Dingwall's Nordic past to live again through trail
VIKING culture’s key role in Dingwall’s history could soon be highlighted by a long-awaited heritage trail around the town – thanks to the efforts of enterprising residents.
The Dingwall Community Development Company (DCDC) has already enjoyed considerable but muted success as the recently formed group continues to build membership and go after funding.
So far DCDC has funnelled £2000 of cash from the Gough Charitable Trust to revamping the seating and paths at popular Ferry Point on the shores of the Cromarty Firth. But after holding the first AGM last week, the group now wants to go after larger projects through the lottery funding.
The ultimate ambition is to renovate Dingwall Town Hall and ensure it is brought into regular and sustained use by locals and visitors as a focal point of the town.
Before that, the DCDC directors and trustees, comprising Janet Bowen, Debbie Downie, Robin Lingard and Nigel Greenwood have been “sifting through the community’s suggestions for improvements to the town.”
Mrs Bowen said: “Dingwall is very fortunate to have a number of organisations which are dedicated to making the town an attractive and welcoming place. But we want to use our charitable status to unlock funding for capital projects which should make a significant difference in raising Dingwall’s profile.”
The first of those projects out of the traps has been developed with the help of the Dingwall History Society and is a heritage trail around the town which stops off at around a dozen sites.
Among them are the memorial next to the train station, the birthplace of MacBeth – Dingwall Castle, as well as the Macdonald Monument and others.
Mrs Bowen said: “Using a series of display panels to highlight to both local people and visitors the richness of Dingwall’s history, especially as a Viking settlement.”
A sticking point however is that the bridge over the Dingwall canal is closed due to safety concerns.
“The big issue here, of course, is the future of the footbridge across the Dingwall canal, which has been out of use for some time now because of safety fears. The community council is very anxious to bring it back into use and we are looking at what role we might play in helping to bring it back into use.”
Many local groups feel that Dingwall’s Viking heritage has been a little neglected but in 2013 archaeologists and historians managed to flesh out the legends. They confirmed that the town’s Cromartie car park was the site of a Viking parliament or meeting place – called a ‘Thingwall’ – from which Dingwall get its name.
