Nucleus: From harbour history to atomic memories and much more
Archive assistant VALERIE AMIN looks at some of the work carried out over the past year at Nucleus, with many more events and exhibitions planned for 2022
Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archives reopened to the public in September 2021. Throughout the closure, Caithness Archive staff had been fortunate to be able to carry on with a wide range of digital engagement to create Facebook and Twitter posts, online exhibitions and an online blog, Stories from the Archive, as well as continuing to answer email enquiries.
The first online exhibition, Atomic Housing: Thurso Transformed, focused on the expansion of Thurso after Dounreay was chosen to be the site of a new nuclear reactor in 1954. In just 10 years, the size of the town had trebled. The exhibition features rare photographs, architectural plans and recollections of former Dounreay workers from an oral history project conducted by James Gunn, Dounreay’s heritage officer. This was followed by the Atomic Recreation exhibition which explored the social scene that developed as a result of Thurso’s population boom, and includes a host of wonderful images of dances, parties, folk festivals and sports days from the Dounreay photographic archive. Both exhibitions can be viewed on the Nucleus website.
The Stories from the Archive blog launched in October 2020 exploring diverse histories from throughout the collections. This has included the diary of a voyage to Australia in 1885 and the writing of Henrietta "Hetty" Munro. These articles aim to engage readers through the stories they tell but also to ground their importance within the historical record – to show how thoroughly archival documents may illuminate and educate in equal measure.
Staff were delighted to welcome visitors back to the archive in September, with both familiar and new faces visiting to consult documents to help their family or local history research. The searchroom layout has been adapted to allow for social distancing and every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of visitors and staff.
In October the WK: History of a Harbour exhibition launched as part of Lyth Arts Centre’s Northern Lights Festival. The exhibition explored the story of Wick harbour, examining the events and people that were an indelible part of its history and heritage. There were more than 250 visitors to the exhibition, including P5-7 pupils from Thrumster Primary School, who visited as part of their class project on harbours and lighthouses. As well as documents from Wick Harbour Trust, many of the archives on display were recently accessioned into the Nucleus collections from the Wick Society.
Being closed has meant the archive team had the time to make a start on cataloguing this collection, which runs to nearly 100 boxes. This has been a fascinating exercise and many gems have been found. The collection includes the records of Donald Waters’ fishcuring business, Latheron poorhouse, the Herring Queen Festival and many other local institutions and societies. The Wick Society collection will be available to the public later in 2022.
The High Life Highland Special Staff Awards were held in November to acknowledge the work undertaken across the charity since the pandemic started in early 2020. Nucleus staff were proud to be part of the Highland Archive Service team that received a commendation to acknowledge the work undertaken to provide a continued service to the public alongside new initiatives.
The award for innovation was presented to our community engagement officer, Lorna Steele, for Learn with Lorna – a series of talks developed to showcase the archive collections.
There have been a number of talks with a Caithness focus, including Operation Snowdrop, the records of Wick Harbour Trust and the story of James Mowat’s escape from France during World War II. To date there have been more than 80 talks and all can be viewed on YouTube.
This year, the archive hopes to hold many more events and exhibitions, both in Nucleus itself and in the North Coast Visitor Centre in Thurso. The digital offering will continue, with work under way on new blogs and exhibitions. Archive staff are also working on an exciting research project in collaboration with the Wick Society and Ullapool Museum on the links between the herring industry and slavery.
If you’d like to visit Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archives this year, contact north.highlandarchive@highlifehighland.com
