Mingary Castle: We made it! - Sunshine and visitors at Mingary!

Monday, 30 May 2016

We made it! - Sunshine and visitors at Mingary!

Apologise to those that follow this blog we have been working away to do the finishing touches to this wonderful project and therefore been a little tardy at putting up posts. But we have done it! and in celebration The Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust hosted two completion events this weekend. WOW what a weekend! What weather! There are many wonderful places in the world but I challenge anyone to say there is a more beautiful place than the west coast on a sunny day.

On Saturday we hosted a dinner for 70 guests including some of the builders who are the key to this exquisite castle. It is their talent and passion for the project that has made this a truly breath taking building. Over the weekend more than 300 people went round the property and time and time again we blown away by the skill of the craftsmanship that has brought Mingary back to life.

They don't scrub up to badly either, here is JP, in his amazing Vivienne Westwood suit, and Damien finding out their medieval names. Damien has become such a local he even wore a kilt.

This blog that Jon has beautiful compiled and the book we are in the process of finishing are really here to highlight that without the men and women (mostly from Yorkshire) projects like Mingary Castle would not be possible. It is key that in the future that people remember their names and skills as it is them who have taken this crumbling ruin and put it back together in under 3 years!

You may be wondering where we managed to squeeze all these people into, well luckily we hired a marquee and spent the evening looking at the castle while eating our delicious dinner.

The castle looks slightly different having a marquee outside rather than the builders caravan!

Before we were piped into dinner Graham, who had kindly learnt Mingary Castle from the battlements, the sound of the pipes in the courtyard really brought the place to life. The piece of music by Captin J.R.C Peteison that we were given to the castle by the McCain family who visited us recently after they had managed to track it down.

Before the guests went home we set off some fireworks from the battlements. Our brilliant photographer managed to catch this moment!

2 comments:

David30 May 2016 at 19:50
Congratulations on the completion of the restoration and the first paying guests. It's great to have a party to properly launch the castle into a 21st century career and to celebrate your great achievement.
ReplyDelete
Replies
cammy31 May 2016 at 02:00
My invite must have been lost in post , I donate monthly. Glad to see castle fully restored
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

The Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust

"The most intact thirteenth century castle in Scotland" is how archaeologist Tom Addyman describes Mingary Castle. Seat of Clan MacIain, commanding the sea route through the Sound of Mull, Mingary dates back to the thirteenth century and may be much older - there is some evidence, not least from the name, that the Vikings fortified the site. However, since it was last inhabited in the mid-nineteenth century, the castle has been deteriorating. A recent survey showed that, unless urgent restoration work was carried out, the castle was in danger of collapse.

The Mingary Castle Preservation and Restoration Trust, which is Scottish registered charity SC043705, was set up in 2013 to address this problem. Work started on the site in April 2013, and it is hoped to have the building fully restored to its mediaeval grandeur by the end of 2014.

Mingary Castle stands on Ardnamurchan Estate land, near the village of Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Donald Houston, who owns the Estate and is responsible for the upcoming work on the castle, is determined that the many written records that are being prepared as part of the work should be fully available to the public on-line. This will be done through the main Mingary Castle website, of which this blog will be a part.

Businesses Involved in the Project