In the far north west Highlands of Scotland the remote parish of Coigach lies some twenty five miles north west of Ullapool in Wester Ross. Approximately 300 people live in the parish and in the summer that number increases with many visitors who come to enjoy the wonderful scenery of bens and glens, coastline ad the dramatic and beautiful Summer Isles.

In gaelic the meaning of 'Coigach' is the 'Five Fields' and is the name given to the  parish comprising the small crofting townships of Achduart, Achnacarinan, Acheninver, Achnahaird and the probably the best known and largest township of Achiltibuie.

The Coigach Community Trust is a charity whose purpose to benefit the people of Coigach and the fine hall opened in April 1999 is the community's prime asset. The hall is run by a team of volunteers who warmly welcome you to this website and hope that you will come and use the hall facilities and meet some of the local folk who live and work in this wonderful area of north west Scotland.

The Old Hall

The recorded history of the old hall began on the 9th April 1914 when Roderick Mackenzie the tenant of croft 115 Polglass gave up part of the croft and a feu was granted to the The Territorial Force Association by the countess of Cromarty. On the 11th September 1914 the TA received the first instalment of a loan of £575 from the Public Works Loan Commissioners to construct a drill hall in Achiltibuie. The TA received the second instalment of £275 on 24th June 1915. The £575 was finally repaid in 1947.

In 1958 the TA indicated that the drill hall might become available for purchase and the community arranged for a loan for the £150 they thought would be sufficient to acquire the building. However when a formal approach was made to the TA it transpired that the sum required was £250. Within a short time an anonymous donation of £100 (probably from the Fowlers at Braemore owing to their connections with the TA although there is no way to confirm this) appeared in the bank account in Ullapool and in January 1959 the building was signed over to the community for use as a village hall. There then followed a door to door collection to raise the money to pay off the loan. 74 separate contributions ranging from 5/- to £25 resulted in a total of £160/ 7/- being raised which was sufficient to cover the debt.

The building was in use as a hall until April 1999 when the new Coigach Community Hall opened on an adjacent site. The site had been acquired by Ross and Cromarty District Council as part of the site of the Island View development and zoned for industrial units. The land for the new hall was bought from the council for £1 before its assets were taken over by the Highland Council.

Other uses for the building were investigated and in April 2001 a 25 year lease was granted to a tenant to turn it into a piping school. This resulted in a complete refurbishment of the building but the project did not succeed and the tenancy was given up in February 2007. As time passed the community out grew the hall and it was showing its age and a forward looking committee held a public meeting to float the idea of raising money for a new hall.

I remember being at that meeting in 1984 (?) where the community's contribution was estimated at £16-20k and thinking it was an impossible target but I still held up my hand in support. After all what had we to lose? The enthusiasm and hard work of that committee soon began to reap rewards and money started to trickle in.

The May Fair was born which later became the Coigach Gathering and still continues as a major fundraising event for the hall. Workers in the smokehouse donated a whole day's pay to the cause, prawn fisherman went out one Saturday and sold the catch for the campaign and there were frequent ceilidhs and dances organised. T-shirts, sweatshirts and tea towels went on sale. The first auction sale of services was held in a packed hall where you could buy anything from a couple of hours of gardening work to a 5 minute lecture on the evils of drink which as I recall was bought for £40 by a well meaning mother for one of her sons.

By 1994 the minutes of our meetings showed that around 20% of the community had served on the committee since that first public meeting and that number continued to grow. The need for a new hall became more pressing with the playgroup and the doctor's weekly surgery under threat as we struggled to meet the minimum standards required. By the time we had the plans and a site for the new building the community had raised over £60k and the total project cost had grown to £627k. The community's stake rose to over £70k by the time the building was complete.

At first there was some resistance from outside the community to the ambitious and costly building we were planning but we were soon able to convince the funders that we could justify our plans and that the project was sustainable and one by one, they backed it. Once the building was finished and open those same funders were telling other communities planning halls to go and see what they have done in Coigach.

The hall has now been open for 25 years and is still one of the best and most accessible halls anywhere in the highlands.

When we started planning the building individual members of the committee took the time to visit numerous other new halls to see what they had done and steal the best ideas for ours. We quickly produced a list of things to avoid and mistakes that other communities had made which included terrible acoustics, floors ruined by stiletto heels and cigarette ends, cheap furniture and fittings, lack of storage, even slot meters for hand driers.

What we have here today is the 26th version of the first plan and is an example of what a community can achieve through hard work and dogged determination. Other communities are rightly jealous of what we have and if you have any doubts about how good it is go and have a look at a few other halls.

Of all the many members of the community who gave so generously of their time and hard earned cash to deliver the new community hall, Harry more than anyone was tireless when it came to going the extra mile. Quite literally. Not just travelling to meetings with potential funders in Inverness, Dingwall or Ullapool but even taking a model of the proposed building to London to show to the Millennium Commission. At his own expense.

Once our share of the money was raised, grants approved and the contract awarded work began on site. Harry was there every day and soon built an excellent working relationship with the site foreman. Any problems were sorted out efficiently, usually the same day. There is no doubt that details would have been overlooked without his constant presence and the trust of the contractor.

During much of this time the committee met at least once a fortnight and Harry, as treasurer, produced updated accounts for all those meetings. He managed the hall finances and project budget with an efficiency and dedication few volunteers could equal and after 14 years a £627,000 project came in 42p under budget!

Harry's involvement continued long after the completion of the hall. Making sure everything worked as it should and that the hall was accessible for everyone. He just wanted it to be a success for every member of the community.