Undiscovered Scotland

 

The Highland Museum of Childhood occupies one end of the beautifully restored disused railway station in Strathpeffer. The station was built here in 1885 at the end of a spur laid from a junction on the main line to Kyle of Lochalsh near Dingwall at the height of Strathpeffer's popularity as a spa town. The line closed in 1951, but the beautiful railway station survived.

The museum took up residence in what is now known as the Old Station in 1992 and is both an accredited museum and a charity. You enter the museum from the car park side of the Old Station and are presented with a reception area and a charming shop which itself is full of books and toys for sale, many of the latter having the "I remember those" factor that grabs your attention: and that is even before you have entered the actual museum itself. (Continues below image...)

 

The original core of the material on display at the Highland Museum of Childhood was the doll collection of Angela Kellie, and today a stunning range and variety of dolls remain on display, many grouped in the glass cases in the central part of the museum. But don't make the mistake of regarding this as a "doll museum": there is far more here besides.

Dominating one side of the museum is the model yacht "Iolaire" (Gaelic for "Eagle") which was made in his spare time by a seaman on a merchant ship crossing the North Atlantic during World War Two. Beneath the yacht is a chest of draws visitors can explore, to reveal more dolls and toys.

The title of the museum includes the word "childhood" rather than "toys", and the museum is home to a number of exhibitions bringing to life aspects of social history especially relevant to childhood. The education area at the far corner of the museum is home to a desk complete with satchel and slate, and here you can rediscover an age in which a large portion of the world map was coloured pink; in which Gaelic was banned in Scottish schools; and in which the tawse or strap was a frequently used means of maintaining discipline.

Your tour of the museum is rounded off by an audio visual presentation near the education area entitled "A Century of Highland Childhood" and is the result of an oral history project in which local people spoke about their own experiences of childhood. It repeats every 15 minutes.

And having spent some time in the museum, what better way is there to round off a visit to the Old Station than refreshments in the coffee shop?