Around Lochaber

The relationship of Lochaber with its principal town, Fort William, has in the past been an uneasy one. 'The Fort' - An Gearasdan - was established as a garrison to subdue the Gaelic-speaking class of Lochaber. The area has seen immense changes over the last one hundred years. These changes are reflected in the unique and evocative collection of 200 photographs of the area and its people, drawn from the archives of the West Highland Museum, Fort William, and supplemented by local private collections. Life in the crofting township was very different from that on a Highland sporting estate, and different again from that of the commerce of the town. The photographs, taken from the Victorian era to the present day, bring these contrasts alive. As the book progresses, the photographs show how these different ways of life have become more integrated. The arrival of the West Highland Railway at Fort William in 1894 and the building of the two British Aluminum smelters affected all the people of Lochaber. Fort William today has moved a long way from its foundation, and has become the bustling commercial and tourist centre for Lochaber and for its Gaelic traditions.