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| The PastThis page is currently being rebuilt and will have more history on it when time permits. Meantime we have been given or lent quite a few old photographs of events in the Pavilion and so here are some of them.
This is the earliest photograph we have of the Pavilion interior - a Masonic ceremony in April 1891 in connection with the laying of the foundation stone for St. Anne's Church. The stone was laid by Sir Hector Munro, Provincial Grand Master. Our thanks to the present PGM, W. Ramsay McGhee, for providing the photograph and a description of the event from the Ross-shire Journal.
The above photog
Mrs. Margaret MacKenzie, Muir of Ord, has kindly provided us with this photo of her wedding reception, held in the Pavilion in December 1949. Paraffin stoves are not required nowadays!
Strathpeffer resident Arthur Scott, who for some years has been looking into the entertainers who performed at the Pavilion in the 1960s and '70s, has recently put the results of his research on the Internet. Arthur's "The Strath" website is a treasure trove of information about these two decades. Click here to find out more. He would love to hear from anyone who can add to his archive. Among the many groups who played in the Pavilion for the famous weekend dances in the We have also heard recently from James Robertson, who performed in the Pavilion in the '60s with a band from Fife called the Ardennes, usually supporting a bigger band, and has similar memories of sleeping in the Pavilion. Another former member of the Ardennes, Alex McKenzie, has since e-mailed us to say that "Strathpeffer was a great venue and I too have very fond memories of those days". This is the cover of a CD compiled from 1960s recordings by the Strathpeffer Dance Band, who were the Pavilion's resident band for a time and are still delighting audiences today with their varied programme.
Perhaps the Pavilion's best-remembered resident band is the Sterling Showband, who came from Ireland in September 1967 to play as support for The Settlers. Little did they know what they were getting into! They returned the following month and remained the Pavilion's resident band until March 1969, when they signed up with a top Irish agent and changed their name to The Galaxy - playing in the Pavilion a few more times under that name. Several members of the band later settled in this area and have recently got together with other musicians to perform at three very popular and successful events for and in the Pavilion - we hope there will be another, perhaps next year.
Alongside the weekend dances, there was a "Highland Cabaret" on weeknights, popular with both visitors and residents. Click here to see some photographs. Athough he does not feature in this particular programme, many people remember local comedian Johnny Bogan (aka John Urquhart) performing in these cabarets. Sadly, "the Bogan" died suddenly in November 2006 - click here to see a report from the Ross-shire Journal.
SPA gratefully acknowledges support by HIE Inverness & East Highland (formerly RACE) and The Highland Council. SPA is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status, Scottish Charity number SC 028241 VAT reg. no. 873 2032 40 |
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raph has no date but Christine Derby, who has a photograph of her grandfather, Walter Weekes, playing in the Pavilion with the Frank Ivimey band, rang us to say that her photograph is dated 1922 and the Pavilion looks very much like this. Christine kindly posted us a copy of her photograph but the print is not clear enough to scan. However, here is another photograph of the Frank Ivimey Orchestra in the Pavilion. This photo was kindly supplied by the Victorian Strathpeffer Committee, who organise the splendid Strathpeffer Victorian Days in early June each year - see our 
1960s and '70s were The Chaperones, led by drummer Dave Brownlee The lead singer was 
The Melotones were perennial favourites during the whole period from 1960 to 1978, so it is not surprising that many people remember dancing to their music.