COLIN CAMPBELL: Inverness Castle's transformation from depressing courthouse to shiny tourism magnet? Bring it on!
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INVERNESS Castle has had a long and illustrious history but I’ll always think of it to some degree at least as a miserable Monday morning gathering point for those who’d chaotically lost the plot over the weekend.
Going up there to start the week as a court reporter could be a dismal experience. Here, there and on busy mornings it seemed virtually everywhere Friday and Saturday night insults had been exchanged, drink had been spilt, punches had been thrown, tables had been overturned and arrests had been made. Retribution awaited those involved.
They sat morosely on the steps of the castle main entrance or were slumped inside awaiting their all too routine appearance before the sheriff.
“Guilty as charged, £50 fine, you should be ashamed of yourself, now go home and mend your ways!” After punishment had been delivered these motley characters slunk away dejectedly. You could pencil in a return visit for some of them in the next few weeks.
There was nothing illustrious about the castle when it was the home of the sheriff court, and there were certainly no traces of grandeur. Those were the days of the past – for many decades – and how comprehensively they have been swept away.
After years of uncertainty and delay, the court presence at the castle finally ended and retribution is now dispensed at the new Justice Centre in the Longman.
Now our finest landmark is heading for a future which is promised to be the polar opposite of what existed before.
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The castle is being converted into what has been described as a “world class” heritage centre. The use of that “world class” label, if it has any meaning at all, and it doesn’t have much, seems unwise. It raises expectations to a level which may be just a bit over the top. When the last rivet has been hammered in and the scaffolding comes down, Inverness Castle is not going to be reborn as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Elaborate artists’ impressions of what the transformation would involve were presented before work began – and even allowing for the fact that pretty picture sketches invariably diverge from what is finally revealed in bricks and mortar – we should nevertheless expect to be introduced to something that is truly spectacular.
They’re taking long enough to do the work, but then again, we’re certainly not looking for a rush job.
Ripping apart and rebuilding a large section of the most famous structure in the Highlands and one of the great landmarks of Scotland will involve a level of skill which places heavy demands on those entrusted to do the work. This is in a different league to construction work on that other architectural masterpiece, the Gathering Place, though yard for yard, the £300,000 riverside monstrosity probably cost just as much.
For now local people and the multitude of visitors to the Highland capital can only get a glimpse of what’s going on through a wall of scaffolding, and many tourists must look with puzzlement at the towering building site looming over the Ness.
The unveiling of the new-look castle will in itself be a historic moment. Few people are likely to feel indifferent when that happens. I imagine much of Inverness will be either curious or eager or to see what emerges, and the reformed structure which will endure for the next 100 years and more.
No, the new castle may not be “world class”. But it will be fascinating to measure the scale and success of its transformation. Walking up the path which used to lead to that motley gathering of hangdog weekend drunks, I expect to be bowled over by it when I see it, I really do.
