Heritage in Action Days at Highland Folk Museum
At the Highland Folk Museum, our Heritage in Action Days are very popular with visitors, running every Thursday from June to September, and in October. In addition to the seasonal staff who are based in some of the buildings we bring in volunteers or other experts to demonstrate traditional skills and crafts relevant to the area and time period. This enriches our living history approach and enable us to show more intangible aspects of Highland life such as Gaelic waulking songs, music, etc.
In the 1700s Township we have:
- Processing wool including dyeing with plants and lichens, spinning, weaving
- Pole lathe wood turning
- Thatching
- Hurdle making
- Leather working
- Making cordage from grasses and rush
In the Croft we have:
- Rope making
- Scottish music
- Butter making
- Blacksmithing
- Sheep shearing
On the Sawmill Pond we have coracles, and visitors can have a paddle on the water. By the Church we have the Badenoch and Strathspey Waulking Group demonstrating the waulking of the cloth to the rhythm of Gaelic songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKbbURJSM58 Länk till annan webbplats.
On the Shinty pitch we have had shinty and Highland Games demonstrations such as tossing the caber and throwing the hammer. We have more spinning, weaving and rag-rug making in other buildings. We have also brought in stone masons, Scottish ceilidh band, and storytellers.
Visitors’ experience at the museum is so much improved by the increased opportunities to see traditional crafts in action, especially if they can try them out themselves. It also gives context to the historic buildings and makes the way of life seem much more real and relevant. Crafts people thoroughly enjoy the chance to interact with the visitors. It gives value to their skill and knowledge, boosting their confidence and self-esteem. It preserves those skills and traditions, hopefully inspiring people to go away and try them for themselves. It increases understanding of how people lived in the environment, using locally sourced materials; how vital community activities were in the past; educates visitors in processes which have now become mechanised and completely removed from the home or local area.
This is Some Advice to Others:
We would really like to recommend others to work with their buildings, demonstrating skills and crafts which fit the period and location. Vary your offering to encourage locals to visit several times. Many activities can be interactive with preparation – don’t be afraid to let people have a go. These activities need not cost too much. We offer our exhibitors a voucher for lunch at our café as a thank you for their time.