Called up again... Hugh in new battle to save family fort
INSPIRED by his grandfather’s heroic service as a commander at Fort George, Hollywood star Hugh Grant stepped in to front a £3million campaign to refurbish the historic home of the Black Watch.
But only five years later, the actor is horrified to hear that the Inverness-shire garrison is under threat of closure.
His grandfather, Colonel James Murray Grant, became depot commander at Fort George after being awarded a Distinguished Service Order for bravery in the Second World War. Grant’s father also served as a Seaforth Highlander.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star fears withdrawing the 500-strong Black Watch battalion – based at Fort George since 2007 – could spell the end of the Highlanders Museum he fought so hard to save.
Grant, 55, said in a statement: ‘I’m horrified to hear there may be plans to close Fort George. My grandfather was commander there after the war and I’ve been a supporter of the museum which has only just been renovated. It would be a bleak day for the Highlands if this rumour about closure turned out to be true.’
The fortress was built to keep the peace in the Highlands after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s 1745 rebellion ended in bloody defeat at Culloden a few miles away. Grant first came to its aid in 2011, raising millions of pounds to restore the museum when the Ministry of Defence was considering its future. Work on the museum was completed in two years, shortly after the fort had been given a stay of execution, with Grant saying it should be enjoyed and celebrated.
Local Nationalist MP Drew Hendry welcomed the star’s intervention. He said: ‘Hugh Grant has been a long-time supporter of Fort George and its history.’
The MoD is reviewing its assets as it tries to save £1billion but says no decision will be reached until the autumn.
The village of Ardersier next door would undoubtedly feel the pinch without the spending power of troops and visitors to the fortress.
It was recently the subject of another high-profile row when an ‘appalled’ Dame Helen Mirren signed a petition against Scottish Water’s plans to build a sewage treatment works in the village, where she got married in 1997.
‘A bleak day for the Highlands’