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

Only 10 days left to come along and see the Annat Village Exhibition at the museum.

STORM FLORIS: We have an Amber weather warning in effect with 90 mph winds forecast from noon. We will be OPEN from 10am - 12pm today (with last entry at 11.30am) We will be CLOSED this afternoon for the safety of our volunteers, staff & visitors.

West Highland Museum are very excited to be a demonstration site for the Heritalise project

What if cultural heritage could be explored like a living, connected ecosystem of knowledge? 🔍 HERITALISE is an innovative ecosystem that allows users to navigate relationships between objects, materials, locations, and historical interpretations. 👉 Learn more about the project: heritalise-eccch.eu

This is Daphne Daphne likes our shop quite clearly! Feel free to join her! We are open until 5pm (last entry 4.30pm)

Just home from a great night engaging with 1st Kilmallie Guide Unit. An evening of curation. Looking forward to seeing their own curated museum pieces later in the year! Community Learning and Engagement Officer funded by #museumsgalleriesscotland

A massive tapadh leibh to the P7 children of Bun-Sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abar who took part in our Workforce for the Future project in partnership with #museumsgalleriesscotland!! Mòran taing for the beautiful gifts bestowed upon me yesterday!

⭐️Volunteer Spotlight⭐️ Today we introduce you to Brian Williamson, recipient of a VOSCAR🏆 ( Volunteer Oscar) last week, well deserved! Brian was born in Ireland ☘️ and moved with his family to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 when he was 6 months old.

Last day of Museums Week and the theme is #OceansMW Our History Haven crew made fantastic ocean themed dioramas yesterday, while learning how difficult a situation our oceanic environment is facing due to pollutants.

#VisitMuseumsMW Our Saturday volunteers Veer and Isobel filmed their best bits from round the museum!

Today is #AccessibilityMW for Museums Week 2025 and here are some of the ways we implement to ensure your visit is as accessible as possible. We would like to highlight our guides to assist your visit, meticulously written up by our volunteer Iain Miller. Thank you!

Yesterday was #WorldEnvironmentDay, and being that, coupled with our coffee morning for #VolunteersWeek2025 and Museums week #TogethernessMW, we thought it a perfect opportunity to hang our newly completed quilt up in the museum.

Last week we attended the MHH Air Faire workforce summit in Inverness. Thanks to the Association for Independent Museums for funding our attendance through their training grant.