The Empire era finally came to an end through the two terrible World Wars in the 20th century. The wars were a transition time into the Modern Age.

Let’s start by looking at the natural environment of Lochaber. We are lucky to live here, surrounded by such a beautiful landscape. But is it really natural?

Lochaber used to be covered in deciduous forest and Scots pine. These are very different from the ‘Christmas trees’ forestry plantations we see in our hills today. Forestry is an important industry here, but like everything else, it needs to be balanced.

This can be a difficult area, as there can be what we call a ‘conflict of interest’ – what’s good for some people, is not good for others.

We’ve already talked about pollution – what else could damage our natural landscape?

Dropping litter in scenic places – especially plastics, or items which could harm wildlife. Also dropping rubbish into lochs and rivers. Don’t do it!!

Not controlling dogs

Dirty camping

Inappropriate toileting

Disturbing wildlife

Damaging trees and plants

Leaving gates open

Beautiful species like dragonflies can only thrive where there is no pollution. Environmental damage seriously endangers our native wildlife.

A controversial topic right now is rewilding. This means trying to restore the hills and glens to what they were before humans changed them. But to which era? Perhaps to before wholesale deforestation took place.

For example, there used to be wolves in Scotland, but they were hunted to extinction. The last wolf in Scotland was killed in 1680 by Cameron of Lochiel. Without wolves, there are no natural predators for deer, and so the population is out of control, damaging trees, and also, some of them die of starvation in the winter as there is not enough grazing.

In America, Yellowstone National Park re-introduced wolves, which transformed the ecology of the area, allowing forests to regenerate and biodiversity to increase. Wolf-related tourism also brings $35.5 million annually to Wyoming.

In 1999, there was a serious proposal to re-introduce wolves to Scotland, but there was an outcry from sheep farmers – which is very understandable.

Sometimes, trying to do the right thing is complicated and difficult. We have to consider both sides of an argument, and try to find a positive way forward, such as fenced areas.

We are all ‘stewards’ of our natural landscape – that means, we all have a responsibility to take care of it.

I’m sure you’re all aware that we are living in a time of climate emergency. What do you understand by ‘climate emergency’?

Around the world we are seeing extreme weather, wildfires, crop failures, rising sea level and melting of the polar ice caps.

Bees are dying or killed by pesticides, affecting the balance of nature.

What has caused this? The answer is pollution from various causes:

Industry – toxic gases are released into the air.

Intense farming using chemicals.

Rubbish – especially of things that don’t biodegrade such as plastics.

Deforestation – trees are essential as they produce oxygen.

Fossil fuels – that is coal, oil and gas.

We need to consider what we can do, as citizens of Lochaber, to reduce our impact on the environment. We might feel powerless as individuals to make any difference, but each of us is important. It’s what we do as a community as well as individually. Can you think of something we can all do to help with the climate emergency?

Transport is another area which has seen huge changes in Lochaber.

A hundred years ago very few people had cars. People could travel by steam train, but only where there were railways built. Other than that, horses were still used to get about.

Early cars looked a lot different than modern ones.

Have you seen the bronze Model T Ford outside the museum? Do you know why we have this outside the museum? It’s to celebrate the famous drive up Ben Nevis in 1911.

Nowadays, we still have public transport – trains, ferries and buses – and most households have at least one car. There are pros and cons of cars.

Let’s look at pros – what’s good about having a car?

It gives you freedom to go anywhere, anytime.

It can carry heavy things like our food shopping.

It’s comfortable.

Now the cons:

Cars cause pollution from their fumes.

They can be dangerous, as they can be involved in an accident.

Car ownership disadvantages those with no car, as there is less demand for good public transport.

How could we improve transport in Lochaber? Any ideas? For example, we could invest in less polluting technologies. We could also provide much more public transport, including to rural locations. It could be cheap or even free.

What could we do to reduce car use? Car owners could consider car sharing schemes. Employers could consider hybrid or home working, for some types of job.

There are different types of car engine – some use petrol or diesel, which are called ‘combustion engines’ – like the Model T Ford, and still the majority of cars, buses, lorries and motorbikes.

Electric cars do not produce smelly, polluting fumes, although there are still environmental concerns around their manufacture.

There are even less polluting vehicles being developed for the future. This futuristic car uses hydrogen cell technology. Instead of fumes, it produces only pure water.