The people who bred, reared and drove to southern markets the cattle and sheep of the Highlands & Islands were the economic heroes of their time. Their history is an important one, but has been sadly neglected and unrecognised. The HLHS intends to rectify that, by establishing a cluster of facilities and activities of local, national and international significance, strategically based at the old market town of Dingwall, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. This, the Drover Project, will comprise several component features:
 

• A Visitor Centre and Exhibition will be established to tell the vibrant historic story of the Highland livestock industry – the animals, the people, the geography, the trade, the international linkages (e.g. with US, Canadian and New Zealand cattle and sheep farming). This will incorporate displays of artefacts and documents, along with interpretive and audio-visual presentations. The exhibition will be professionally designed (based on proposals by Ross Associates) to fascinate the general public as well as the serious interested visitor, and to appeal to young and old alike. It will be located within the premises of Dingwall Mart, providing a living link to the sights, sounds (and smells) of the present day livestock trade. The old drove routes will be mapped and displayed, to encourage the public to explore them on foot or bicycle. We intend this to be a ‘must visit’ attraction for everyone with an interest in Highland history and agriculture, and a strong visitor attraction for the general tourist to the area.  Budget Cost: £55,000
   
• An archive and research library of material relating to the historic livestock trade will also be located within Dingwall Mart. This will contain a unique collection of books, documents, letters, maps, photographs and other memorabilia regarding the livestock industry in the Highlands & Islands, and Scotland as a whole. It will provide a safe and accessible depository for much material, including oral recollections, that is now dispersed, neglected and in danger of being lost. The archive will include an electronic database, accessible to researchers either on the premises or through the Internet. No such collection now exists, and this will become a facility of genuine and lasting importance to serious and casual students of these matters. It will also provide the information base upon which many of the planned links and shared activities with other world-wide livestock and heritage societies will be founded. These will share knowledge about the livestock industry, past and present, through electronic interchange, written material, lectures, seminars, special exhibitions, etc. This will perpetuate and extend the worldwide  livestock interests and involvement of the old Highland farmers and drovers. Budget Cost: £10,000
   
• A major public sculpture will be erected at the road entrance to Dingwall Mart as a symbolic commemoration of the spirit and achievements of the Highland drovers and breeders. A panel is currently being set up to discuss our plans.

These three components together constitute a strong and mutually reinforcing cluster of features and facilities which will celebrate the history the Highland breeders and drovers, create a framework for their continued commemoration and study, and provide a major new attraction for livestock and heritage enthusiasts, the general public, schools and other visitor groups, and for tourists to the Highlands.

This is an important project for the cultural heritage of Scotland, and the Highland Livestock Heritage Society will make every strenuous effort to achieve and sustain it. But it is a big enterprise, and we will need help from our like-minded friends - in Scotland and wherever in the world the achievements of the Highland drovers are remembered with pride.

Please go to the ‘Help Us’ section of this site to see how you can contribute to our work.