Richard Sidgwick with his new book about the estates of Lochaber.
Photograph: Iain Ferguson, alba.photos
Last Thursday saw the long-anticipated launch of Richard Sidgwick’s book Clanship to Capitalism: a History of the Estates of Lochaber from 1745. Sixty invited guests gathered at the Lime Tree Gallery in Fort William to hear Professor Hugh Cheape of the School of Celtic and Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University and Sabhal Mor Ostaig provide a thoughtful and informed critique of the work.
He suggested that the author’s lifelong connection with land management in the area had enabled him to see beyond some of the constraints of historical tradition and offera view which is essential reading to those interested in the history of rural Lochaber.