scout hall. In the evenings some of us headed down to the town for a small refreshment by the beautiful 17th century harbour. We all had a great time and thanks to the organisers an people of Portsoy for their warm hospitality. You can see more pics at;
http://picasaweb.google.com/gehanmacleod/Portsoy09?authkey=Gv1sRgCNPvj_fF0OjfqAE&feat=email#5359064184476315922authkey=Gv1sRgCNPvj_fF0OjfqAE&feat=email#5359064184476315922

Glam-Gael at the Govan Fair

Having won first prize two years running, we had a lot to live up to at this years Govan Fair.
Glam was the name of the game and we didn't hold back. Some great footage coming up soon- especially Diarmid's groovy dancing in his Village People construction worker guise.