Call for new volunteers as Mary-Ann's Cottage prepares to open for summer

A call has gone out for additional volunteers to help at Mary-Ann's Cottage as it prepares to open for the summer season.

The historic attraction at Westside Croft, Dunnet, had to remain closed throughout 2020 but Covid-19 protocols are in place to allow it to welcome visitors on four afternoons a week from June 1.

Run by Caithness Heritage Trust, the cottage gives an insight into one family's life on a Caithness croft from the 1850s until 1990.

The croft had been worked by John Young, his son William and then his granddaughter Mary-Ann and her husband James Calder using traditional methods. When Mary-Ann moved to a care home in 1990, the trust was formed to preserve the cottage and its outbuildings.

The cottage will be open from Tuesday to Friday, from 2pm to 4.30pm, and it is hoped this arrangement will continue until the end of September.

Trust secretary Annette Sinclair, who is one of the volunteer guides, said: "We're opening for four afternoons a week to see how it goes. We want to make sure we have three volunteers on every afternoon to ensure coverage in all areas.

"The nature of the cottage means it is not possible to have a one-way system, or 'in one door and out another'. We will have hand-sanitising stations and masks available for visitors who don't have one.

"We have measures in place to clean hard surfaces as and when necessary, and at the end of the day. We still hope to give our visitors a good experience of the cottage and the outbuildings.

“We would be happy to hear from anybody who is interested in volunteering to welcome visitors and give a tour of the cottage. If people are a bit shy about taking visitors round, we always need people just to welcome them. Anything anybody can do would be more than welcome.”

Tours generally take about three-quarters of an hour. Normally there is a small admission fee but for the 2021 season donations will be invited instead.

"Tours will be limited to one family at a time," Annette explained. "Even if a family has one person, that's all we can take – we wouldn't be mixing families in any way.

“Admission is going to be by donation – we're not going to charge anybody this season.”

The cottage was opened by the Queen Mother in 1993 and serves as a unique reminder of rural life as it used to be.

“It's just as Mary-Ann left it when she went into the nursing home," Annette said. "The box-bed is there, and the open fire, and even the workshop has got James's tools.

“Her two grandchildren, who are now in their sixties, are honorary trustees.”

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can get in touch with Caithness Heritage Trust through the Mary-Ann's Cottage Facebook page.

The cottage is close to Dwarwick pier, where in 1955 Queen Elizabeth II stepped ashore in Caithness for the first time along with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

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