20 March 2026 Issue 2670 © ULLAPOOL NEWS
Happy 100th Birthday to Jessie Osbourne (nee Macintyre) 19 March 2026
*****
Sincere condolences to the families of
Lou Middleton
&
John Wilkinson (John the Chemist)
*****
Ullapool Museum – opened 30 years ago on 22nd March 1996.
Extracts from The start of the museum… by Joan Michael
For Ullapool’s bicentenary in 1988 the all-women (bi-centenary) committee decided we wanted to have a several months-long exhibition on the past 200 years. But the problem was where to have it.
The Old Established Church had lain empty since the 1930s when it closed…..
It was used during WW2 as a sugar store and later the wee room (where the reception now is) was used as a morgue. It carried on as such very occasionally during the days of the Bicentenary exhibition!….
‘Ullapool 200- Ullapool through years; Ullapool’s fishing history’ opened in mid-June and ran to mid-September. SWRI members were among the volunteer sitters…..
Following the end of the exhibition in September ‘88 there was quite a bit of chatter (about forming a museum) A public meeting agreed and then began the lengthy process of getting funding. Ullapool Museum Trust was formed. It was an expensive process – bringing in professional designers, ensuring that every alteration/piece of work was compliant with its Category A listed status etc…..
There was only one condition of sale asked for by Church of Scotland HQ – the directors all had to sign that it would not be opened on a Sunday….
*****
Wet it, don’t burn it” – Local MSP calls for rewetting at heart of Scotland’s wildfire strategy. Scottish Green MSP for the Highlands & Islands, Ariane Burgess, has warned that Scotland’s new wildfire plan is heading in the wrong direction and that rewetting degraded land, not more burning, is the real solution. Ariane made the call after attending the sold-out Highland Biodiversity Conference in Inverness on 7 March, where scientists, land managers and conservationists shared the latest evidence on ecological restoration.
In 2025, Scotland’s worst-ever wildfire season saw over 230 fires burn through nearly 10,000 hectares of peatland, moorland and woodland. Ariane argues the answer is simple: wet the land. “Healthy, saturated peatlands don’t burn. Drained, repeatedly scorched moorland does.”
*****
What We Carry – A Community Exhibition
Sharing Ukrainian Stories Opens at HMS Unicorn, Dundee , Scotland
27 March to July 2026
HMS Unicorn will host a powerful new community exhibition, What We Carry, created in collaboration with members of the Ukrainian community in Scotland. The exhibition explores the personal objects, memories, and stories that people carry with them when they are forced to leave home. Developed through a series of workshops with participants from Ukrainians Together, the exhibition brings together everyday objects, photographs, and personal reflections that speak to identity, resilience, and the meaning of belonging.
*****
Happy 100th Birthday to Jessie Osbourne (nee Macintyre) 19 March 2026
*****
Sincere condolences to the families of
Lou Middleton
&
John Wilkinson (John the Chemist)
*****
Ullapool Museum – opened 30 years ago on 22nd March 1996.
Extracts from The start of the museum… by Joan Michael
For Ullapool’s bicentenary in 1988 the all-women (bi-centenary) committee decided we wanted to have a several months-long exhibition on the past 200 years. But the problem was where to have it.
The Old Established Church had lain empty since the 1930s when it closed…..
It was used during WW2 as a sugar store and later the wee room (where the reception now is) was used as a morgue. It carried on as such very occasionally during the days of the Bicentenary exhibition!….
‘Ullapool 200- Ullapool through years; Ullapool’s fishing history’ opened in mid-June and ran to mid-September. SWRI members were among the volunteer sitters…..
Following the end of the exhibition in September ‘88 there was quite a bit of chatter (about forming a museum) A public meeting agreed and then began the lengthy process of getting funding. Ullapool Museum Trust was formed. It was an expensive process – bringing in professional designers, ensuring that every alteration/piece of work was compliant with its Category A listed status etc…..
There was only one condition of sale asked for by Church of Scotland HQ – the directors all had to sign that it would not be opened on a Sunday….
*****
Wet it, don’t burn it” – Local MSP calls for rewetting at heart of Scotland’s wildfire strategy. Scottish Green MSP for the Highlands & Islands, Ariane Burgess, has warned that Scotland’s new wildfire plan is heading in the wrong direction and that rewetting degraded land, not more burning, is the real solution. Ariane made the call after attending the sold-out Highland Biodiversity Conference in Inverness on 7 March, where scientists, land managers and conservationists shared the latest evidence on ecological restoration.
In 2025, Scotland’s worst-ever wildfire season saw over 230 fires burn through nearly 10,000 hectares of peatland, moorland and woodland. Ariane argues the answer is simple: wet the land. “Healthy, saturated peatlands don’t burn. Drained, repeatedly scorched moorland does.”
*****
What We Carry – A Community Exhibition
Sharing Ukrainian Stories Opens at HMS Unicorn, Dundee , Scotland
27 March to July 2026
HMS Unicorn will host a powerful new community exhibition, What We Carry, created in collaboration with members of the Ukrainian community in Scotland. The exhibition explores the personal objects, memories, and stories that people carry with them when they are forced to leave home. Developed through a series of workshops with participants from Ukrainians Together, the exhibition brings together everyday objects, photographs, and personal reflections that speak to identity, resilience, and the meaning of belonging.
*****
