Doors Open Day In Highland

This September there will be the opportunity to explore some of the best buildings in the Highlands for free, during a series of Doors Open Days held over four consecutive weekends.  The event is particularly exciting this year as some of the buildings are not normally open to the public or usually charge an admission fee (which will be waived on the day).

This year the event is locally co-ordinated by The Highland Council, Inverness City Heritage Trust and Caithness Archaeological Trust, and allows access to a varied assortment of buildings. 

The aim of the Doors Open Days is to encourage everyone to get out and about to explore and enjoy a wide range of buildings and to develop a better awareness of the rich built heritage and conservation issues in the Highlands.

The Doors Open Days will be held on Saturday 3 September for the Inverness Area; Saturday 10 September in Caithness, Ross and Cromarty (Easter Ross and The Black Isle) on Saturday 17 September and Lochaber on 24 September.

There are a number of new participants this year, notably the fantastic new Maggie’s Highland at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, which was officially opened in March this year.  This is a tremendous new building for the Highlands which has been imaginatively designed by the award-winning architects Page and Park and Charles Jencks. 

Among the buildings open to the public in Caithness are Sinclair Girnigoe Castle and Wick Airport, each of which have guided tours at 2pm and 4pm respectively but advance booking is required by contacting Emma Sanderson on 01593 731269.

Doors Open Days is a joint initiative between the Council of Europe and the European Union aims to give people the opportunity to explore some of Europe’s most interesting buildings, many of which are not normally accessible to the public.  It was piloted in Scotland in 1990 and since then, Doors Open Days, which is Scotland’s contribution to European Heritage Days, has become an annual event, nationally co-ordinated by the Scottish Civic Trust, supported by Historic Scotland.

For further information about Doors Open Days 2005 visit The Highland Council’s websiteor pick up a leaflet listing all the participating buildings from local libraries, tourist information centres, Highland Council Service Points and Planning and Development Service offices.  You can also telephone John Duncan, Planning and Development Service on 01463 702281, Alison Tanner, Inverness City Heritage Trust on 01463 723538 or Emma Sanderson, Caithness Archaeological Trust on  01593 731269.

For a list of national events visit www.doorsopendays.org.uk