Community Events

Public events took place in Cromarty and on the island of Eigg to coincide with the voyage.

‘Hugh Miller Festival’ Island of Eigg (7th – 10th September, 2014)

Led by the Scottish Geodiversity Forum, Lochaber Geopark and Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust and including contributions from visiting palaeontologists, geologists, artists and storytellers. The Hugh Miller Festival engaged the local community and visitors to the island with the story of Hugh Miller’s exploration of Eigg and his wide-ranging scientific discoveries.

The programme included:-

• Guided walks for small groups to explore sites where Miller discovered plesiosaur bones and which follow Miller’s footsteps in investigating the formation of Eigg’s famous landmark, An Sgurr.
• Hands on rocks & fossil sessions for families
• A community ceilidh open to all, where everyone, including the Betsey crew, locals and visitors, had an opportunity to hear about the project, share readings and music and chat informally with modern life.

Thanks to our friends, the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust for their support with the event.

 

Update – December 2014

Here are 2 pieces from the Eigg festival

A piece by sculptor Richard Bracken

A talk by Norrie Bissell on Hugh Miller

We are Cromarty (23rd – 25th September, 2014)

Led by Friends of Hugh Miller, ‘We are Cromarty’ was the title given to the mini ‘Hugh Miller’ festival which ran in Cromarty from 23rd,

Festival activities included:-

• Professor Nigel Trewin, sharing some of his remarkable fossil collection and leading a walk to the fish bed deposits made famous by Hugh Miller
• A walk led by ecologist and broadcaster, Dr Kenny Taylor focusing on Hugh Miller’s interest in natural history
• A session exploring the magical world of Miller’s legends with folklorist, Bob Pegg.
• Dr Gavin Berkenhegger, a professional mineralogist, running a hands-on session sharing a display from his collection of minerals, and revealing how to search for minerals in Scotland.

Local artists exhibited work inspired by Scotland’s landscapes. The festival included music & dance contributions from the Cromarty Youth café. It finished with poetry and prose (including Miller’s own writing) from Norman Bissell (Scottish Centre for Geopoetics) interwoven with some music played on the clarsach by Claire Hewitt.

Read an article about Hugh Miller that Issie has written online HERE or download it as a PDF by clicking HERE

‘Learn to make a right use of your eyes: the commonest things are worth looking at – even stones and weeds, and the most familiar animals.’  

Hugh Miller