University of Stirling Archives

Join Hugh Dan MacLennan of the University of Edinburgh as he sheds light on the vulnerability of cherished collections.

Imagine your garage housing a treasure trove of sporting memorabilia, signed shirts, vintage equipment, and cherished moments. Yet, amidst the nostalgia lies a lurking danger.

Mascots for the 1998, 2024 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Our #CommonwealthGames mascots are delighted to welcome Finnie, the #Glasgow2026 mascot to the gang! Read more about our collection of past Games mascots on our blog:
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/07/16/t...
#SportingHeritage @artatstirling.bsky.social @isstirling.bsky.social

Love this!

We had the most amazing time screening 'An Unusual Period of Unspecified Length' at the @memstudiesassoc.bsky.social conference in Prague last week! What a wonderful opportunity to talk to fascinating colleagues from all over the world about preserving and letting go of memory.

#MSAPrague2025

With the news that Clyde is stepping aside to make room for a new mascot for the #Glasgow2026 Games we thought we'd run down our favourite #CommonwealthGames mascots (as seen in our fantastic #TeamScotland Archive!)
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/07/16/t...
#SportingHeritage @sportingheritage.bsky.social

We're delighted to host the @aberlourcharity.bsky.social #Aberlour150 exhibition for the summer. As home of the wonderful #AberlourArchive its the perfect location. Now on display in the uni library @isstirling.bsky.social
@artatstirling.bsky.social #CultureOnStirCampus

Thank you to Karl from @unistirarchives.bsky.social for a fabulous walking tour #BLA25

“The particular character of the site derives from its comparatively intimate scale in contrast with the vastly greater scale of the natural landscape which surrounds it." From The University of Stirling Development Plan, 1968 (UA/C/12/1/9)

“The particular character of the site derives from its comparatively intimate scale in contrast with the vastly greater scale of the natural landscape which surrounds it."
#BLA25 delegates can find out more about the history of the Stirling campus on our historical walking tour at 3.30pm

Group photograph of the Scotland team at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Perth, Australia (Commonwealth Games Scotland Archive, University of Stirling Archives).

A fantastic @sportingheritage.bsky.social #SportAndFashion conservation surgery this morning. Lots of interesting stories and great advice!
#SportingHeritage

For all you instagram users out there, you can now follow us @unistirarchives for some behind the scenes collections content!

James Connolly's membership card for the Socialist Labour Party (Tait and Watson Collection, University of Stirling Archives).

A wee gem in our Tait & Watson Collection is James Connolly's membership card for the Socialist Labour Party dating from 1903. Find out more at:
archives.stir.ac.uk/2022/07/05/t...

Wheel wanderings (MS 108) is a handwritten account of a journey across Scotland by bike in July 1893.

A suitable repost for #WorldBicycleDay

Wheel wanderings (MS 108) is a handwritten account of a journey across Scotland by bike in July 1893. The cyclists arrived in #Stirling on a Sunday & passed through the town quietly "the churches all being open and the pubs shut."
#SportingHeritage #OnYourBike

A study in concentration, Donald Mackay’s award-winning photograph of John Mackenzie of Newtonmore at the 1978 Camanachd Cup Final. The original photograph was cropped by Donald Mackay to remove the wider action on the pitch, bringing Mackenzie’s chase for the ball into focus. Digitised as part of the University of Stirling Archives shinty heritage project.

An update on our project supporting shinty's sporting heritage:
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/05/29/s...
#Camanachd #Shinty @shintycentral.bsky.social @sportingheritage.bsky.social @isstirling.bsky.social

Great to see the wonderful @aberlourcharity.bsky.social archive being used to support the #Aberlour150 celebrations!

Network meeting: Sport & Fashion Conservation Surgery Join us at our Sport & Fashion month network meeting on Wednesday 25th June. Share what you have been doing and hear from guest speaker, textile conservator, Rebecca Bissonnet about the best way to care...

Join our free Sport & Fashion Network Event online to help you better understand the principles of good textile care and how you can introduce them to your collection.

📅 Wed 25 June | 🕥 10:30–12:30

Book now: tinyurl.com/9zcmsa27

#SportAndFashion

Watch out tomorrow for our special 150th anniversary supplement inside @sundaypost.com which includes the many different voices of Aberlour. Staff, volunteers, young people and experts illuminate the charity’s work supporting children & families across Scotland @northernscot.co.uk

Collection box for Aberlour Children's Charity from the 1960s. Part of the Aberlour Children's Charity Archive, held in the University of Stirling Archives.

Up, up and away!
Preparing some items from the wonderful @aberlourcharity.bsky.social archive for special 150th anniversary events this weekend!
@scotsarchives.bsky.social @isstirling.bsky.social

Covers of The Stirling Annual, published by the Stirling Tract Enterprise (University of Stirling Library, Special Collections)

Last chance to see our #CultureOnStirCampus #Stirling900 exhibition this weekend! See how Stirling is reflected in our collections at the #Macrobert until Sunday18 May.
@artatstirling.bsky.social @isstirling.bsky.social

To celebrate the 50th Dumyat Hill Race taking place later today, why not have a look at some photos of the race through the years and hear a snippet of its origin story in today's blog!
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/05/06/d...

#DumyatHillRace2025 #CultureOnStirCampus
@isstirling.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk

We received an envelope containing these gorgeous photographs of our wonderful @stir.ac.uk campus last week. They were taken in the 80s and 90s by a then-staff member and show off campus in all the seasons! This has got to be our favourite kind of post!

@isstirling.bsky.social

Delighted to be highly commended by the @britrecs.bsky.social #JanetteHarleyPrize for our article + film 'An Unusual Period of Unspecified Length' published by @uclpress.bsky.social. Have a read yourself! ucldigitalpress.co.uk/BOOC/Article...

@isstirling.bsky.social

Photographs of male patients of Stirling District Asylum, 1890. From Male Case Book (ref. SD/1/4/9).

"I hope you will excuse my interference..."
Our current exhibition of material from the #Stirling District Asylum Archive on display @isstirling.bsky.social until 9 May:
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/02/18/i...
#CultureOnStirCampus @artatstirling.bsky.social

Photograph of the Scottish team at the 1962 Commonwealth Games, Perth, Australia with advice issued to the team: "Sunbathing should NOT be carried out before competition. To anyone unused to it, it may prove most relaxing and cause lassitude. Sunburn can seriously lower the physical efficiency as far as top-level competition is concerned."

Enjoying the good weather? This advice issued to the Scottish Team at the 1962 Commonwealth Games held in Perth, Australia, warned about the dangers of too much sun.
#SportingHeritage #CommonwealthGames #TeamScotland

New addition to our #ArchivesHub catalogue:
Full list of papers held in our collections relating to the writer James Hogg (1779-1835), 'the Ettrick Shepherd'
archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archi...
@jisc.bsky.social @isstirling.bsky.social

A document from the William Simpson's Asylum Archive, recording payment for garden maintenance from 1869.

A big thank you to everyone who visited us at Friday's #Stirling900 Culture Night at #Stirling Castle. During the evening, with your help, we uncovered more gems from the William Simpson's Asylum Archive - including this example of garden maintenance from 1869! #CultureOnStirCampus

Zeutschel ScanStudio arriving at the University of Stirling Library, 31 March 2021.

Digitisation of archive material using the #StirScanStudio.

#OTD in 2021 our #StirScanStudio arrived on campus. Today we've just completed our 4,000th scanning job!
@ukri.org @isstirling.bsky.social @artatstirling.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk

Cheers John. Will be in touch as the project progresses!

We followed a Stirling tourist guide from 1919 to see how the city has changed The Courier's Stirling team travel back in time for a grand day out.

Friday fun from @islaglen.bsky.social and me on @thecourier.co.uk

With help from @unistirarchives.bsky.social, we followed Shearer’s Visitor’s Companion and Pictorial Guide to the sights of Stirling 1919 to find out how much the city has changed in 106 years

www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle...

Stirling 900 Finale - Your Stirling Founded by King David I in 1124, the Royal Burgh of Stirling is one of the oldest burghs in Scotland. 2024 marks its 900th anniversary. You are invited to celebrate the history and heritage of Stirlin...

We're bringing the archives to tonight's #Stirling900 Culture Night event at #Stirling Castle!
www.yourstirling.com/whats-on/sti...
Find us in the Castle Chapel with our #CultureOnStirCampus colleagues @artatstirling.bsky.social and an awesome lineup of local cultural organisations and talent!

Material from the Bill McLaren Archive. Bill McLaren was a Scottish broadcaster who commentated on rugby for over fifty years.

Read about the work of our project team digitising the archives of 'the voice of #rugby' Bill McLaren on our #CultureOnStirCampus blog:
archives.stir.ac.uk/2025/03/26/d...
#StirScanStudio #SportingHeritage