West Highland Museum is hosting its “Camanachd: Geama Aosda nan Gleann Abrach” (Shinty: Ancient Game of the Lochaber Glens) exhibition this autumn. In this first of a series of blogs, local historian Kenny Mackintosh explores the history of the Lochaber Camanachd Club.
Lochaber Camanachd
The present club play at Spean Bridge and are currently the only Lochaber area representatives in Shinty’s Premier Division. They came into being in 1958 following the second amalgamation of the Spean Bridge and Brae Lochaber clubs.
These two clubs were fierce rivals, and both had a very proud history dating from the early days of organised shinty.
Brae Lochaber
Brae Lochaber were founded in 1887 and drew their players from Upper Glen Spean and Glen Roy playing their home games at Keppoch or Achaderry , while the Spean Bridge team founded in 1894 came from the Stronaba township and the environs of Spean Bridge village with a home pitch at Blarour.
Brae Lochaber, under the leadership of Jack MacDonald of the local distilling family, were hugely influential in the development of the modern game and the formation of the Camanachd Association. They were a major force in the early years of the competition, contesting the second ever Camanachd final in 1897 after defeating the holders Kingussie in the semi-final before losing out to Beauly in the final. They continued to compete at a high level although military service in the Boer War affected player availability.
They were to lose six players killed in the slaughter of the Great War but once again fielded a respectable senior team when shinty resumed in 1920. Their home games continued to be played at Keppoch or Achaderry and shinty remained the only game played at Roy Bridge school. This period was marked by numerous tussles with a strong Spean Bridge outfit. 1926 saw the team narrowly defeated by Lovat in the MacTavish cup final but prior to organised leagues the game was limited to cup matches and regular challenge matches.
Following the second world war the Braes reformed and continued as a senior team. An attempt to amalgamate with Spean Bridge in1949 saw the formation of Lochaber Camanachd but the teams went their separate ways with Spean Bridge continuing as a junior team and the Braes as seniors. until 1958 when the amalgamation became permanent. The MacTavish Cup final appearance in 1954 was a highlight of this period for the Braes.
Spean Bridge
The Spean Bridge team really began to make their mark on the shinty world just prior to the First World War when the introduction of the Gleann Mòr Cup gave the teams of that area their own competition. After winning it on three consecutive they were awarded the trophy in 1914. This team were forerunners to the remarkably successful team of the 1920s and 1930s. The players drawn almost exclusively from the Stronaba crofting township were products of Kilmonivaig School where shinty was carefully nurtured.
MacTavish Cup Final success in 1922, 1925, and 1933. followed the return of the Shinty competitions. In 1926 the team won through to the Camanachd Final for the first time. A lucky final
minute goal by Inveraray denied them the honours. The temporary defection of their best players to Newtonmore was the only downside of these halcyon days.
It was impossible to fill the gap left by this crop of players in the immediate locality and the previously unthinkable amalgamation with the Braes now became the key to survival.
The bright spot in the period following the first unsuccessful amalgamation of 1949 was a memorable Sutherland Cup victory for Spean Bridge junior team in 1952.
Lochaber Camanachd came into being entering the Junior Division in 1959 and beginning the modern era of the club. A fine new playing field had been opened at Spean Bridge in 1956 and it became the focus of shinty in the district.
The The “Camanachd: Geama Aosda nan Gleann Abrach” (Shinty: Ancient Game of the Lochaber Glens) exhibition will be hosted at West Highland Museum from 2nd September until 31st October 2024.