June
Oban High volunteers Harry Johnston, Toby MacFarlane-Barrow, Lorn MacFarlane, Katrina Pick, Alan Kerr, Nicola MacCallum and Caitlin Cook.
DUNOLLIE Castle re-opened after renovations costing £260,000. Collapsing masonry had necessitated urgent repairs to the 13th-century MacDougall clan seat. The social enterprise Dunollie Projects, to whom the castle was gifted by the MacDougall of Dunollie Preservation Trust in 2013, had to raise the cash to make the ancient vantage point of the Kings of Dalriada safe for visitors. The work to remove ivy, stabilise walls and build three new interpretive cairns was completed in May. Staff and donors celebrated as Oban High School volunteers at Dunollie cut the ribbon into the castle vault on Friday, to the tune of Rosalie MacDougall’s Welcome to Brisbane, played by the clan piper’s son Donald MacDougall. Robin MacDougall Morley, son of the current chief, Morag MacDougall of MacDougall, added: ‘We’re impressed. This is the biggest change I’ve known.’