Back to the Future - 2004
The Mackay Country Collectors
n May 2004 an intrepid team was assembled to begin work in Mackay Country. Working in the parishes of Eddrachillis and Durness were Isobel Patience, Rhiconich; Gail Ross, Achriesgill and Cathy Wood, Badcall, Scourie. In the parishes of Tongue and Farr were Sarah Beveridge, Melness; Shona Munro, Bettyhill; Rachel Skene, Tongue and Meg Telfer, Skerray.
They all have special qualities and share a commitment to the area and a drive and passion for the subject. In the months to come they needed all of that determination and drive. Over the past year this group of women have combined their talents and energies to great effect.
In a very short time they have had to learn to use a daunting range of equipment – laptops, scanners, digital cameras, minidisk recorders and microphones. Since minidisk recorders are designed with sharp-eyed and nimble fingered teenagers in mind this was far from easy. There were four main areas of work.
The Photo Archive
By holding photoclub events to which people brought photos old and not so old, an archive covering the whole of Mackay Country has been created. It is still growing and already contains over two thousand photos. The aim is to include contemporary photos which give a flavour of local life as well as old photos which provide a lovely record of days gone by.
The Oral History Recordings
To date sixty-two people have been recording talking about life in Mackay Country today and life in the past. A cross-section of people of different ages and backgrounds have been recorded to give a good picture of local memories and of working life now.
The Photovoice Project
An amazing fifty-two disposable cameras have been given out to a whole lot of different people in Mackay Country communities. Some cameras were given to primary school pupils and others to 5th and 6th year secondary students. Another batch of cameras have gone to men and women working in different jobs locally. These include keepers, posties, crofters, fishfarmers, shopkeepers and families.
All of these people have been asked to take photos illustrating life here today and showing the things they like and the things they dislike about life here. These photos and comments will also be archived and turned into a local display. Getting the cameras back is providing to be a little slow but we are sure that we will get there in the end.
The Schools
The primary schools have composed the longest poem ever about Mackay Country. There are seven primary schools in the area. Different schools have done their own projects on historical topics. This too will go into the archive to describe life today and life in the past through the eyes of local children.
Archive Searches
Work has been done in other archives to identify material which is useful for local research. These are the Highland Council Archive, the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland.
What Will We Do With The Archive?
Access to archive materials will be arranged right across the Mackay Country communities. Materials with special local significance will be kept with that local community. For instance the information about the 16th century Spanish ship which was wrecked off Kinlochbervie will be housed in Kinlochbervie. The report of the evidence given to the Napier Commission in Bettyhill on 24th and 25th July 1883 will be housed in Bettyhill.
This archive is for use by local people, local groups and local schools. Achieving appropriate and effective access to materials will take a little time to sort out with the range of local groups, but it will be done. A system for signing out things to borrow – like the Dunna Bull video - will be put in place. Since this is a big area it sometimes takes a bit of time for items to make it from one community to another, so a little patience will be needed from time to time!
The Future
It is to be hoped that this archive can continue to grow. All credit must go to everyone who has brought forward photos, agreed to be interviewed, given so generously of their time as volunteers, worked with the children, taken photos, secured grants, scanned photos, made tea … and so much more.
It has been an exciting time, a demanding time and an honour for us all to have these moments, guddling together in this carrying stream. Let us hope that there will be many more days of this to come.