It’s a new chapter for craft in Scotland, with the establishment of the country’s first folk school, writes Sandy Neil.
Based in Argyll, Archipelago Folkschool is teaching ‘endangered’ crafiskills such as blacksmithing, kayak and boat building – with one ‘boat building course for women, taught only by women’.
The social enterprise explained: ‘Despite folk schools being well-established in Scandinavia and the USA, this will be the first of its kind in the UK. Until now there have been few opportunities for the public to learn the craft of boat building in Scotland.. The organisation was formed by boat builder Ben Wilde and artist Ruth Little in spring 2018, with the aim of connecting people with craft .