Boxing Day - a time to remember

Sub-zero temperatures and inches of snow did not deter our intrepid committee from ensuring the traditional Boxing Day welcome at Castlehill Heritage Centre was as warm as usual. Mulled wine and mince-meat pies awaited visitors who braved the conditions, plus an exclusive peek at the preparations for our next themed exhibition - Domesticity. Centre of attraction was undoubtedly the magnificent replica Edwardian fireplace created by Hugh Crowden and David Swanson. With the building toasty warm thanks to our log boiler and underfloor heating system, visitors and committee alike felt right at home sitting round the fireplace reading old Groats and Couriers and reminiscing about times past.

The Domesticity exhibition will be fully up and running in a couple of weeks and will feature many artefacts from the Society's large collection of objects, photos and newspaper snippets illustrating everyday life at home in Castletown in by-gone times. Some objects may look all too familiar...... Watch the website for further details.

Castletown feels the seasonal chill......

The far north of Scotland has been 'enjoying' some interesting seasonal weather the past couple of weeks, and Castletown is no exception. The pictures below of conditions in Castletown were captured this morning.

North Highland Wood turners Association

Annual competition

Evidence of many hours of hard work was on display yesterday when the North Highland Wood Turners Association held their annual competition in Castlehill Heritage Centre. Muriel Murray was invited to judge to splendid array of artefacts. Overall prize winner was Ivor Thomas.

Traditional Skills Workshop - The Bothy Night

A near capacity crowd took part in the latest in our popular series of traditional skills workshops. The evening event explored the social history of the bothy, and in particular the traditional songs and stories of the workers and farm servants who used to inhabit them.

Bothies were outbuildings on a farm or estate, where unmarried labourers and workers used to sleep, often in harsh conditions. In the evening, to entertain themselves they told stories, sang old songs and often composed their own songs, occasionally lampooning their masters, working conditions or day to day events. The stories and songs were sometimes topically political, and given the single sex environment, frequently quite rude!

It was all good, clean family fun however as master (or should that be mistress?) of ceremonies Muriel Murray explained all about bothy culture, its roots in the north-east of Scotland and its relevance to Caithness and Castlehill. Her illuminating talk was interspersed with some fantastic performances of music and song by local entertainers - illuminated that is by tilley lamp and candles - most atmospheric!

The highlight of the first half (in the eyes of your humble scribe) was Donald MacNeill's rendition of 24 Hours to Georgemas - a hilariously allegorical piece highlighting the experiences of travel by 'crawler' between Inverness and Thurso on the North Highland Line. A modern day bothy ballad if ever there was one!

Mid way through the evening, a traditional feed of stovies and oatcakes, beetroot and clapshot (a traditional Orkney recipe of tatties (potatoes) and swede (turnips)). Whilst tea and coffee were served, most folk had brought along their own favourite form of libation, which helped the evening go with a swing, and probably most inkeeping with bothy life!

Our thanks go to all who took part in what proved to be a most informative and highly entertaining evening. Thanks go also to the Castletown Hotel who made the stovies.

Based on the very positive feedback received we will certainly look to deliver another social themed workshop!

Christmas Gift Sale - Sat 13 November

Our pre-Christmas sale of locally sourced goods and hand crafted items proved popular yesterday, with visitors commenting very favourably as to the high quality and diversity of produce on display. Learning from the experience of running our first Christmas Gift Sale last year, we used more of the rooms in the building to give stall holders greater space to display their wares.

Tea, coffee and a selection of delicious home baking kept both the visitors and stall keepers refreshed, served in the archaeology laboratory which had a Christmassy make-over for the day.

Thanks to all who turned out to make the day such a success - it is always a pleasure to showcase local talent, and by popular demand we will almost certainly run another pre-Christmas sale in 2011!

Nuno Felt Scarf Craft Day

Castlehill Heritage Centre took on a bright and colourful appearance today when Sharon Pottinger demonstrated how to make Nuno felt scarves at this hands-on workshop day. Light but cosy scarves in a range of bright colours were made, ready for a Caithness winter.

Lime mortar skills workshop - Sat 9 October

The weather proved most welcoming for the thirteen willing delegates, eager to learn to the traditional skills of using lime-based materials for the conservation and repair of Caithness vernacular buildings.

After giving a health and safety briefing, our master mason from the Scottish Lime Trust led the delegates outside into the Castlehill courtyard area where he demonstrated how to prepare various lime mortar mixes using quicklime and hydrated lime materials.

Delegates were then given the opportunuity to put the theory into practice, with coaching given in various traditional and modern techniques for the preparation of masonary prior to repair using a lime mortar. This was very much a 'hands on' event, and delegates were encouraged to try out the full range of techniques on their 'own' section of the Castlehill building.

Based in Fife the Lime Trust travels the country instructing in the correct method of maintaining traditional buildings through practical demonstration and participant involvement. For further information on traditional building renovation visit the Scottish Lime Trust website.

Castlehill Heritage Society is delighted to acknowledge the assistance of The Prince's Regeneration Trust in providing funding support for this workshop.

Local Vintage Car Club visits Castlehill

On Sunday 26 September, members of Caithness & Sutherland Vintage Car Club stopped off at Castlehill Heritage Centre during an outing on Caithness roads.

The display of superbly restored vehicles looked entirely at home in the grounds of Castlehill.

Members lunch goes with real swing

By way of a thank you for their support over the years, and to celebrate the completion of the Heritage Garden, Castletown Heritage Society members and invited guests were entertained to lunch today at Castlehill Heritage Centre. Guests were treated to a delicious spread of cold meats, salad and accompaniments, topped off with a choice of strawberries and cream, Jayne's home baking or some of Liz Buchan's mouthwatering desserts - key lime pie, marshmallow cheesecake or chocolate bakewell tart. Strangely, many found it difficult to choose and opted for a sample of everything!

Fingers were drumming and toes tapping as Clapshot kept us entertained with a lively selection of tunes, including an excellent rendition of 'Castlehill'. Whilst the weather stayed dry, it was too blustery to eat outdoors in the garden, however it was warm enough to leave the door to the patio open. With the sun shining brightly through the door it added to the warm, lively atmosphere. Hunger sated, members strolled round the exhibition displays trying to find the answers to the 'Castlehill Quiz' - watch this space for the announcement of the lucky winner.

All in all lunch proved to be a great success, with lots of lively conversation and camaraderie, helped no doubt by the odd glass of wine... Thanks go to all the committee for their hard work and to Muriel for having the great idea in the first place!

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Forthcoming event - The Runaway Universe

On Sunday 5th September, Caithness Astronomy Group will host a public talk in Castlehill Heritage Centre.

Dr Martin Hendry from Glasgow University will present a whistlestop tour through modern cosmology and the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Castletown Heritage Centre - Sunday 5th September at 1930hrs. Entrance free, donations welcome.

Caithness Astronomy Group workshop

On Thursday 12th August, Caithness Astronomy Group held a Perseid Meteor watch and 'Telescope Workshop' where an audience of around twenty, consisting mainly of beginners, gathered in Castletown Heritage Centre to find out more about these instruments that have greatly aided exploration of the heavens for just over 400 years.....

For further information on the activities of Caithness Astronomy Group click here

It's a red letter day as His Royal Highness, The Duke of Rothesay visits Castlehill Heritage Centre

After weeks of barely concealed excitement, Castletown Heritage Society was today delighted to host a visit to the award-winning Castlehill Heritage Centre by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Rothesay.

The Heritage Garden was looking at its very best as our Chairwoman Muriel Murray welcomed the Duke and escorted him on a conducted tour of the facilities. Our original plan to introduce the Society committee members within the stone circle in the Heritage Garden had to be abandoned as a sudden heavy shower forced everyone under cover, however plan 'B' was efficiently swung into action, with the erection in double-quick time of our new 'corporate entertainment facility' (i.e. large gazebo) to provide the necessary shelter for the meet and greet to proceed in a dry environment.

Once inside the Duke was given live demonstrations of a representative range of activities that regularly take place within the centre, starting with a guided tour of the current themed exhibition on Business and Trades Past and Present in Castletown, where the Duke was introduced to individuals and representatives of various organisations, and who had either assisted us in developing the Centre or continue to support its operation; or both!

The Duke expressed his delight at how the Society had developed the former seventeenth century byre and dairy into a first class facility, extensively used by both the Society as a traditional skill venue and by the local community. Neil Buchan, our technical projects manager explained how our biomass log boiler and rainwater harvesting system contribute to our sustainable approach to the development and operation of the Centre.

His Royal Highness seemed relaxed as he was guided around the exhibits and working demonstrations by some of the local partner organisations who make regular use of the Centre. The evocative smell of wood filled the air as Fred Haughton and Alastair Hossack of North Highland Woodturners Association showed how to turn a wooden bowl, and Denny Morrison's tale of how he made contact with American astronaut Bill McArthur in the orbiting space station captivated the Duke during the demonstration of the live amateur radio station by Les Thomas of Caithness Amateur Radio Society. Our weaving tutor Andrew Kieran from Reay found himself in deep discussion with the Duke who took a close interest in the workings of our weaving loom and the preparation of the cloth.

As the Duke made his way along the long building to the Castlehill Archaeological Research Facility, he perused a display of paintings from the regular Monday night painting classes run by local artist Helen Moore. Once in the facility, Dr Andy Heald of AOC Archaeology and our archaeological technician Len explained the processes by which archaeological finds from excavations are brought to the Centre, wet seived to separate out the interesting material, dried, then analysed before being catalogued and sent for archive in Edinburgh.

Before leaving the Centre the Duke signed our visitors book and was presented with a polished Caithness Flagstone plaque as a momento of his visit. The superb laser etched plaque was crafted by Spittal based Caithness Stone Industries and featured an evocative image of the Castlehill Windpump Tower and the Pilot's House with the Heritage Centre in the background.

As HRH the Duke of Rothesay made his farewells he spotted the Castlehill Windpump Tower within the site of the Castlehill Flagstone Works across the road. He threw down the spontaneous challenge to the Society to bring the windpump back into service as a major tourist feature! Well there is nothing like a challenge, so you never know - watch this space!!

All photographs of the visit courtesy of James Gunn Photograpy.

A full gallery of James's photographs of the event can be found by following this link.

Flushed with success - rainwater recycling fully operational

Last year we installed two large rainwater collection tanks as a first step towards reducing our use of mains water within Castlehill Heritage Centre, helping to reduce the impact of the Centre on the environment. To date, the collected water has been extensively used for watering within the heritage garden, but thanks to a recycling system devised by Neil, stored rainwater now also provides the flushing water for the toilets and urinals.

The system is fully automatic in operation, delivering full mains pressure rainwater to the various cisterns and includes reversal to mains supply to cater for those long, hot Caithness summers when it doesn't rain for weeks.....

Courtyard works near the final hurdle

The Heritage Garden courtyard at Castlehill took another step towards completion over the weekend, with the final hardcore surface being laid between the recently completed paths and dividing walls. The work to clear the area to the rear of the premises was also finished off, as was the final surfacing of the disabled parking area and the main entrance area.

Archaeological programme starts Tuesday 13 July

Our summer programme of archaeological activities will get underway with an evening on Tuesday 13th July from 7pm to 9pm, when local archaeologist Paul Humphreys will explain the importance of pollen in archaeology. The evening will feature opportunities for participants to try some hands-on analysis of pollen samples and comparisons with ancient peat buried samples.

An exciting programme of activities is proposed for the remainder of the season, including plane tabling hut circles, re-surveying Mercers work in Dunnet, recording the Castletown Battery, probing for the chapel of St Coombs, looking for signs of Stangergill Castle, and much more. Ideas from interested people are very welcome.

All our archaeological events involve hands-on participation and are suitable for beginners to experienced alike. Interested in taking part? For further details - contact

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The peats are home and the stack is built

The hard work at the beginning of June has been rewarded with a fine stack of peats, ready for the summer season at Mary Ann's Cottage - see the report on 6 June (below) for further details. Many thanks to everyone who got involved with the process of cutting, setting up, transporting and stacking the peat.

Hard work is a great leveller (well it is with a JCB)

On a gloriously sunny Saturday evening great progress was made in tidying up the ground to the rear of the Castlehill premises. Gordon was centre stage piloting his uncles's JCB, making a great job of levelling the mounds of earth to the north of the building. The area now looks neat and tidy, complementing the rest of the building.

Unfortunately the sun disappeared on Sunday but the mist and rain did not hold up the process of clearing the undergrowth away from the east side of the main building and office annexe. The turf was carefully scraped away with the ditching bucket to reveal the original level from when the steading and dairy were operational. A surprise find was a lovely section of original flagstone floor, the surface worn smooth by the passage of many feet and not a little time.

With the turf removed, further repairs were carried out on the water channel that supplied the waterwheel for the threshing mill in the adjacent building. When works are complete, the flagstone covers of the channel will be exposed end to end, creating a distinctive feature and a reminder of byegone days.

Knit and Natter - Wednesday 23 June, 2 - 3.30 pm

Why not join us for a Knit and Natter at Castlehill Heritage Centre.

Have you stopped knitting since the grandkids got bigger? Would you like to pass on your knitting knowledge but your children or grandchildren are not in the area? Tell us what you think about Northern Loops, a new programme for senior knitters willing to share their skills and knowledge with young people.

Needles and wool provided or bring your own. Coffee and tea provided

Interested in taking part? For further details - contact

Northern Loops - Knit in Public Day - Saturday 12 June

Unique opportunity to take part in national 'Knit in Public Day'. Thurso based 'Stitch 'n' Blether' will be running a sociable knitting event in Thurso precinct as part of the Northern Loops project aimed at knitting together a new inter-generational group to allow young and old to socialise and exchange knowledge.

In parallel with the main event. Castletown Heritage Society will be offering visitors to Castletown Heritage Centre the opportunity to run up a row or two of knitting or learn to knit. Why not come along between 2pm and 4pm and have a go?

Interested in taking part? For further details - contact

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Summer Exhibition Now Open!

Trades and Business past and present, in and around Castletown

Learn all about the fascinating and diverse range of trades and businesses that have flourished in the village and parish over the years.

From the flagstone works to wood chip carvers to joke mask manufacture to state of the art freezer manufacture!

Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, 2pm - 4pm. Other times by appointment

Castlehill Heritage Centre, Harbour Road, Castletown, nr Thurso

'Peat Experience Day' - A Grand Day Out 2

Last Sunday the second of the 'Peat Experience Days' organised by Castletown Heritage Society in conjunction with Mary-Ann's Cottage at Dunnet took place on the brilliantly sunny and slightly breezy peat bank on Burifa Hill at Dunnet Head. This event was a follow-on from the very successful peat workshop held earlier in the month, where a good quantity of peat was cut and laid out to dry.

Whilst the main activity of the day was to set up the peats to enhance the drying process and to take home the first consignment to Mary-Ann's Cottage, participants experienced the full peat life cycle - from trying their hand at cutting, setting up and stacking peats to sampling home-made bannocks baked over an open peat fire at Mary-Ann's Cottage, Dunnet.

From 1pm to 4pm in the afternoon, Castlehill Heritage Centre featured a display on the formation of peat, the archaeological importance of peat and stories of sacrifice, fairies and water gods of the peatlands.

Ready for the off	Easier than carrying by hand or a sack on the back!	John Crowden and David Glass explain the basics of cutting the peat	And this is how it's done
Making a start at the peat stack at Mary Ann's Cottage		I love work....I could watch it all day...	Enjoying the fruits of their labours...Carmel awaits a freshly made bannock

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A view from above - of Castlehill

We are delighted to receive some aerial photographs of Castlehill, taken by Brough resident Stewart Smith. Stewart and his private aircraft are a regular sight in the skies over Caithness and the north of Scotland, and recently he kindly offered to capture some views of Castlehill Heritage Centre and the surrounding area.

As usual, click on the images to enlarge.

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Writers Workshop

Yesterday, eight writers collected at Castlhill to take a closer look at how to use description more effectively in their writing. Through a series of activities, the writers learned more about each other and themselves as writers as well as new techniques for description.

They will build on what they learned in the all day Saturday workshop in three Tuesday night sessions to be held on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of June. Writing begun in these sessions may be incorporated into a booklet of Writing at the 'Hill. Future sessions include a look at poetry facilitated by Christine Russell and other genres led by local and visiting writers.

If you want to take part in the three Tuesday sessions, which will cost £5 each, click HERE.

Bring a notebook or laptop and be prepared to enjoy an inspirational learning experience.

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Local schoolchildren enjoy the 'Peat Experience'

On Monday 31 May, Castletown primary students had an interactive session to learn hands on about peat bogs and life in the bogs. Paul Humphreys had collected creatures--large enough to see--and some small enough they required a powerful lens to see. He also offered a hands on opportunity to find creatures hidden in a sample of peat.

Muriel Murray told tales of things (including people) buried in the bog and told of tales and superstitions around it.

The children got to try their hand at matching pictures of bog plants with their descriptions.

Vernacular Buildings Group visits Castlehill Heritage Centre

Castlehill Heritage Centre recently hosted a visit of the Scottish Vernacular Buildings Group, who were on a fact finding coach tour of buildings of interest in the north of Scotland. The Group were impressed by the work done to bring the Castlehill buildings back into active use, and were particularly pleased to witness the work in progress during the Drystone Dyking course and the preservation of this traditional skill. The Group, pictured here making use of the patio in the courtyard for their picnic lunch, were "delighted with their visit".

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Something Corny

Last weekend, internationally renowned Elaine Lindsay from the Guild of Straw Craftsmen led a well attended workshop demonstrating how to make 'corn dollies' and other traditional handicrafts using straw as the base material. Elaine will probably remember her first trip to Caithness for the wrong reasons however. On her way north she was held up for over two hours at Berridale while a rescue helicopter landed beside her to transport an injured coach driver to hospital and the road was cleared!

Despite her very late arrival at Castletown Hotel, Elaine gave participants at the two day straw work workshop excellent instruction and demonstrated a wide variety of plaiting methods. The participants, whose ages ranged from teens to sixties, were delighted to be able to produce examples of many of the techniques.

Elaine is also co-ordinating stories on the history of harvest knots, corn dollies etc. Local visitors to the centre during the workshop were able to add their reminiscences of farm workers making and wearing harvest knots in their buttonhole at dances. Any other similar stories would be welcomed by CHS who will pass them on to Elaine.

Plight of the Bumble Bee - Wednesday 19 May

Castletown Heritage Society is delighted to host an illustrated talk by Bob Dawson of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in conjunction with the Caithness Branch of the British Science Association.

Anyonee interested in finding out more about these fascinating insects and the important role they play in our world should come along to this free event at Castletown Heritage Centre on the 19th May at 1930hrs.

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Peat Experience Workshop - a grand day out!

Thankfully the weather was kind last weekend for the first "Peat Experience Workshop" delivered by Castletown Heritage Society in conjunction with Mary-Ann's Cottage at the nearby village of Dunnet. Answering an appeal from the trustees to replenish the peat stack at Mary Ann's Cottage at Dunnet, eight volunteers keen to learn the art of cutting peat joined three committee members of Castletown Heritage Society on Dunnet Head.

Under the knowledgeable command of Dave Glass, Brough and Hamish Manson and his son David from Dunnet, the voluneers were put through their paces. After an introductory talk on the various tools of the trade, they set off on the thirty five minute walk into the hill where work began in earnest. The peat bank was first 'tirred' (the top turf removed and the face prepared) then each volunteer had a chance to cut different shapes of peats with a variety of instruments. Once cut, the peats were tossed to the waiting catchers who set them on the heather to dry. The weather was ideal for the job, with bright sunshine and a slight breeze. The cut peat will now be left to dry for a few weeks before the second workshop. Proceedings were captured on camera and video by Mick O'Donnell, Brough.

CHS is also putting on a Peat Experience Day on Sunday May 30th. On offer will be a guided nature walk to the peat bank, a chance to watch or even try cutting the odd peat, bannocks by a peat fire at Mary Ann's cottage, a display in castlehill heritage Centre showing the formation of peat and the archaeological importance of peat as a means of conservation.

Anyone wishing to participate in the Peat Experience Day should register their interest as soon as possible by clicking HERE or telephoning 01847 821204.

Eighteenth century industrial water channels restored

Back in February during a particularly wet spell, the access area to the rear of the courtyard garden flooded, threatening the garden works. John and Keith leapt into action with wellies and some nifty spadework, managing to stem the rising tide before it reached the level of the emergency exit door from the Vernacular Skills building.

On investigation, the water was found to be rising from one of the eighteenth century water channels, several of which run round the periphery of the Castlehill Heritage Centre and which supplied the water wheel driven stone cutting machinery at the Castlehill Pavement Works across the road, and the water wheel for the mill at Castlehill Farm to the north of the Heritage Centre. [The remains of the mill building can be seen at the top right of the second picture below - the building without the roof]. Whilst no longer in active use, the channels still carry groundwater from the field drains to the south of Castlehill buildings and can at times be quite 'lively'. The history of these underground water channels and others in the immediate area was the subject of a fascinating activity day run by the Society in October 2007 as part of Highland Archaeology Fortnight - for a report on that event, click here.

Last weekend remedial action got underway, taking advantage of Gordon our resident JCB operator, being home from university for a few days. The water channel was exposed and found to have partially collapsed at a point just downstream of where the water was emerging from the ground. After removing the heavy cover flagstones the channel was cleared of debris and accumulated silt, the channel walls were repaired where necessary and the flagstones replaced. Hopefully we can relax now for the next few hundred years....

Drystone Dyking Course creates new community asset

Participants in the latest of our very popular Drystone Dyking courses have created a new feature on the Castlehill Heritage Trail. Over the course of the weekend and working under the expert tuition of Master Craftsman Dave Goulder from Rosehall, a magnificent section of traditional Caithness drystone dyke, complete with a seating area, has been constructed adjacent to the north east entrance to the Trail.

Visitors taking advantage of a rest at the seat will be treated to a superb and uninterrupted view across the fields to Dunnet Bay and Dunnet Head beyond.

2010 AGM reflects on a very successful year

STOP PRESS: FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW

An enthusiastic audience turned out to hear Chairwoman Muriel Murray reflect upon a very full year of activity, a highlight of which was the the success of the Society in winning the Community Initiative category at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards in November 2009. The AGM was followed by a fascinating talk by Barbara Hiddleston, archivist at the Castle of Mey.

The following were elected to Executive Committee of the Castletown Heritage Society:

Music Workshop Gala Concert - Philomenal!!!!

Over the past two days Castlehill Heritage Centre has been host to a Scottish Traditional Music Workshop, delivered in partnership with North Highland Connections and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Local school children and music students were coached by ten students from RSAMD in a series of instrumental workshops. Tonight's concert, held in the recently refurbished Mey Hall was the culmination of their efforts, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house as the children and students entertained the capacity audience to music of the highest calibre.

The concert was compered and supported by the legendary Phil Cunningham, pictured far left with some of the RSAMD students and was without doubt one of the best traditional music concerts to be held in Caithness for many a year.

Traditional home fare and baking

The wonderful aroma of home baking was in the air today, when the first of our traditional workshops for the 2010 season got underway.

Liz Buchan and Maisie Nicolson demostrated how to make pancakes, flourbread, oatcakes, brose, treacle scones, welsh cakes and berebread. Neil and John were on hand as chief tasters and showed how quickly they could disappear...

Quiz Night at Castlehill

There was much hilarity, scratching of heads and whirring of cogs amongst the twelve teams who took part in our Quiz Night on Thursday evening, the first such event we have held in the Centre. We were delighted to have four teams of youngsters from the Castletown Army Cadets.

Quizmaster Neil put the competitors though their paces with a balance of testing and easy(?) questions, covering ten different topic areas, such as Pot Luck, Television& Film, Blockbusters and Sport. In the event it proved to be a closely run thing for the top four teams, however the final 'specialist' round on knowledge of Caithness sorted out the 'knows' from the 'don't knows' with 'The Particulars' emerging as overall winners by only one point.

The teams were treated to a lovely supper of home baking and sandwiches mid way through the evening, courtesy of Liz Buchan, Jayne Blackburn, Jackie Donaldson and Muriel Murray.

After the raffle had been drawn, the Particulars were awarded their prizes, each receiving a beautiful turned wooden bowl crafted by local woodturner, Alastair Hossack.

The evening proved to be a popular success so plans are already afoot for another event in the autumn.

Castletown Primary School P3-4 visit Castlehill for a 'Flagstone Experience' day

The boys and girls of Primary 3 & 4 from Castletown Primary School were given an insight today about the traditional skills involved in working with Caithness Flagstone. Castlehill volunteer Hugh Crowden demonstrated how flagstone was cut from the quarry, split into workable sections then trimmed to make roofing tiles, all done using original hand tools from the collection of artefacts at Castlehill. The pupils were then given the opportunity to try their hand at using the tools for themselves, and discovered that life as a quarry worker would have been quite hard and tiring.

A highlight of the visit was to try dressing up in contemporary 19th century clothing, with workers wearing a waistcoat and either a floppy hat or a flat cap and the gaffer wearing a bowler. The last activity was to lay a paved path with pieces of flag bearing the initials of each pupil.

Also on hand were Muriel Murray and Jane Blackburn, who explained how fossilised fish, frequently found within Caithness Flagstone, were formed.

Winter exhibition proves popular

Our winter exhibition 'Looking Back 100 Years' has proven to be very popular with locals and tourists alike.

The exhibition is open every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, 2-4pm, until Easter. Other times and groups by arrangement - to make a booking, click HERE.

2010 Programme of Events

Castletown Heritage Society operates the Castlehill Heritage Centre as an educational resource for visitors, local students and school children and the local community. Through a programme of interpretive exhibitions and interactive workshops, we seek to stimulate and sustain interest in and understanding of the history, heritage, vernacular skills, biodiversity and physical surroundings of Castletown and the parish of Olrig. Our aim is to preserve and maintain the unique heritage of our community within both local Caithness and broader Highland contexts.

We are delighted to announce our programme of workhops, activities and exhibitions for 2010, from our popular drystone dyking courses to musical workshops and learning how to make 'corn dollies'! To browse the diverse range of proposed activities, please click HERE.

To review previous year's events and activities, click here: