PICTURES: Pupils plant oak saplings in latest stage of Littleferry Battle project
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Golspie Primary School pupils have helped plant oak saplings as part of the ongoing Battle of Littleferry project.
The youngsters set to with enthusiasm last Thursday with the assistance of members of the project team and volunteers, who had also previously undertaken preparatory work
A total of 50 oak saplings, each around 2m high, have been planted to reinforce a line of trees running from the Battle of Littleferry memorial stone at Littleferry Road, Golspie, to Culmaily.
The line of trees serves, along with the memorial stone, to commemorate the 50-100 men who fell in the battle, which took place in 1746 between the Jacobites and a Scottish force loyal to the British-Hanoverian Government.
The trees were donated by Ronald and Erica Munro Ferguson of Novar Estate. Mr Munro Ferguson's ancestor, Hector Munro, fought in the battle.
Mr and Mrs Munro Ferguson were also present at the unveiling of the memorial stone on April 15 this year.
Project founder Major General Patrick Marriott, who has written a book about the battle, said: “Ronnie is a huge supporter of the project and donated the 50 trees, which were grown at Novar Estate from acorns. It was a hugely special gesture and immensely generous of them.”
Major General Marriott also paid tribute to Ian Crisp, head gardener at Dunrobin Castle, who gave guidance and advice not only in regard to the trees, but also to wildflowers which were planted around the memorial stone earlier this year, again with the help of pupils from local schools.
The wildflowers were out in all their glory in September and made a beautiful display.
“Ian has been our horticultural consultant,” said Major General Marriott. “He has been an absolute star.”
Major General Marriott explained that there were three strands to the Littleferry Battle project – the memorial stone, tourism and education.
“There is a little bit more work to be done around the memorial,” he revealed. “ We are planning to install interpretative panels and a seat next year as well as undertake some landscaping and other improvements to the site.”
A major aim of the project was to promote tourism – it is hoped the memorial site and a battlefield trail which has been established, will attract more visitors to Golspie and give a boost to local shops, eating places and accommodation providers.
A running fight, the skirmish took place over a four-mile stretch from Dunrobin Castle to Littleferry. Six marker stones have been installed to guide walkers along the trail.
“The next work we are doing on the tourism front is to add “Battle of Littleferry” to the green sign posts in Golspie,” said Major General Marriott.
The project’s education programme has been led by retired teacher Judith Macleod who has held storytelling workshops and craft days for pupils from local primary schools.
At an event in Fountain Road Hall, Golspie, last month, Major General Patrick Marriott told the story of the historic battle to children from Golspie, Brora and Rogart schools.
Activities on the day included creating shields, making glove puppets, designing coats of arms and drama.
