🧡Thanks to the support of National Lottery players we have been awarded £263,163 to help the museum develop 🧡A total grant of £2.7 million will be available to help deliver the project if our development phase is successful To find out more visit: www.westhighlandmuseum.org.uk/2026/05/26/w...

Tomorrow we move to our Summer Opening Hours. 🌷In May we will be OPEN Monday to Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm

Our Curling Exhibition is live if anyone missed it! youtu.be/IPTFAEla4z8?...

The West Highland Museum's Heritalise Project EU project team attended the first Heritalise Cluster Event Academics met to hear about Heritalise & other European cultural heritage digital projects The event was located in the Politecnico di Torino in the Castello del Valentino

The Scottish team from West Highland Museum, University of St Andrews, & Timespan attended the Heritalise Project EU 2nd General Assembly in Turin this week.

#otw A C19th child’s silk tartan dress The material came from a soldier of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. On retreat from Derby he blessed it & said all future children of the family swathed in it would be kept safe & be successful #jacobites #tartan #museumobjects #highlands #silkdress #JacobiteRising

We're creating a digital model of Auliston clearances village in Morven If you can help & have stories to share get in touch Email: [email protected] #HighlandClearances #scottishhighlands #highlandvillage #Auliston #morven #HighlandHeritage #community #3DModels #heritalisee

Our final day of digitisation with the Open Virtual Worlds team from the University of St Andrews. Yesterday we focused on our Jacobite collection #bonnieprincecharlie #jacobites #DigitalTransformation #museumobjects #heritalise #scottishhighlands #scottishhistory #3DModels

A big thank you to everyone who came along & donated to our Valuation Day yesterday We would especially like to thank the Lyon & Turnbull team of experts who worked non-stop assessing everyone's precious treasures. #valuationday #antiques #treasure #antiqueexpert #community #CommunityEvent

Today is World Wetlands Day! Did you know we have wetlands in Lochaber? Wetlands in Lochaber are characterized by peat bogs, mountain lochans, and river floodplains, such as those at Rannoch Moor and around the River Lochy. They support all manner of life.

Do you suffer from pediophobia? Julie, our Learning Officer does! Despite that, she jumped in to assist getting these ladies upright again (without looking any of them in their eyes) Pediophobia is a fear of dolls. Another task ticked off our winter job list!

The Northern Lights were spectacular in Lochaber last night 🌙 ✨️ Image credit: The Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge. Kim Ferguson of Kimages. #northernlights #auroraborealis #FANtasticPhoto #scottishhighlands #commandomemorial #speanbridge #lochaber #WestHighlands

🤗🤗Get ready to sweep the floor (not literally, we have brooms for that 🧹) with our Curling Exhibition!!🤗🤗 Dr Chris Robinson MBE has installed a fascinating history of Curling in Lochaber! There are some very interesting items on display.

This week the Curator and Learning & Outreach Officer tackled some pressing tasks in our Highland Living Gallery. They also gave the artifacts a strong coat of Renaissance wax, because even the oldest and most treasured items need a little TLC to keep them looking their best.

We will be CLOSED due to snow on Monday 5th January ⚠️ A yellow warning for snow is in effect until midnight Tuesday and for the safety of our volunteers and staff we have decided to close. #snow #snowfall2026 #snowfall #snowday #yellowweatherwarning Image: Ben Nevis from the end of Loch Eil

Winter Solstice 2025 Sunset at the western end of Loch Eil near Fort William on our shortest day of the year. #wintersolstice #wintersolstice2025 #scottishwinter #wintervibes #winter

We were delighted to be profiled in this month's issue of the AIM Bulletin published by the Association Independent Museums to their members throughout the UK ❤️ #museumlife #MuseumVibes #museumofthefuture #ScottishMuseum

🎄 Last night our volunteers and staff celebrated Christmas with a fabulous night out in Fort William! 🎄 A big thank you to The Old Deli. The food and atmosphere was amazing as always! 🎅 🎅 #Christmas #Christmas2025

Last week we installed objects at the new Inverness Castle Experience We then had a sneak preview of this exciting new Highland visitor attraction. The Castle opens to the public today. #inverness #Highlands #highlandsofscotland #scottish #scottishhighlands #museumobjects #jacobites

Honestly Santa, our Learning Officer has been good! He's arriving at the Museum shortly, see you there!

Honestly Santa, our Learning Officer has been good! He's arriving at the Museum shortly, see you there!

Today we had Acharacle PS visiting our Learning Officer, Julie, to learn all about the Commandos and WW2.

We were excited to share our redevelopment plans with Diana Gabaldon yesterday & showcase our excellent Jacobite and Gaelic collections. #DianaGabaldon #Outlander #outlanderfans #OutlanderFamily #outlanderseries #JamieFraser #JamieFraserVibes #jacobite #GaelicCulture #museumofthefuture #books

Our Learning Officer is @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social Museums Scotland for the Scotland's Comms Conference today, and it's a packed house!!!

We will be CLOSED on FRIDAY 14th NOVEMBER for a private event. Sorry for any inconvenience. We reopen on Saturday at 10.30am as usual

Today our museum team along with St Andrews University travelled to Corrour Estate.

Today our #Heritalise project team visited the Centre for Research Collections at The University of Edinburgh where Kirsty Stewart, archivist for the School of Scottish Studies Archives #GaelicCulture #CulturalHeritage #scottishhighlands #HighlandHeritage #museum #archives #jacobite #materialculture

We welcomed David Alston, author of "Slaves and Highlanders : Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean" to the Museum. #CulturalHeritage #scottishhighlands #scottishhistory #lochaber #slaveryhisto

The HERITALISE consortium gathered this week in the historic village of Helmsdale, Scotland, for its first General Assembly, marking a key milestone in the project’s journey toward redefining cultural heritage preservation. 👉 Learn more about the project: lnkd.in/dXEDrn-S

Yesterday our Learning Officer engaged with Inverlochy PS with a Victorian theme. We learnt that life at school could be miserable at times, and empathised with the poor Victorian teachers who had nearly more rules to live by than the children!

Yesterday our Learning Officer had the pleasure of engaging with Banavie PS. We explored the Jacobite period, experiencing the Fort in reality (our Governor's Room) and in Virtual Reality (our VR kit). We learnt of Clans, and everyone had a go at designing their own clan badge.

📍 Next week, the HERITALISE consortium will gather in Helmsdale, Scotland, for a General Assembly! This meeting will be a key moment to bring together the work carried out so far andbuild momentum! Stay tuned for updates from Helmsdale as we continue to advance the mission of HERITALISE.

Yesterday the museum hosted Aberdeen International School. Our Learning Officer guided the young people around the musuem 'best bits' after a presentation on the Jacobites of Lochaber. 46 pupils experienced our fabulous Jacobite collection, and explored the Fort on our VR.

Yesterday the museum hosted Aberdeen International School. Our Learning Officer guided the young people around the musuem 'best bits' after a presentation on the Jacobites of Lochaber. 46 pupils experienced our fabulous Jacobite collection, and explored the Fort on our VR.

First day of our Maths in Museums, Wild Maths completed with Lundavra Primary School in partnership with National Museums Scotland We are already looking forward to tomorrow!! #MathsWeekScot #mathsinmuseums

There is no History Haven on the 4th October in the museum. We are heading out and about!

Today our Learning Officer had a visit from S1 from Kinlochleven High School. Exploring the Highlands in the 18th century, the young folk even drew inspiration from our natural history gallery, namely our stunning pair of ravens! They also got the chance to explore our other exhibits!

Week 5 of Conversational Gaelic already! Is toigh leam biadh Sìonach agus fion. Oidhche mhath 😴 I like Chinese food and wine. Good night!

Our Curator and Learning Officer have been on a research trip to the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. A fascinating site, it is huge, housing over a million objects! They returned inspired and eager to put into practice many of the ideas they explored on their visit.

Our Curator and Learning Officer have been on a research trip to the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. A fascinating site, it is huge, housing over a million objects!

Our new exhibition is now open! 🧡 Mòdan Abrach (Lochaber Mòds) The exhibition celebrates Fort William's association with The Royal National Mòd which dates back to 1922. Thanks to the BBC & Iain Ferguson for archive footage #gaelic #gaelicculture #museumexhibition

Week 2 of Conversational Gaelic funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig Tha mi sgìth agus toilichte. Tha i brèagha an nochd. I am tired and contented. It's fine tonight. Picture of Ballachulish this evening from our Learning Officer.

We're delighted to welcome Handbound Costumes & Làmhan today They are here to examine our waistcoat for their research project - Threads of History Drop into the museum today #jacobites #jacobitehistory #bonnieprincecharlie #scottishhighlands #scottishhistory #ScottishCostume #ThreadsOfHistory

The West Highland Museum hosted their first conversational Gaelic session for beginners tonight with thanks to funding from #BòrdnaGàidhlig. Frances will have us chatting in no time!

"The Glen Nevis Rose" is the touching tale of Lady Mary Cameron of Glen Nevis who took a cutting from this rose to America when she emigrated in the Pearl in 1773. On sale in the museum shop. £10 #ClanCameron #ThePearl #emigration #emigrationstories #scottishhighlands #scottishhistory #museumshop

Delighted to welcome Deputy 1st Minister for Scotland, Kate Forbes today. She had a wee tour of the museum & we shared our redevelopment plans to expand the museum with her. #museumlife #MuseumGalleries #redevelopment #museumsmatter #museum #scotland #scottishhighlands #scottisparliament

Friday marks the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day, a poignant reminder of the devastating consequences of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

⏰OPEN today from 10am - 5pm today Note: Fort William High Street is closed from the Crofter pub to Cameron Square due to damage caused by Storm Floris The museum can be accessed: ❌ from the south via the High Street and Cameron Square ❌ from the north via View Forth car park into Cameron Square