On a very wet and very windy November evening, a few hardy folks attended the launch of our Kinloch80 exhibition. This exhibition has been two years in the making, but you could definitely argue it has been longer.
The Kinloch Historical Society was formed in 1983, some forty plus years ago, and since then each iteration of the committee have collected and preserved our community’s past in a variety of ways; publications, talks, cultural evenings, and exhibitions, all telling the history of Kinloch.
We are all in agreement that progress and change has both benefited and impaired our rural community. Full electrification, fresh water and sewerage were not only welcomed but needed in the post war years. But these services are not free, and the crofting way of life did not pay.
Industries, such as Harris Tweed and fishing were profitable for a time, but with their collapse work had to be sought elsewhere. The establishment of a local authority and the Arnish Yard provided such opportunities for the people of Kinloch, but they also signified a shift in traditional living.
Folk were going to the town for work, so why not shop there, too! Commercial industries were paying well, so let’s buy a car rather than take the bus. New technologies were being mass produced making them more affordable, suddenly every home had a TV. The progress was welcomed and embraced, but something was lost in the process. It is a pattern that will feel familiar to many rural communities in the Outer Hebrides.
Yet, this was not the plan! Prior to and following the second world war, there were conversations in both local and national government regarding rural communities and the importance of developing them. Centralisation was anathema! Our policy and decision makers did not want everything coming out of Stornoway; even at one point suggesting a second town for Lewis be created in Breasclete or Carloway.
The post war years saw some of the highest rates of migration. The development of rural communities was therefore essential for slowing the depopulation of the islands. Yet, eighty years later, the villages of Kinloch are without the shops, businesses and community halls that once made her a bustling, thriving community.
It is not all doom and gloom. While we do not have population numbers for Kinloch specifically, we can see that over the past twenty years the population of Lochs has plateaued. Despite there being no local schools, there are still young people and families in our villages. We may no longer engage in the communal crofting way of life, but facilities such as the Balallan & District Recreation Hall, and our own Community Hub, provide opportunity for engagement and socialisation.
The Kinloch80 exhibition sought to tell this story in an honest and respectful way – that’s why community impute was so important in curating this exhibition. We have received wonderful donations of items from residents, as well as used the oral histories recorded in the Gaelic language in our research.
Thank you to everyone who has made this exhibition possible:
Museums Galleries Scotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Highland Folk Museum, Museum & Tasglann nan Eilean, Western Isles Libraries, The Kinloch Historical Society committee and volunteers, and finally to everyone who contributed to the exhibition through engagement, set design and donations.
Mòran Taing!
