OUR HOUSES: THEIR STORIES is a biography of the 107 houses of Cairndow village at the head of Loch Fyne in Argyll which will be exhibited at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, from 13 March to 2 April 2011.

Home is more than bricks and mortar but the building materials, the interior space and the outlook of your house affect how you use it. The sandstone threshold worn to a curve by generations of boots, the creak of the parana pine staircase, the feel of the light switch, the welcoming hearth, are all intrinsic to a sense of “home”.

Here We Are is an innovative community resource which profiles one parish. By looking at the past we can better appreciate where we are now and importantly, where we are headed and what we can do to influence that. Here We Are is run by the local community and is a Development Trust and now a Social Enterprise. Its resource centre opened 10 years ago.

In an early project we photographed all the houses and Alice Beattie meticulously recorded data about their inhabitants since the 1841 census. Gradually we amassed a photo gallery of people who lived in these houses. Out of this came the idea for a major two-year project combining oral, visual, manuscript and survey sources, OUR HOUSES: THEIR STORIES, which received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Collaboration and co-operation have been hallmarks of the project. Alice Beattie, her daughter Dot Chalmers, John MacDonald and Nigel Callander, among many others, have contributed local knowledge and expertise. Simpson and Brown Architects, Addyman Archaeology, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, and The School of Scottish Studies Archives at Edinburgh University have supported and encouraged the local initiative. We are proud of the result and grateful to Eden Court Theatre for giving us the opportunity to show-case our project in Inverness – a “taster” of all the information collected.

“We hope the OUR HOUSES: THEIR STORIES project will be a model for other villages in Scotland. While the work has been time-consuming and sometimes laborious, it is clear that as the bits and pieces come together, suddenly there is a floodlight of excitement and something significant and alive emerges. Please come and share this experience!” Christina noble, Director Here We Are.

“History is made not just by heroes or villains, but in the lives of ordinary people. “Our Houses ; Their Stories” recognises that simple truth and takes it a stage further , for we can learn much from the walls within which we live and from the buildings our neighbours inhabit. I think the idea behind the exhibition is inspiring and the collection of materials tells many fascinating stories. Like all innovations I suspect it will be much imitated, but rarely bettered.” – Michael Russell MSP

www.hereweare-uk.com

Source: We Are Here