Call goes out for new volunteers at historic Dunnet cottage
New volunteers are needed to give a helping hand at Mary Ann’s Cottage when it opens for the 2025 summer season.
The historic attraction at Westside Croft, Dunnet, will be welcoming visitors on five afternoons a week from Thursday, May 1. It will then be open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 2pm until 4.30pm, until the end of September.
Run by Caithness Heritage Trust, the cottage gives an insight into one family’s life on a Caithness croft from the 1850s until 1990.
There are 15 regular volunteers who welcome visitors and give tours of the cottage, along with five others who are on standby and will come in if called upon.
More volunteers are required for the new season, and the trust would be especially pleased to welcome any residents of the Dunnet area who are willing to get involved.
Additional volunteers would allow the cottage to open more days during the week.
A “cleaning” day is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, from 10.30am. Anyone who can go along that day will be able to find out more.
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 was opened by the Queen Mother in 1993 and serves as a unique reminder of rural life as it used to be. Two years ago, volunteers were joined by almost 100 members of the public to celebrate the cottage’s 30th anniversary as a heritage attraction.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can get in touch with Caithness Heritage Trust by calling Annette Sinclair on 07771 756434 or via the Mary Ann’s Cottage Facebook page, or by visiting the website at maryannscottage.org
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.