Who Are We?

Strathglass Heritage is formed of mostly local people united by our interest and care for all that we see as the heritage of our area and its inhabitants. This consists of:-

• Our social heritage – the people who have come before us, their experiences, industries and way of life, their homes and townships.
• Our natural or environmental heritage – the landscape, the hills and rivers and glens with their abundant and splendid wildlife, woodland and open hill and farmland.

What Do We Do?

The group started it’s life as a sub-group of the Strathglass Community Council, becoming independent in 2003. A large and impressive archive of the area has been developed, which we envisage sharing through publications and and an online archive. Activities have been many and varied including walks, exhibitions and socials.

Walks

To develop our Local History Walks, we have identified sites of local interest, researched local archives and the National Sites and Monuments Records, and tapped into the knowledge and traditions preserved by local inhabitants. We have walked around old houses, burial grounds, lead works, settlement clearance sites and more. For most of these, pictorial map guides were produced, which will eventually be part of a unique Strathglass Local History Walks series.

We also work in partnership with the Highland Council Ranger Service to offer educational walks and talks that have proved popular with younger audiences, e.g. pond dipping, bat watching and wild flowers.

Exhibitions

In order to bring the results of our research and collections to a wider audience, we have mounted several exhibitions. Significant exhibitions include:-

• The Hydro-electric scheme in the Glens, with the building of dams in Glen Affric and Glen Cannich, and the impact on local life and culture.
• Traditional Trades and Crafts. A look at local culture from around the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Included in this exhibition was a Blacksmith’s forge and many local people contributed grannie’s carefully preserved chattels to give a snapshot of local life.
• Other themes have been the beginnings of Christianity in Strathglass, the Shinty club back to its first matches and our local schools, and we have watched some of the earliest film recordings of local life.

Socials

There is of course a social element to all of what we do, but we regularly host meetings of members and friends to come and chat, view the expanding archive of photos, maps and documents, and our wonderful scrapbook collection which was donated in 2006. Many a resident or ex-resident of the Glens has discovered a titbit of family history while browsing through them! We present talks from time to time, record peoples stories, and have, on occasion, run bus trips to events and places of interest, such as local museums or talks at heritage societies.

How to Join Strathglass Heritage

Becoming a Member
Membership is by Annual Subscription. Becoming a member is the key way in which you can make sure the work of the Association can be continued.

E-mail Maeve Ryan, the chairperson at midmainabtinernet.com.

Caring for Our Members
Members receive regular updates of the work of the Strathglass Heritage and are invited to all members and public events. Members may also request access to the extensive archive files. It hardly needs to be said that these include unique local research and history unavailable from any other source.

Want to be more Involved?
Members are warmly invited to join us in preserving our heritage by:-

• Adding your own fund of local and historical knowledge.
• Undertaking a particular area of research.
• Offering help with developing publications and web archive.
• Volunteering as part of the team in developing History Walks, Exhibitions & other local events.
• Fund-raising.