The Museum
We also have an award
winning
Museum and Visitors
Centre,
housed in a
Parliamentary Church built in 1829
and now beautifully restored. It was one of 32 , designed
by Thomas Telford and built all over the
Highlands by
Parliament, to encourage the establishment of settled
communities.
As a result of a merger
between two churches, it became
disused in 1935 and, apart from a brief period in WW2 when
it was used for storage, remained so until the summer of
1988.
That summer
Ullapool (like Australia whose
'First Fleet'
arrived in 1788 !)
celebrated the 200th anniversary
of its founding by the
British Fisheries Society.
The old church was opened briefly, to house an exhibition
of
Old Ullapool and its connections
with
Australia,
New Zealand and Canada. The exhibition proved so
popular that it was reopened for the next few seasons
by which time it was decided to establish it on a permanent
basis. The
Museum Trust was formed and grants
obtained for refurbishment.
The Museum -
old Telford church
The church was restored to
its former glory in 1995 - even
the paintwork was done using paints made up to the original
formulation !!
It is well worth visiting for the building alone
It now houses a
professionally set up Museum and Visitors Centre
and has a Curator and assistant aided by local volunteers
to help
when required. It includes a history of the district and
also an award
winning 15 minute audio visual display (now available to
buy in VHS
and DVD formats) with aerial photos of the area accompanied
by
a commentary in 6 languages. Its available to view on video
for
those unable to negotiate the stairs.
It
was named as Scottish Museum of the Year in
1996
The 'Schoolroom' includes very old copies of the School Log
Book.
There are filed letters
from numerous people living in Australia,
New Zealand and Canada* who recognise and appreciate their
origin from this area. Many supplied detailed information
regarding
their Lochbroom ancestry. There is also a thriving
Genealogy
section where help is offered to visitors
Net mending
display
* The first European
settlement in Canada was in Nova Scotia
in 1773, at Pictou, from a ship named The Hector, which had
set sail from Lochbroom and included many local people.
Some of these, lead by their Pastor, later moved to
Australia.
A replica of The Hector was launched in Pictou in September
2000
(attended by two local people). We're hoping the new Hector
will
eventually set sail for the port it left in 1773 -
Ullapool.
There are a large number
of filed letters from the
descendants of those who migrated from
Ullapool.
Around the walls there are wonderful tapestries
(and a quilt) telling the story of life in and around
Ullapool. These were made by a great many
named local people, to celebrate the
200th Anniversary in 1988
VISITORS always
very welcome