Fishing heritage exhibition

The exhibition is open until August 31st.

Since the exhibition opened on July 25th, local people have been bringing in more photographs and items to add to the display.

There is now a chart showing the fishing grounds used by the Scalpay fishermen over the years, more photographs of the beautiful boats, and a model of the Jasper.

There is even a label that was used to send lobsters down to George Rush, Billingsgate.

The exhibition tells the story through pictures, personal experience and written record of fishing in Scalpay over the years.

Fishing provided the island’s lifeline when the first crofters were moved to the island during the 1840s.

During the early 1900s Scalpay was a bustling port with up to 12 curing stations.

Boats came from all over northern Europe to collect barrels of salt herring.

Again in the 1960-70s herring brought prosperity to Scalpay and the island thrived.

In addition to the exhibition, there are five albums of photographs on loan from the Comunn Eachdraidh na Hearach (Harris Historical Society).

These photographs of Scalpay folk date from around the turn of the 20th century.

While most of the people in the photographs are named, we still need to identify some of them.

We would like help to fill in the missing information, add the patronymics and learn more about the folk in the photographs.

The Exhibition is on at the Scalpay Community Centre until Thursday, 31 August.

It’s open 3 days a week – Tuesdays to Thursdays – from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm.

Admission is free and tea and coffee is available.