Tunnel vision reveals secrets of wartime Easter Ross asset Inchindown
A FASCINATING glimpse into underground tunnels which played a key wartime role in an Easter Ross town could pave the way for a new high-tech visitor attraction.
A virtual reality experience after a trailblazing hook-up is giving people the chance to ‘visit’ the Inchindown Oil Tanks complex near Invergordon — without having to physically go there.
The tanks are nestled underground near the Easter Ross port and were a crucial part of infrastructure during World War II as they were used to store oil for fuelling navy ships in the Cromarty Firth.
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They were built in the hillside to hide them from enemy bombers. A major feat of engineering, they survive to this day but are difficult to access and are contaminated and so will never be able to be physically visited by any great numbers.
After Invergordon Development Trust was introduced to a team at UHI Moray, the community body has forged a partnership to develop a virtual map of the tank complex with funding support from the Scottish Funding Council and the Port of Cromarty Firth.
With phase 1 of the project now complete, a launch event was held at Ross Sutherland Rugby Club with representatives from various local groups, along with the Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty, Joanie Whiteford, able to give the new virtual reality walk through the complex a try.
Donna Smith, chair of Invergordon Development Trust said: “We are really excited by the results so far and at how amazingly realistic the virtual tanks are.
“Our huge thanks go to the team at UHI for their expertise and to David Cook and Preston White for facilitating the visits to the tanks and providing their knowledge to support the project.”
Testing of the virtual reality experience will now take place over the coming months to gather feedback on what else is needed to make this a truly excellent visitor attraction.
Added Mrs Smith: “We are really grateful for the funding received so far for this project. We didn’t know how well the scanning process would work and this project was to determine whether it would well or not.
“Now we know that it does, we hope to secure funding for a second phase of enhancement work and turn this into something that not only preserves the history of this amazing site, but makes it accessible to many more people that is just not possible in real life.”
Lord Lieutenant Joanie Whiteford said afterwards: “It was a fascinating experience, I absolutely loved it, and without having to squeeze my way into the real tunnels!
“Using the virtual reality set and a very patient tutor from Moray UHI to rescue me as I hit the walls or even worse disappeared behind a wall, I was able to ‘drive’ through the different tunnels into the tanks. It really was unbelievable.”
