The main access to the Centre is by the bridge which crosses the river that runs between the Centre and the main gate. The original bridge was built over 20 years ago and was beginning to show signs of rot in the wood fabric, so it was necessary to do some repairs. It quickly became apparent on closer inspection that replacing all of the wood was the best long-term solution. We commissioned a local carpenter, Joe Gibson Ling, to take on the work and sourced seasoned larch from our local community forest and milled in the community sawmill.

Joe started in the middle of January, working around many wet weather days, frosts and delays in obtaining some of the materials. He also had to put considerable work into repairing and painting the metal support structure, building up the stone and concrete surrounds and bolting on the wooden upright posts onto the metal girders. His progress was closely scrutinised by passers-by on the main road and he found himself frequently being photographed … not something he had experienced on previous jobs!

The finished structure has received many complements and the trustees appreciate the attention Joe paid to detail and the quality of his work. We are very grateful for a grant from MESS (Mull and Iona Environmentally Sensitive Solutions) towards the cost of the project, as well as generous donations from the local playgroup and one of our members.

We still have to fund a significant portion of the work and so are looking for more donations to help towards this. If you would like to make a contribution, please go to the donations page of our website.

Below - 1) Original bridge 2) Wood stripped off and support structure repaired 3) Metal structure repaired and painted 4) First timbers in place 5) Work progressing on wood structure 6) Finished bridge!