Press release -

Aberdeen iCentre is battle ready

World War One re-enactors as well as historical artefacts from the trenches, including helmets and rifles, will form part of an open day being held at Aberdeen’s VisitScotland iCentre.

The event, from 10.30am to 4pm on Saturday 26th August, is being held in partnership with the Gordon Highlanders Museum, which is located in the city’s Viewfield Road, and ties in with Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.

The museum – a local charity - tells the dramatic 200-year history of the regiment from the Napoleonic Wars, India, Afghanistan and South Africa, through to both World Wars and the Cold War.

It features interactive maps, original film footage, scale reproductions, life-size models, touch screens, regimental colours, uniforms, medals and weapons are all featured to bring the unique history of The Gordon Highlanders to life.

During the 100th anniversary of The Great War and the Battle of Passchendaele, people are invited to go along to the iCentre in Aberdeen’s Union Street and learn more about The Gordon Highlanders – Aberdeen’s local regiment.

There will be a ‘handling table’ where visitors can get up close to the museum’s WWI artefacts, including trench art made 100 years ago, gas masks used in the trenches, machine guns, helmets and rifles; as well as getting their picture taken in the ‘photo booth’ with a historical background and period dressing up items.

WWI re-enactors The Great War Boys will also be in attendance to meet and chat to visitors and there will be an opportunity for visitors to have their photo taken in uniform with them in the photo booth.

There will also be a range of items, such as a Princess Mary Christmas tin supplied by the Princess to the men in the trenches over Christmas, housing things such as Christmas cards and chocolate. There will also be a collection of the uniforms and equipment soldiers carried with them at the front line, such as their food rations and toiletry kits.

Jo Robinson, VisitScotland Regional Director, said: “This event ties in perfectly with Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology and we hope it will attract visitors in to the iCentre to learn more about the Gordon Highlanders Museum - the only VisitScotland Five Star attraction in Aberdeen.

“The museum does an excellent job of highlighting the importance of this very famous regiment and its links to Aberdeen and we are delighted to be working with them, whilst also showcasing the city to visitors.

“This year, we celebrate the richness of Scotland's intriguing history, impressive cultural heritage and fascinating archaeology and this event allows visitors a peek into the past in the very modern surroundings of VisitScotland’s fantastic iCentre in Aberdeen.

“We promote Scotland with Scotland. Partnership and collaboration is at the heart of Scottish tourism and VisitScotland works with local industry to develop and deliver innovative initiatives that grow the visitor economy.”

Lewis Gibbon, Gordon Highlanders Museum’s Learning Officer, said:“The museum is pleased to be supporting Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology especially in this, the museum’s 20th anniversary year.

“This event at the Aberdeen iCentre, will allow visitors to see some amazing artefacts used by the Gordon Highlanders during the Great War, offer the opportunity to dress up in World War One uniform and will be a fantastic chance to see and handle these items outside of the museum environment.”

For more information on the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, please visit: www.visitscotland.com/hha2017

For more information about the Gordon Highlanders Museum, visit: www.gordonhighlanders.com

Topics

  • Tourism

Categories

  • year of history heritage and archaeology
  • corporate communications

Regions

  • Scotland

Notes to Editors

  • Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
  • VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
  • The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
  • This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
    1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
    2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
    3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
    4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
    5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
    6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
    7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
  • To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
  • VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
  • The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
  • Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
  • The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
  • For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
  • Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
    • 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
  • 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
  • For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017

Contacts

Kim Walton

Corporate Press Officer - Regional Contact for media enquiries on: North Region; VisitScotland Shop Local 01224 269187