Mid Argyll Camera Club

Club history


The first MACC meeting was at 7pm on Thursday 13th October 1977. A committee was formed immediately, and almost everything done now was started that year - talks, demonstrations, competitions (for slides and prints), outings ...

At first, meetings were held in a training room in the Scotland Western Region's Argyll and Bute Hospital School of Nursing in Lochgilphead (now the Mid Argyll Hospital). Later we used the Ardrishaig Public Hall for many years, before moving to the Lochgilphead Community Education Centre in Manse Brae, on Zoom during COVID, and then to the MS Centre in 2022.

Most members of the first few years are listed below. They include a few current members, as well as several people we still know today in Mid Argyll and elsewhere.
President - Andrew Aitchieson, Secretary - Avril Stewart, Syllabus secretary - Peter Rees, Competition Secretary - Baxter Nisbet, Treasurer - Jim Ferguson. Frances Fleming, Jim Thomson ARPS (a professional photographer with a studio on Argyll Street in Lochgilphead), Drew Pollock, John Dickenson, Florence Thomson, Davie MacMillan, Eileen Rees, Morgan Rees, Dylan Rees, Alastair Rees, Hamish Kennedy, Mick Stewart, Fiona MacMillan, Lachie MacMillan, Campbell Lamont, Bobby Holden, Fred Reid, Harold Watson, John Barrington, Alex Black, Bob Henfrey, Robin McLeod, David Russell, Gordon Hutton, Judith Radage, Dawson Lamont, Graham Hamilton, George Ivison.

Membership rose to about 50, but declined to fewer than a dozen by the mid 2000s. Since then it has varied between 20-40.

For a long time there were five competitions each year, with 50 - 70 entries, and mainly distant judges. Eg in 1988-89 the judges were Bill Chambers, Robert Cumming, Peter Rees, F W J Johnstone and Alastair Knox. By 2005 we had only three competitions a year, and only had two entrants to collect all the trophies between them. It recovered to about 20 entering competitions by 2013-14. We still have 3 "formal" competitions, plus one or two "fun" competitions each year.


Peter Rees One of the founding members in 1977 was Peter Rees FRPS, EFIAP, MPAGB, who is a distinguished photographer, exhibitor, judge and lecturer now living in Shropshire. He came back to judge our competitions several times up to 1989, and visited again in 2014.

Peter Rees obtained a trophy from Frank Walton, owner of the Oban camera shop, for an annual competition between Argyll & Bute clubs. In 1981 MACC won against Oban and Mull, with 25 colour slides per club.

Soon after, the competition was joined by other Argyll clubs, and the judging meeting moved between Lochgilphead, Oban, Mull, Arrochar, Dunoon (Cowal CC) and Campbeltown (Kintyre CC).
Slides gave way to digital images in 2006.
In recent years the contest has been between Cowal, Helensburgh, Mid Argyll , Oban, Carradale, Campbeltown, Three Villages and Peninsula.


Members produced a Millenium Calendar during 2000, sales of which boosted club funds enormously.
Millenium Calendar

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