Scottish Tourism Minister buys castle - well, a small piece!
Strathspey MSP Fergus Ewing has just bought himself some real estate - and a real historical estate at that!
The Tourism Minister has just staked his claim to a square yard of Nethy Bridge’s Castle Roy, the 11th Century fortress built by the Clan Comyn on a small glacial mound just to the north of the village.
Mr Ewing has answered the call of the Castle Roy Charitable Trust, which has long been working to stabilise the walls since taking ownership of the castle from Lady Pauline Grant-Ogilvy-Nicholson in 1994.
In 2011 a survey found that the tower was falling outwards and twisting slightly so urgent repairs were carried out.
Foundations were established and braces put in place to stop any further movement.
The south-west corner of the castle had collapsed a considerable time ago and rabbits and livestock had created considerable damage to the base of most of the rest of the walls.
Therefore the second phase of consolidation undertaken was to create foundations under all of the walls, which was completed in October 2012.
It is eventually intended to take away all plant growth on the walls, cap the tops and re-build the damaged areas to the bases of the walls so that the castle can become a visitor attraction for Nethy Bridge and surrounding area.
Possibilities for the community use and enjoyment of Castle Roy are open air concerts and plays, weddings and other out of door village events.
After his tour of the historic building, Mr Ewing told the Strathy: "I am very grateful to Richard Eccles and his colleagues who are working so hard to see Castle Roy recognised as a major attraction to the strath.
"Their work with Historic Scotland has seen progress made in relation to undertaking vital stabilisation work - and there is more to do.
"I was really impressed by the quality of the stonemasonry work, and know that there is a good relationship with Scotland’s conservation body to move forward to deal with the fairly substantial works still to be done.
"The aim of course is that the venue could be a marvellous place to hold open air concerts and other events. It is hard to think of a better venue for a staging of the Shakepearean play, Macbeth !
"Gaelic choir music would be marvellous - as would a wide variety of events.
"I was pleased to sign up as owner of a small square in the courtyard of the castle - and would urge all of those who support the project of the restoration work to consider helping the fundraising campaign."
Mr Richard Eccles, chairman of the trust and driving force behind the restoration project, said: "Fergus Ewing and his family, Fiona and Natasha, stopped at the Castle Roy stand during the Abernethy Highland Games in August. He accepted an invitation to visit the Castle and see the current consolidation work in progress.
"On Saturday he and his family came to my home at Croftbank for a cup of coffee and to meet some of the trustees - Doug Fleming, Eric Hart and Stuart Black for a quick briefing on the current state of play.
"We then moved on to the castle and Fergus was shown various aspects of the consolidation including the excellent masonry work being undertaken by John Watson from Kingussie, with Steven Brand Joinery Aviemore providing the vital backup support."
He detailed the Trust’s vision for the future of the community project which aims to create a free ‘all abilities’ site giving Nethy Bridge its very own visitor attraction.
The initial phase of consolidation is nearing completion and it is hoped to finish phase two with the castle open and ready for the public by the summer of 2015.
Said local Highland councillor Jaci Douglas: "As a trust member as well as a local councillor it’s really exciting for me to see things starting to happen on the ground and our plans starting to be realised."
