RISING FROM THE ASHES

For starters, it’s 12 times the size of the old site, and when it’s finished – and it’s getting there fast – it will boast not one but three crannogs (reconstructions of stilted loch dwellings).

It’s a wee bit like a construction site when I visit, but Mike assures me things will be ready for the grand opening.

The new centre features an Iron Age settlement, including a fabulous giant roundhouse – woven from hazel branches gathered from nearby trees and resembling an upturned wicker basket.

The site is bustling with activity when I arrive, with craftspeople wielding a variety of tools and making a lot of noise.

I’m invited into a huge glass building – the centre’s cafe, shop and museum. I’m offered a latte, courtesy of Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters, and informed that soon, soup, sandwiches and home-bakes will be available in this gorgeous, shiny, new space.

Then it’s a case of sporting hi-vis gear and heading out to meet the folk at the forefront of this ambitious project.

It’s a jaw-dropping moment as I come faceto-face with the stunning array of buildings on the lochside site, most of which are crafted using locally-sourced materials – including reeds, hazel, turf, heather and stone.

Rich Hiden, the centre’s assistant director and operations manager, greets me beside a circular drystane dyke.

He’s hugely excited about the future. In his mind, the new museum will be the yin to V&A Dundee’s yang.

“We’ve got the same bold ambition as the V&A but believe we can offer a greater sense of place and belonging,” he muses.

“We aim to be Scotland’s most sustainable museum – in touch with prehistory and our roots.

“It’s a fantastic chance to give a lot back to the community, and expand what we had at the old site.”

Rich reveals that the buildings, including two cooking shelters and a roundhouse, will host demonstration workshops, whether baking bread, making jewellery, spinning, wood-turning, metalwork, making fires or working with textiles.

And while most of them have been completed, thatching the roundhouse and cooking shelter with turf and heather will begin on April 1.

“Visitors will be able to see thatching in progress,” he explains. “We reckon it’ll take a month, maybe two, but it’ll be a brilliant way to immerse people in the experience.”

While the journey to raise the Crannog Centre from the ashes hasn’t come without stress, Rich is filled with an overriding sense of joy and exhilaration.

“There’s the obvious stress that comes with building anything – it’s a new build, and there have been overruns,” he admits. “We’d hoped to open in autumn, but we’re 100% opening on April 1!

“It’s been a real delight watching these skilled craftspeople work, and passing their skills and knowledge on to apprentices.”

While traditional skills have been employed, Rich says that, with the exception of the roundhouse, these aren’t “clinical reconstructions” of prehistoric buildings.

“They are demonstration shelters, and to

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: At Dalerb, team members, including living history creator Caroline Nicolay, are relishing the opportunity of bringing the Iron Age to life for visitors.

Operations manager Rich Hiden, above, is aiming to create Scotland’s ‘most sustainable museum’, and enjoy even greater success than its original iteration on the southside of Loch Tay, above right.

Mike Benson, above, was reduced to tears by the 2021 fire. Pictures by Steve Brown and Steve MacDougall.