The Mapping Museum research project was created to look at the increase in the number of museums in the UK. As part of this project, Roy Macintyre and Karen Buchanan were interviewed about the Gairloch Heritage Museum.

Explore more about the Mapping Museum project here and read Macintyre and Buchanan's interview below:

Interview summary

Name of persons being interviewed: Roy Macintyre, Karen Buchanan

Location of interview: Gairloch Heritage Museum

Date of Recording: 20 May 2019

Recording Length: 01:12:08

Name of interviewer: Dr Toby Butler

Description: Gairloch Heritage Museum interprets the local history of the parish of Gairloch on the shores of Wester Ross in the North West Highlands; the museum covers subjects including pre-history, agriculture, iron-working, religion, whisky, wool, fishing, Rua Reidh Lighthouse, peat, wartime naval history, transport, education, Gaelic, and croft life.

Summary of main points in interview: Please note: An archive interview with founder Sylvia Murdoch is referred to in this interview. Karen Buchanan is the current curator and Roy Macintyre is chair of the trustees and has been involved from the early days of the museum.

Roy explains how the museum was set up by Sylvia Murdoch and her husband (the local Sheriff) in a farmstead. People involved included Kay Matheson (one of the group who stole the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey). The museum opened in 1977, and the organisation was set up as a local branch of Ross and Cromarty Heritage Trust. Macintyre explains this was part of a movement to preserve and appreciate Gaelic culture, social history and artefacts. He explains some of history of land ownership in the area. Organisationally they became a company limited by guarantee in the early 1990s.

They secured regular grant funding from the local council for a curator; the museum was also funded by a restaurant and admission charges. They discuss objects in the collection and how they have been donated and collected. They discuss how the museum was about to move to a bigger site (July 2019). They discuss the funding sources and how they have had to be adaptable and resourceful to keep going. Oral history has been important here and the funding has included oral history collecting, and the museum is a place where stories can be kept and shared. They discuss visitor profiles and the large body of volunteers helping out (50) and how important it will be to celebrate the achievement after so many years struggling to raise funds.