Invergordon – The Town that Painted its Own Stories
Invergordon, on the Cromarty Firth, has turned its gable ends and blank walls into an outdoor gallery.
A group of volunteers, Invergordon Off the Wall, formed in 2002 to do it, and the artists they brought in painted the town's own stories with the people who had lived them. It's a level walk of an hour to an hour and a half through the streets, from the railway station to the museum.
- Time
- 60 to 90 minutes for the whole trail, from the railway station up the High Street to the museum. It can be done in stages.
- The path
- Town pavements throughout, with kerbs and road crossings.
- Where to start
- In the centre of Invergordon, near the High Street. The trail starts at the railway station.
- When to go
- All year, in daylight.
- Dogs
- On a lead: these are town streets.
- Children
- The app has a quiz for children, Mural Detective, with badges to collect.
- Before you set out
- The free Invergordon Off the Wall app has a map of the murals.
The walk
Park in the centre of Invergordon and walk to whichever end of the trail is nearer, or come by train and begin on the platform. The trail runs from Invergordon railway station up the High Street to the Invergordon Museum, and you can join it anywhere along the way. The volunteers who made it allow 60 to 90 minutes for the whole trail, all of it on town pavements. Their free app has a map that finds each mural for you, with interviews, films and a quiz for children called Mural Detective. At the station, The Long Goodbye by Tracey Shough remembers the Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division, who left for war in 1939 and were captured at St Valery-en-Caux the following June.
Pupils from Invergordon Academy painted the railway posters along the platform. In the town, Gather Round by Alan Potter fills a whole gable with the Invergordon Highland Gathering, which ran for more than a hundred years. Look for the caber, the hammer, the high jump, and a tug of war along the foot of the wall. Just across the street, on King Street, Anna Starling's Pipes and Drams has the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band marching in Red Gordon tartan behind Drum Major Sandy Macpherson, with the old Invergordon Castle painted in behind them. Volunteer Spirit by Ken White shows the town's lifeboats.
Our Legacy, on the wildlife of the Cromarty Firth, was worked out with children from the local primary schools. At the museum, Steve Des Landes painted the panels of The Heritage of the Firth freehand. The murals are outdoors and can be seen at any time, and the trail is free: the volunteers ask for a donation towards its upkeep. They suggest doing it in stages with a tea break between, and the High Street is the place to look for one. Rain doesn't spoil a mural, so this is a walk for a grey day too.
If it rains
This is one of the few walks that works in the wet: the murals are just as bright in rain, the walking is all on pavements, and you're never far from a doorway on the High Street.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Newhall Mains in Balblair, 2 miles away.
For further reading, before you go.