Sunny Sunday provides perfect conditions for Snowdrop Day at Thrumster House
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All who attended Sunday's Snowdrop Day event at Thrumster House were delighted with the gentle sunny conditions that made it feel like the first day of spring.
Yarrows Heritage Trust (YHT) hosted the event at the stately home from 11am until 3pm and a steady stream of families turned up to learn about the Trust's archaeological digs, go on treasure hunts and just enjoy the peace and tranquility of the woods and the abundance of snowdrops.
Rhona MacPherson from the YHT, along with archaeologist Mary Shand, explained to visitors about some recent artefacts and ancient structures which they had worked on at the nearby site called Swartigill.
"We're fundraising for Yarrows Heritage Trust to draw awareness of the new dig that's going to be taking place at Thurster Tower near Sarclet in April," said Rhona. "It may just be a farm but it's reputed there was a tower round about there and it's likely to be from the same era as the Castle of Old Wick and Berriedale – there was a chain of towers all the way up the coast."
She added that there was "no evidence for it apart from one map". A section of the 17th century map by Timothy Pont was available for the public to view on the day and shows the symbol for a tower at Sarclet – this will be the focus of the YHT archaeological survey in April.
Children were able to dig through a sandpit for artefacts that had been placed there to give them a sense of being on an archaeological dig. Local archaeologist Mary Shand was also helping people understand the rudiments of uncovering ancient structures. "So far, we have achieved full funding for this year's dig [at Swartigill] which will be in August. It's been amazing over the last few years and there was a new bead discovered last year. There are various buildings being discovered there as well from different ages."
Catherine MacLeod from Thrumster House said the day had gone really well and was delighted that the sunny weather made it a pleasant experience for all visitors to the annual Snowdrop Day event.
"People come down with their kids and they enjoy running around outside," said Catherine. She explained how visitors were informed about the latest activities of YHT and the forthcoming community dig at Sarclet to locate the ancient tower. There was also a telescope set up in the grounds so visitors could try and catch sight of the many birds that were busy flitting around the woods.
"There was a woodpecker seen here recently but it didn't show up unfortunately," she added. The event raised close to £100 for Yarrows Heritage Trust.
