Award nod for Jess after heritage work
Local author shortlisted for Tinkers’Heart drive
A Strathearn author is in the running for a top heritage award after saving a sacred site for future generations.
Jess Smith, who lives in Glen Lednock, has been shortlisted for the Scottish Heritage Angel Awards for her work in safeguarding Tinkers’ Heart which celebrates Scotland’s travelling community and its culture.
She is nominated under the `Caring and Protecting’ category and faces competition from two other projects for the honour when the winners are announced next month.
Jess told the Herald: “It was my duty to do something at Tinker’s Heart and I was delighted to get its heart beating again.
“To be nominated for the award was a bonus and I am just over the moon to be actually shortlisted – it’s lovely.”
Jess has spearheaded a campaign over the past seven years to have the Tinker’s Heart in Argyll declared a “monument of national importance”.
The Heart is a pattern of quartz stones which is thought to be around 250 years old.
It is also known as the Gypsy Wedding Place and has been used by generations of Scottish Travellers as a wedding place and for children to be blessed.
Supporters were worried the sacred site was falling into disrepair from grazing cattle trampling it and lobbied Historic Scotland to include it on their schedule as a monument of national importance.
The Heart is now fenced off from cattle through works funded by the landowner and local community groups and Historic Scotland has set out a vision for the preservation and maintenance of the site.
Jess said: “The site was part of my upbringing and I used to visit it and play there as a child so I had to do something.
“It took a long time but we got Historic Scotland to recognise the site and get it protected.
“The next step is to enhance the site with signage and a lay-by so that people can enjoy the area.”
Jess was nominated for the award by Craig Finlay on behalf of Crieff Community Council.
He said: “Jess worked so hard to have the Tinkers’ Heart scheduled as a site of national significance that I felt she deserved this recognition.
“I’ve been following her progress and I think what she has done to safeguard the site is amazing and I wish her all the best for the awards ceremony in October.”
There are several categories in the Heritage Angels Awards programme and Jess is shortlisted in the `Caring and Protecting’ section alongside volunteers the Verdant Works jute museum in Dundee.
They’ve been nominated for their efforts towards a £2.9million project which brought a derelict building back into community use.
She is also up against Neil Kermode and the Orkney Heritage Society Kitchener Memorial Working Group for the centenary year restoration of the Kitchener Memorial to those who died on HMS Hampshire in 1916.
The awards are funded by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation with a total of 12 volunteers nominated for a diverse range of voluntary activities and projects across five categories.
Mr Lloyd Webber said: “It is wonderful to shine a light on the endeavours of these Scottish Heritage Angels, whose triumphs of dedication, energy and tenacity might otherwise go unsung.
“Every one of them is vital to preserving and promoting the richness of Scotland’s heritage.
The shortlisted `Angels’ will attend a ceremony, hosted by Vanessa Collingridge, in Edinburgh on Tuesday, October 18, where the overall winner of each category will be announced.