Volunteers and visitors celebrate 30 years of Mary Ann's Cottage
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Volunteers were joined by almost 100 members of the public this week to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mary Ann's Cottage as a heritage attraction.
The cottage at Westside, Dunnet, run by Caithness Heritage Trust, gives an insight into one family's life on a Caithness croft from the 1850s until 1990. It has been welcoming visitors since August 1993 and is open four afternoons a week.
Wednesday's event was attended by relatives of Mary Ann from West Kilbride. The birthday cake was cut by Mary Ann's granddaughter Anne Fitzsimmons, who was accompanied by her husband Jim, their daughter Claire and Claire's son Charlie.
Trustee/volunteer Annette Sinclair said: "It was a very happy occasion. Anne spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon with us, reminiscing about when she came on holiday to granny.
"The sun shone and it was lovely to get the cake cut in front of the cottage."
Mrs Sinclair stressed that more volunteers are needed at the cottage. Even if people are not comfortable with the idea of giving personal tours, they can help in a variety of other ways.
"There is a huge need for more volunteers," she said. "It's open until the end of September, Tuesday to Friday, 2pm to 4.30pm, and we would consider opening other days if we got enough volunteers.
"There was a time four or five years ago when we were doing seven days a week.
"They don't need to commit to every week. You don't need to be experienced – we give training.
"If they want to get in touch, there's a Mary Ann's Cottage Facebook page and they could send me a private message that way, or phone me or email me [07771 756434 or sinclairannette@hotmail.com].
"I'd like to thank all the volunteers who turned out to help on Wednesday, even if it wasn't their regular volunteering day."
Mrs Sinclair added: "We had almost 100 visitors and we were more than delighted with the interest from locals and holidaymakers."
There is now a motion-activated audio system in designated areas within some of the outbuildings.
The croft was worked by John Young, his son William and then his granddaughter Mary Ann and her husband James Calder using traditional methods. "It depicts how three generations of the same family lived for 150 years," Mrs Sinclair added.
