Lochaber Model Show is a big hit after move to Nevis Centre
A BIG crowd flocked to the Nevis Centre in Fort William at the weekend for this year’s Lochaber Model and Craft Show.
More than 100 tables were in use throughout the day on Saturday as several hundred people viewed the various displays and exhibits organised by show organiser Robert Wilson and colleagues Paul and Karen Grant from Blairgowrie.
At the end of the day, guest judges Malcolm and Emma Lawson, from Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, awarded the overall best display trophy to John Brotherston, of Caithness, for his Second World War diaoramas, with superbly crafted figures depicting different scenes from the conflict, each with an explanation and information on what people were looking at.
And if the pledged sponsorship and the invoices come as expected, Robert reckons the final sum to be presented to the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Service this year will be between £1,000 and £1,100.
Robert says the choice of the Nevis Centre for the fourth annual show proved to be the right decision after the first two shows were held in the Duncansburgh McIntosh Church Hall, with the third at Lochaber High School.
‘The Nevis Centre was a bit of a risk due to the cost of hiring a big venue, but it meant we could have all of our 110 tables in the one large room, with all the facilities,’ Robert told us after the event.
‘It made for a great atmosphere with everyone in the one big space and I think I’d be safe in saying it was our busiest year so far.’
The main problem to overcome for Robert and his colleagues was the acquisition of enough large tables to hold all the displays.
‘We needed more than 100 tables and it was tricky trying to find enough locally, but thankfully the Caithness Model Club was able to bring 40 down and we got another 25 from Oban, plus others from both Spean Bridge hall and the Duncansburgh McIntosh Church Hall.’
Robert, who has been building models himself for more than 15 years, moved to Lochaber about six years ago from his native Dumfriesshire.
‘There had been a Lochaber Model Club previously but it folded, I think around 1998. However, there were still a few of its ex-members about who were keen to have a local show and this year, after four years, we also had modellers from as far afield as Orkney and Shetland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Wick and Aberdeen, which was fantastic. We also brought in the crafters this year and had trade stands selling model-related stuff which all helped make it such a great day.’