Big turnout for Rag Tag walk

The walkers gathered near the old Toll Office

Over 100 people took part in the Rag Tag n Textile Skye Bridge walk last weekend, held as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.

With this year’s festival theme of ‘connected’ Rag Tag workshop co-ordinator Sarah Berry said it seemed fitting to connect the mainland to Skye with a walk.

At the start of the walk the Lochalsh and Kyle Development Trust provided cordials – made with local gorse, nettles, rhubarb and ginger – to all the participants at the gathering point at Kyle bandstand.

After the walk, local artists Sarah Longley and Vicky Stonebridge were on hand in Kyleakin hall to take sketching and clay tile workshops, the end results of which will feature in the ‘Connected’ exhibition due to be held in the Aros Centre in Portree next month.

Representatives from several mental health organisations came over from the Inverness area for the day: Creativity in Care, Befrienders Highland, Hug (Action for Mental health), Bug (Bikeshed Users Group) in Merkinch and Mikey’s Line. Café Chat provided the kitchen services in the hall and Kyleakin Connections provided soup. Fifteen stalls from craft-makes from all over the Highlands were also in the hall.

Sarah added: “This was a very sociable event. Everyone was in such a good mood because the weather was fantastic.”