IT WAS built as climate experts and world leaders descended on the west of Scotland for the COP26 climate conference in 2021, but last Friday a Cowal totem of climate change was destroyed beyond repair as Storm Éowyn battered the area.
The Tighnabruaich Ark, or Ark of Argyll, had become something of a landmark, with local people and visitors alike enjoying its ambience and views over the Kyles ofBute-anditservedasa reminder of the stark realities of climate change. It was even the destination for many school visits as pupils were taught about the climate emergency.
The irony of it being destroyed by a major climatic event was not lost on designer and builder David Blair.
Built from European larch, the 20-metre-long, six- metre-high boat frame stood about half a mile up the road from Tighnabruaich in a field that Blair – a woodsman by trade – had taken as a grazing let, and near a convenient parking spot so that visitors can stop off to investigate.
“It is a beautiful structure,” he said when it was completed, “and I hope it stands as a symbol of strength and urgency. I thought I’d have to put up signs explaining it but its already being well-visited and the majority interpret it to be about climate change, sea levels and Cop26.”
The elegant structure was built by Blair and other members of Tighnabruaichs’s Extinction Rebellion chapter over a two-week period of the Impossible Rebellion, a series of climate protests across the UK calling for an end to investment in fossil fuels.
Last Friday the structure was turned to matchwood by the near-100mph gusts which Storm Éowyn brought to Cowal and Bute.
David Blair revealed this week that the Ark will not be rebuilt.
He said: “The Ark was built for COP26 coming to Glasgow, it attracted a lot of interest at the conference and brought several coach loads of indigenous leaders out to Argyll. We shared the same concerns on the climate and nature emergency. This was a highly evocative experience for all of us.”
He went on: “The Ark of Argyll was completely and utterly destroyed by storm Éowyn on January 24 which brought with it 100+ mph wind gusts that delivered extensive damage across Argyll. It took out the electricity network, the internet and some mobile networks leaving many people in the dark with no way of heating their homes or finding out what was going on. As I write many people are still without power five days on. Storm Éowyn was likely supercharged by climate change, and so the risk of disruptive weather events like this will grow more likely in the future. This should be seen as a wake up call to households and communities to be better prepared for unpredictable weather events by having access to alternative ways to cook, heat and light a home. Village halls, as the Colintraive community demonstrated, could be equipped with backup power supplies so that people have somewhere they can go which is warm and lit, where they can charge power banks and phones, find out what is going on and get a hot meal and support.”
Blair added: “The remains of the Ark will remain to demonstrate the power of the storm and the impact of climate change on our communities.”
