Tarbert Castle volunteers hard at work

Tarbert Castle volunteers had a productive morning at the weekend during the regular work parties which take place on the first Saturday of each month.

‘Work is progressing with a new fence around our Hebridean sheep pen. Having lost a few of the oldest last year we have four new girls bringing us up to 15, our most suitable number,’ said Robert McPhail, secretary and treasurer of Tarbert Castle Trust.

Volunteers are now feeding them daily through the winter, he added.

‘We have four pupils from Tarbert Academy on work experience activities on Friday afternoons and this not only helps them but the work they do assisting with sheep care and the orchard together with scything, strimming and general vegetation control is a great contribution to keeping our Heritage Park in good condition,’ explained Robert.

Flood lighting of Tower House is in the process of change to LED fittings which are much lower in electricity consumption. The time clock will also be reset so that they are not on until after 7pm as the trust’s contribution to relieving national grid during peak demand hours.

‘We have submitted a Scheduled Monument application to Historic Environment Scotland and if permission is granted we will carry out more path improvements giving better safety to visitors accessing the site,’ said Robert.

‘With over 40,000 visitors a year wear and tear on non surfaced areas is considerable. HES are resistant to these works and have refused in the past but our proven visitor numbers and obvious ground conditions in some areas may on this occasion receive their approval.’