Callander’s Heritage Revived

A group striving to preserve and add to Callander’s history was revived as part of the Callander’s Landscape Research Programme.

Prior to Callander’s Landscape’s involvement, the Callander Heritage Society was a small group of passionate volunteers limited by funds which resulted in a lack of digital resources and very few active volunteers and Board Members.

However, due to funding through the Callander’s Landscape project, the Heritage Society’s capacity grew to support activities such as excavations within Callander involving more than 150 volunteers, including participation from local schools, and they now have the numbers to continue carrying out excavations in the area.

Three times as many volunteers were trained through the scheme as had been planned for, which also enabled them to create a digitised version of the history society’s archives, covering 100 years of Callander’s history, including photographs, postcards and documents collected by the Heritage Society. This was made possible due to a Callander’s Landscape project helmed collaboratively by Forestry and Land Scotland, Historic Environment and Callander Heritage Society.

The Callander’s Landscape scheme allowed the society to assist with archaeological projects, conduct oral history research and host Gaelic sessions with over 70 learners. Their digital platform also grew to over 2,000 followers on Facebook, expanding the reach of their engagement to anyone worldwide with an interest in Callander. Callander Heritage Society’s work will continue into the future, as more than 20 trained volunteers are now working to develop new projects such as partnering with the Development Trust on a new graveyard in the town. The society’s Chair also plans to pursue this career professionally by applying to study Archaeology.