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| Caithness Horizons opened its doors to the public on 1st December 2008. It was seven years in development and came about through an innovative and sometimes challenging partnership between three organisations sharing a common goal which culminated in the creation of a new independent charitable company and the opening of a new Museum. The three organisations involved were Thurso Heritage Society, The Highland Council and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). All three faced a similar problem – they had venues that needed major refurbishment, both to maintain the integrity of their buildings and to ensure they were compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. In addition The Highland Council had a Collection but no designated venue in the area in which to display it. The Town Hall in Thurso was built in 1871 in the Victorian Gothic style. Next door the Carnegie Library, built in 1910, was leased to the Thurso Heritage Society to run the Thurso Museum on a voluntary basis. Both buildings needed major refurbishment. Although UKAEA already ran a Visitors Centre on the former Dounreay nuclear research site, the company wanted a more central site for its unique Collection of objects. In 2002, UKAEA initiated the process to bring the three organisations together. Initially they approached The Highland Council, and following public consultation and review, Thurso Heritage Society joined the partnership. The idea that evolved was one that combined the three Collections of each organisation into one venue that would tell the story of Caithness from prehistory to the present day, and include for the first time, the impact that the development of Dounreay had on Caithness. The venue would be a combined Thurso Town Hall and Carnegie Library. A company was formed in 2004 with representation from each organisation as the founding directors. A number of independent directors were also appointed, among them the Chair, Paul Cariss, who was appointed for his project management skills and who played a key role in driving the project forward. Having a Chair who was not a representative of one of the founding partners also gave a clearer brand to the project, which was to be known as Caithness Horizons. |
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The Collections displayed and stored at Caithness Horizons are broad in scope and comprise of the following types of material:
o Agriculture
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Caithness Horizons is a multi-purpose venue that contains:
Caithness Horizons is open to the public all year round, admission is free. In July 2010 Caithness Horizons was awarded Full Museum Accreditation by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). To be awarded Full Museum Accreditation means that Caithness Horizons complies with the nationally agreed standards for Museums in the UK in certain key areas such as Museum management, Collections care, public services and visitor facilities. As well as being an Accredited Museum Caithness Horizons is also Caithness Horizons a VisitScotland 5 Star Visitor Attraction. The target number of visitors that Caithness Horizons hoped to attract in its first year of operation was 25,000 visitors. The actual number of visitors to Caithness Horizons between December 2008 and November 2009 which has been recorded using an automatic visitor counter was 86,000 visitors. It is estimated that 60% of visitors to Caithness Horizons come from the local community. |
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| To mark the publication of two of George Gunn’s most popular plays, “Egil, Son of the Night Wolf” and “Atomic City” by Fairplay Press, Caithness Horizons has invited the playwright along with director Iain MacDonald to assemble a group of community actors from Caithness to devise a twenty-minute theatre piece around the theme of “renewable energy”. “All theatre is renewable human energy”, says the playwright George Gunn, “so it’s fitting to mark the publication of these two plays, which deal with different aspects of energy, with an examination of what renewable energy actually is . ‘Egil’ is set during a period when the political ambitions of the Vikings in the 10th-century changed the shape of Europe; and ‘Atomic City’ charts the coming of the nuclear industry to Caithness. Now with the renewable sector set to fill the energy gap between hydro-carbons and nuclear, Caithness seems set to enter an interesting new era of development, and it is right and proper that theatre – of all the arts - should concern itself with such a subject. Whether tidal or wind energy, both will be important economic generators for the county and the country.” The community actors will be directed by Iain MacDonald, fresh from the Edinburgh Festival where he was assistant director on “Jacobite Country”, a new comedy by Wick-born playwright Henry Adam, produced by Dogstar, the award winning Highland-based theatre company. The local actors will be drawn from a group of seasoned performers, some of whom appeared in the original Thurso production of “Egil”, and some who are still at Thurso High school. The company will be joined later in the week by two professional actors – both from Thurso – who will be assisting in the devised piece, and will also perform short readings from the newly published plays ‘Egil’ and Atomic City’ on the evening of the 18th of September. Brian Smith starred in the title role of the 1998 production of ‘Egil’ and Helen Mackay is also just back in Caithness from the Edinburgh Festival where she received glowing reviews for her roles in both “The Silver Darlings” and Sunset Song”. This original Caithness Horizons project has been supported by the Highland Council. |
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THE PUBLICATION LAUNCH OF TWO PLAYS by GEORGE GUNN (‘Egil, Son of the Night Wolf’ and ‘Atomic City’) PLUS a performance of ‘RENEWABLE THEATRE’ Caithness Horizons Saturday 18th September 2010 7.30 pm Admission: £3 |
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