Museums and visitor centres in Skye and Lochalsh are inspired from the heritage, culture and environmental factors that have shaped these communities and lives for centuries.
From the larger clan visitor centre and castles to the tiniest croft house there are plenty of opportunities to peek into the often unsettled and rebellious history of our island and highland ancestors. Start at the famous Eilean Donan castle on its rocky promontory and stunning location, in Lochalsh moving onto Skye where the Museum of the Isles at Armadale Castle and the grounds and castle at Dunvegan castle will keep the historian and families happy for days.
Often more fascinating is the glimpse into the crofting life of the ordinary islanders, with their harsh but close knit and happy community life. The Museum of Island Life at Kilmuir will captivate you as you step back into another time to experience their living and work conditions sense some of the harsh realities they faced and the happy communities that they lived in.
From those often harsh lives comes a rich inspiration and a motivation to keep the crafting heritage vibrant and alive today. Working studios and visitor centres with demonstrations from tanning of skins, spinning and weaving of local wool, potters at work, stone carving, bladesmiths, jewelers and knitters all harnessing and developing techniques and traditions from the past for our future art and craft culture to drawn on.
And for the children amongst us, follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs where our unique dinosaur museum hosts world class examples of dinosaurs from recent island finds.
Sheepdog demonstrations display the skills acquired to manage some of the daily crofting tasks, with dog and master working together to lighten the load. The Border collie trained for shepherding possesses amazing intelligence and an overwhelming desire to please. Demonstrations of their intuitive working partnership is an example of continuing tradition, keeping our heritage alive today and their skill is simply unforgettable.
