Audience riveted by Portgower history talk

Fascinating, fantastic, amazing – these are just three of the reactions to local historian Esther McDonald’s talk "Portgower and What Came Before", writes Audrey Munro.

Nearly 60 people, from as far afield as Caithness and Dalgety Bay in Fife, crowded into Timespan Heritage and Art Institution in Helmsdale last Saturday, June 10, to hear Esther’s presentation.

Using more than 200 photos of people and historic documents from her own archive, Esther, a popular and well-known speaker on local history, brought Portgower’s story to life.

She covered a range of history from the geology of the rocks in the sea to how fishermen marked their catches with coloured stones.

Esther’s family has lived in Portgower and the surrounding area for centuries, and she wove her family history into the story of the township down through the generations to the present day.

This was much to the delight of the youngest member of the audience, her seven-year-old great-niece, Debbie, who not only enjoyed hearing her Aunt Esther speak, but was also thrilled to see her house, one of the homes of her ancestors, on maps and in photos on the projector screen.

The audience asked interesting questions throughout the talk, managing to elicit even more detail from Esther, especially about the people in the various photos, which spanned more than a hundred years.

One fascinating photo shown was of Portgower School, which closed in 1945.

There are plans for Esther to record an online version for those who missed Saturday’s event, and Esther will be back at Timespan later in the summer to give presentations on the townships of Gartymore and West Helmsdale.

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