17th April was an open night and we were delighted to welcome friends and family to hear about the Caithness Broch Project, presented by speakers Kenneth McIlroy and Ian McLean.
The Caithness Broch Project is a Scottish charity, which aims to promote the county of Caithness as a heritage tourism destination. The group highlight the region's archaeological landscape, particularly the high number of brochs (Iron-Age drystone towers) in the area. Caithness can lay claim to having more than anywhere else in Scotland, with more than half of the brochs in Scotland being found in Caithness.
Kenneth and Ian spoke enthusiastically of their work and illustrated plans with many fine photographs. A particularly interesting goal of the project is to build a replica broch as a form of experimental archaeology. By rebuilding a broch, using the same techniques as the original builders, it is hoped to provide an insight into how Iron Age people lived their lives in Caithness.
The talk included background on early broch exploration with mention made of John Nicolson (1843 – 1934). More modern exploration has drawn on ‘LIDAR’ – airborne radar used to identify ancient sites, invisible from the ground. It was interesting to learn of ‘Thing's Va’ Broch - a huge broch site sitting on a hill west of Thurso – with the name implying reuse by the Vikings, as their parliament.
Mention was made of the value of archaeology and tourism to Orkney – some £36 million a year. As well as similarly promoting Caithness as a tourist destination, it is hoped to generate local jobs to offset the loss of employment as the Dounreay nuclear site is decommissioned.
Kenneth and Ian went on to talk about the growth in tourism due to the ‘North Coast 500’ route that takes visitors through spectacular scenery – and of how this too could be integrated in their plans. Altogether a detailed and broad ranging talk, about a most interesting project.
Following questions an appreciative vote of thanks was proposed by Tony Lodge, with an especially thanks for the long journey Kenneth and Ian had from Caithness to Anstruther.
