Looking back on the Mackay Country Community Trust with Ronnie Lansley

By Sophie Clark

NortWest2045 at Durness Gathering

Ronnie (Tradition Bearer in Residence) and I, (Sophie, apprentice) had our first online meet up in early December to discuss our work with the new At Home in Mackay Country project. Over 2026 Ronnie and I will be chatting with communities across Mackay Country revisiting the 2005 publication At Home in Mackay Country, exploring how our heritage relates to placmaking, recording our heritage and identifing ways to preserve, share and record this heritage. At Home in Mackay Country is a joint initiative from Strathnaver Museum and NorthWest2045 funded by Museums Galleries Scotland and the North Highland Initiative.

I began by asking Ronnie if he could give me an insight into the origins of the Mackay Country project; why it was started, when it began and who was involved at the time. Ronnie gave me an in-depth background of its 20 – year history including how the initiative focused on community driven projects. He explained how the project relied on local volunteers and how it steered away from direct tourism development and focused on the desires and needs of local residents.

We discussed the importance of capturing people's memories, stories, photos, and other data relating to the local area and the communities they sustain. Crucially we discussed how the information can be shared with local people, schools, universities, and other researchers and how access can be maintained into the future. We went back and forth with old and new ideas of future projects, what they might involve and what benefits we think may come of them. All in all, a very interesting and exciting start into what's to come!

Listen to Ronnie talk about the origins of Mackay Country Community Trust:

Stay tuned for more updates from Ronnie and Sophie as the project progresses over 2026 and into 2027.