An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Sruth > Volume 2 > No. 80, 16 April 1970

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bl-LINGUAL NEWSPAPER OF CURRENT EVENTS IN THE HIGHLANDS AND THE ISLANDS AND IN SCOTLAND
DI-ARDAOIN. 16mh LATHA DE'N GHIBLEAN 1970 THURSDAY, 16th APRIL 1970 No. 80 Sixpence
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Ahertarff House . Inverness
The Cairn, at Flora
MacDonadTs birth¬
place in South Uist
— a poignant link
with today’s opening
of the new £28,000
Information v Centre
at Cultoden.
Culloden Information
Centre Opens Today
THE new information centre
1 built for the National Trust
for Scotland at Culloden will
be opened today by Dr D. ].
Macdonald, Vice-Convener of
the Trusts' Culloden Com¬
mittee.
The project, which includes
an information and reception
hall, and a house for the Trust’s
warden, Mr Neil MacDonald,
was made possible by financial
assistance from the Highlands
and Islands Development
Board.
The total estimated cost was
£28,000 towards this the Board
gave grants totalling £16,000
and a loan to cover the balance.
The need for new buildings
arose from the spectacular in¬
crease in the number of visitors
to the battlefield-graveyard.
Last year the total was 101,927.
These figures are the more re¬
markable since they relate only
to those who enter Old Leanach
Cottage, the small building
which till now has served as
reception centre and informa¬
tion point. The cottage is
•often too overcrowded for
visitors to be able to enter; the
true total of those who come to
see the battlefield is therefore
unknown, but may well be
150,000.
The project was only entered
-on after serious consideration
by all parties concerned. The
Trust is very conscious that
Culloden is a place of pilgrim¬
age for visitors to the High¬
lands; and that the battlefield-
graveyard must be treated with
reverence, and never allowed
to become a mere tourist
“ sight.” The Board, the Trust,
and especially the members of
the Trust’s Culloden Commit¬
tee, under the convenership of
Dr J. A. MacLean, have main¬
tained this attitude at ail times.
The need for facilities for
the reception and information
of visitors was underlined by
the fact that if these were not
provided, it would be difficult,
if not impossible, to ensure that
the vastly increased public
treated the area with respect.
It is hoped that it will even¬
tually be possible to have the
road which at present runs
through the area re-aligned, so
as to skirt the battlefield-
graveyard, thus conferring on
it a peace and quietude more
in keeping with its history.
The new buildings are located
to the east of the car park, well
away from the area of the
graves.
The design echoes the shapes
of farm steadings in the Moray
Firth area. The scale has been
kept as small as possible com¬
parable with the purpose of
the buildings. The walls are
white harled, and the roofs of
Scots slate. The Warden’s
cottage is connected with the
information centre. Its hexago¬
nal shape and conical roof are
derived from the wheelhouses
often seen attached to the long
(Continued on page 12)
Duncan Logan Ltd.
To Wind Up
JHE financial difficulties of
Scotland’s biggest con¬
struction company Duncan
Logan Construction Ltd., are
a sad climax to what have
proved to be the worst 12
months for /the industry since
the Second World War.
Mr R. W. Campbell, secre¬
tary of the Scottish National
Federation of Building Trades
Employers, estimates that be¬
tween 50 and 60 firms have
gone to the wall in the past
year—and about 30 of these
have been well-established con¬
cerns, employing fairly sub¬
stantial work forces.
He gave as the main cause
of difficulty the shortage of
cash flow, stemming from the
lack of credit facilities, and
increasing burdens, such as
Selective Employment Tax.
News of the winding-up of
the Logan company shocked
Mr Alasdair Mackenzie, Libe¬
ral M.P. for Ross and Crom¬
arty, the county in which
Duncan Logan Construction
Ltd. had their headquarters.
He said: “ This is a great
disappointment to me. This
firm have done a great deal for
the Highlands. They had a
reputation as being excellent
employers, and gave good work¬
manship. This is very distress¬
ing news for the North.”
The lirm grew from a work
force of only 50 in 1939, to a
giant concern employing 1500
people, including 85 engineers
and 50 quantity and bonus sur¬
veyors. Their greatest success
wtfs the Tay Road Bridge con¬
tract. Other notable achieve¬
ments are the Fort William
pulp mill, the £4m Nato base
at Aultbea, Wester Ross.
Due to be completed soon is
the £500,000 contract for the
Strathcarron - South Strome
road. Work on this project was
held up by landslides, requiring
(Continued on page 12)
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