Highland Archive Centre

Highland Archive Centre The Centre also houses a dedicated Family History Centre and Conservation Studio. Appointments are available between 10am-4.30pm. SC042593
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Highland Archive Centre cares for, and provides access to, archives dating from the 13th century covering Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty, Inverness-shire (part) and Nairnshire. The Highland Archive Centre is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. For further information or to book an appointment please email [email protected] or call 01349 781130. High Life Highland is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No. SC407011 and is a registered Scottish charity No.

HCA/D1293/5/2 Clachnacuddin FC, 1982Clachnacuddin FC, commonly known as “Clach” was founded in 1885 and was one of the ...
08/06/2026

HCA/D1293/5/2 Clachnacuddin FC, 1982

Clachnacuddin FC, commonly known as “Clach” was founded in 1885 and was one of the seven founding members of the Highland League in 1893. They hold the joint-record (with Caledonian or “Caley”) of being champions eighteen times, the last being in 2003-2004. Pictured above are: Back row – H. Morrison, D. Shearer, D. Cowie, J. Rae, A. Chisholm, D. Arris, D. Wright, D. Masson, centre row - J. Frewin, W. Robertson (manager), D. Rogers, M. MacNiven, S. Clark, F. Watt, A. Stevenson, A. Chisholm, J. Follen, W. Townsley, front row – J. Clark (trainer), S. Junor, J. Flannigan, F. Taylor, S. Forbes, J. Dennison

‘Ghost signs’ I frequently pass by a shop on Kingsmills Road, in Inverness, which has left the original signage intact f...
06/06/2026

‘Ghost signs’

I frequently pass by a shop on Kingsmills Road, in Inverness, which has left the original signage intact from an earlier occupier, ‘Adam MacGillivray, Boots & Shoes’. This piqued my curiousity to find out about the previous occupant, and working in an archive centre makes that very easy! I searched for Adam MacGillivray in the Valuation Rolls, which were compiled annually and listed every property and the name of the Owner and Occupier/Tenant. Valuation Rolls are one of our most heavily used archive items, as you can find out a lot about the history of a house or a business.

I discovered that Adam MacGillivray was (of course) a shoemaker and the tenant of the shop at 9 Kingsmills Road from 1920 to 1965. Incredibly, although the ownership of the shop changed a few times over the decades, Adam traded from here for 45 years! Digging a little deeper, by using the Scotland’s People website, I found that Adam was born in 1889 in Inverness and died in 1976 at the age of 87. It is quite amazing to think of the changes that were going on in Inverness and the wider world in that time span. How the fashions for shoes must have changed!

The first and second photos here show the first entry of Adam MacGillivray’s tenancy in the Valuation Roll of 1920-21 (top of the page) and the last in 1965-66 (bottom of the page). (HCA/BI/2/5/26 & HCA/BI/2/5/71)

Thirdly, my own photograph of the shop signage, taken in May 2026. Perhaps some of our readers will remember being taken here to get new shoes as a child!

It's great to be at the Northern Meeting Park today for the unveilling of the new panels telling the history of the park...
05/06/2026

It's great to be at the Northern Meeting Park today for the unveilling of the new panels telling the history of the park.

It's been good to be involved in the Northern Meeting Park Stories project over the last year or so and it's wonderful to see the panels in situ!

We're looking forward to supporting this event on Tuesday with an exhibition telling the story of Gaelic Medium Educatio...
05/06/2026

We're looking forward to supporting this event on Tuesday with an exhibition telling the story of Gaelic Medium Education. Come along to Cultarlann Inbhir Nis between 3-5.30 to chat to us and Am Baile - Highland History and Culture, and share your memories of Gaelic and school!

The Highland Council The Highland Council Gaelic Team High Life Highland

One week on from our in-person event to mark the 260th episode of Learn with Lorna we'd like to once again thank everyon...
04/06/2026

One week on from our in-person event to mark the 260th episode of Learn with Lorna we'd like to once again thank everyone for attending and for all the lovely comments and donations (both financial and archival) we've received in response to the series over the years. Your ongoing support of something which started as a 14-episode teaching resource is truly appreciated. We could never have imagined it would still be running six years later, that we would have received such lovely feedback, and that both new collections and additions to existing collections would be forthcoming as a result.

Learn with Lorna will now take a summer break before returning on Thursday 3rd September with Episode 261 - Travel Tales - which will be advertised later today. Remember that in the meantime you can catch up with all 260 episodes via https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyxasYGi8kIcL7OThf1QGsHAMACY_1DGE&si=Tdkw0MVjNeJH3zX4

Thank you again for all your support of our work!

High Life Highland The Highland Council Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archive Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre Lochaber Archive Centre Am Baile - Highland History and Culture

HCA/1618/1 Pupils of Inverness Technical High School, Class V Session 1952-3 The Technical High School specialised in pr...
03/06/2026

HCA/1618/1 Pupils of Inverness Technical High School, Class V Session 1952-3

The Technical High School specialised in providing vocational courses. Originally just called Inverness High School, the school was re-named in 1937 when it moved to Dalneigh; it reverted to its previous name, Inverness High School, in 1959. Helpfully, this photo is annotated on the reverse with the names of all the pupils, as well as the teachers.

It was a privilege this weekend to take part in the Guuranda X Rise performance at Dance North Scotland' s Rise 26 festi...
01/06/2026

It was a privilege this weekend to take part in the Guuranda X Rise performance at Dance North Scotland' s Rise 26 festival. Lorna shared stories from our collections that tell of clearance and migration, while artist Lynda Buchan, and Findhorn resident Jonathan told stories of their connection to the land, before the packed out audiences enjoyed watching Guuranda dancers and the Sing Moray - Community Choir share stories of Narungga culture.

Thank you so much for the invitation to take part in this cultural exchange.

It was an absolute joy to host an in-person Learn with Lorna event at the Highland Archive Centre yesterday. Around 85 ...
29/05/2026

It was an absolute joy to host an in-person Learn with Lorna event at the Highland Archive Centre yesterday. Around 85 people came together to hear thoughts on what can be considered to be 'the treasures of the Highland Archive Service' before enjoying displays of archive material from right across the service's four offices.

We were delighted to receive such positive feedback from those who attended with people commenting on the emotion of the talk, the pleasure of seeing such a wide range of material from our collections, and many other aspects of the day. Perhaps the most frequently made comments, which are greatly appreciated, spoke of the obvious closeness of our team, and the passion we all have for caring for, and sharing, our collections.

We were delighted to receive extensive press coverage of the event, with interviews on BBC Scotland News, BBC ALBA's An Là, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC Radio Scotland. If you didn't see/hear these then followers in the UK can check them out via BBC iPlayer.

Many thanks to all those who attended the event. We hope you enjoyed it and perhaps we'll see you at something similar in the future!

High Life Highland The Highland Council Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archive Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre Lochaber Archive Centre Am Baile - Highland History and Culture

28/05/2026

Learn with Lorna 260 – Treasures of the Highland Archive Service
Part of a series of events to share the collections of the Highland Archive Service.
This livecast is being brought to you by High Life Highland at no cost to the viewer.
High Life Highland is a charity registered in Scotland.
This event does not require any payment or subscription but we welcome donations.
To donate please visit https://shop.highlifehighland.com/products/archives-choose-your-donation
All previous episodes can be seen at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyxasYGi8kIcL7OThf1QGsHAMACY_1DGE&si=1u6WUF-hBjP7iV1H

It’s the eve of our Live Learn with Lorna event and a day full of preparations. Now that all the hard work has been done...
27/05/2026

It’s the eve of our Live Learn with Lorna event and a day full of preparations. Now that all the hard work has been done, we can’t wait to welcome you tomorrow for Episode 260!

Due to a couple of cancellation we have about 5 tickets remaining! If you would like to join us please book via https://tickets.highlifehighland.com/events/highlifehighland/2057468

High Life Highland The Highland Council

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Bught Road
Inverness
IV35SS

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Monday 10am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm
Thursday 10am - 4:30pm
Friday 10am - 4:30pm

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