Share your story of the Highlands for the newly transformed Inverness Castle visitor attraction
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What sums up the ‘Spirit of the Highlands’ for you?
The land? Its people? The vivid colours you see as we move through the seasons each year? The fresh, delicious food and drink found in all corners of the Highlands? Our heritage, making us proud of this special place? The ever-changing weather, giving four seasons in one day, or more? The stunning landscape around us, inviting and challenging at the same time? A special place you like to visit or that you hold dear to your heart? The warm welcome that awaits, no matter whether its kith and kin or people we are meeting for the first time? Other sights, sounds and smells particular to your favourite place? All of these…and more…?
Spirit of the Highlands invites everyone and anyone who knows and loves the Highlands to get involved and to contribute a story about what sums up the ‘Spirit of the Highlands’ for you.
The stories will form the basis of online content and will be interpreted within the newly transformed Inverness Castle visitor attraction when it opens, to encourage people to visit and to explore the Highlands and to find out more about our extraordinary and unique area.
The stories will be available to everyone and will be used in different ways to attract people to find out about the Highlands and to plan a visit in the future; online, in print and through events and education projects.
We live in an extraordinary part of the world, rich in stories that make us laugh, cry or gasp in wonder, which inspire and thrill us, that make us think and make us ceilidh. Whichever part of the Highlands you are in, these stories reflect who we are and how we live our lives. Everyone who lives, visits and works in the Highlands will have an opportunity to get involved in creating the story to be told through Spirit of the Highlands.
The stories can be about our past, the present and the future, and whatever sums up the ‘Spirit of the Highlands’ for you.
To many people, it’s all about the scenery!
The Highlands represent a sense of freedom and peace, with wide open spaces, wild coastlines and lochs and mountains making stunning scenery.
There is no doubt, as has been proved throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, that simply experiencing the fresh air and views we are fortunate to have around us can have a positive effect on our health and wellbeing.
Whether we’re able to climb in the Cuillin range, sit in the sun on Nairn beach, tackle a hillwalk in Sutherland or watch the crashing waves on the Caithness coast, we’re likely to be within reach of the beautiful and varied countryside the Highlands has to offer.
The depiction of the Highlands as a land of lochs and glens is something which is both recognised worldwide but also cherished by those of us who fortunate to drive through these landscapes on our way to work and walk, kayak, cycle and explore them in our time off.
As the famous Skye poet Mairi Mhor put it: “Though my head has greyed, and my locks turning white with age, on reaching Eilean Diarmaid, the lines disappeared from my brow. When I saw the peak of Glàmaig, the side of Ben Lì and the ridge of Màrsgo, I imagined that I grew strong, with the fresh air from the mountains.”
Tell us your story in up to 350 words.
Or upload a photograph or short audio/video file that tells the story for you.
Everyone has a story to tell, including you – get involved now by visiting the website and sharing your story at www.spiritofthehighlands.com
