Competition winners, North Kessock Primary School, hosted a very special event today, surrounded by two Highland football heroes, the Loch Ness Monster and 50 Dream Rings, to mark the Inverness Castle Experience 50-year time capsule countdown.
Representatives from the school sealed their winning ‘top five items’ inside the time capsule, which will be suspended in the well in the Inverness Castle Experience in 2024 by time capsule sponsor and Inverness Castle contractor, Bancon Construction Ltd.
The capsule was filled with memorabilia symbolising what the children thought was ‘special about the area of the Highlands where they live’.
The items were:
- A personal diary from home-schooling during the Covid-19 lockdown, including newspaper clippings;
- A ribbon with Scots writing and the date to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III;
- A selection of coins in use in 2023, as well as a £5 Scottish note.
- A photograph of North Kessock and Inverness from the air including diesel/ petrol cars.
- An iPhone
Special guests from Visit Inverness Loch Ness and Jacobite, Harry Gow, Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club and Ross County Football Club joined in the fun, by coming along and donating five additional items that represent popular choices by several schools across the Highlands.
These items are represented within a second time capsule:
- A Nessie (Loch Ness Monster) toy!
- A scroll about the Dream Ring from Harry Gow
- Football strips from Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County football clubs.
- A diary entry of a Highland pupil as they welcomed a young person from Ukraine to their school
- Selected newspaper clippings, dated 1st September 2023, from the newspapers covering the Highlands
Cllr Ian Brown, Leader of Inverness City and Area and Co-chair of the Inverness Castle Project Delivery Group, said: “Thank you to all who brought this day together, especially the winning school North Kessock Primary for hosting such a fun morning. It isn’t often I get to say I had my picture taken with Nessie!”
“What better way to mark the exact date we sealed the capsules than to include the news stories and photographs from today? When the Inverness Castle Experience opens its doors, as a visitor attraction in 2025, it will celebrate the stories from throughout the Highlands and our time capsules will be a long-lasting part of that tale.”
Bancon Group Operations Director, Jamie Tosh, said: “We are delighted to sponsor the capsules and to provide a second one which is now filled with some real firm Highland favourites. Well done to everyone for today! We look forward to suspending them in the well in 2024.”
Miriam MacKay, Head Teacher, North Kessock Primary School, said: “Projects like this are a fantastic way for our school community to come together to think about what aspects of life in the present day would be of interest to future generations.”
“It is very exciting for the children to be a part of the Inverness Castle Experience project’s present and future. They are very much looking forward to being invited along to the castle to watch the time capsule being suspended next year.”
The Inverness Castle project, opening in 2025, will benefit from £30m investment to support its re-development from the Scottish and UK Governments, The Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and a range of other partners.
The Inverness Castle project is part of the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal, which is a joint initiative supported by up to £315m investment from the UK and Scottish governments, The Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and University of the Highlands and Islands, aimed at stimulating sustainable regional economic growth.’
